Re: CULT: seedlings - long

Dear Donald,

I commend you for persisting at all in the face of such acutely 
adverse conditions.  I'm afraid I would have given up under the 
circumstances.  I feel most fortunate to be in what so far has seemed 
ideal gardening conditions.

Of course I did persist for 8 years to get back to this place...  
Guess us gardeners have to be persistent by definition.

Patricia Brooks
Whidbey Island, WA, zone 8

--- In iris-talk@egroups.com, "Donald Eaves" <donald@e...> wrote:
> Hello Folks,
> 
> I have hesitated to comment on my handling of these seedlings.
> Partly it is because I'm not quite sure what has happened nor what
> the long term result is going to be.  For my usual methods, what I
> did was extraordinary.  And it doesn't quite fit what I've been 
comfortable
> with in my practices.  When May rolled around our temperatures were
> already getting above 100 F and we were (as we still are) suffering 
from a
> dearth of rain.  Anticipating a long, hot summer, I planned 
accordingly.
> Already, the ground was swarming with tiny grasshoppers.  Jillions!
> I constructed a raised bed using four lengths of old telephone poles
> which have been lying around here most of my life.  Two were 6', two
> were about 8' in length.  I laid these across a swale on the east 
side
> of the house and on the east side of a large oak tree, so only 
morning
> sun and very late afternoon sun reached the seedlings.  I used a 
spading
> fork and dug the grass and stirred hard red clay as much as I could.
> Into this I worked a generous amount of compost (from the plains of
> Texas consisting of cotton burs and cotton stalks - good stuff).  
On top
> of this I laid about a 2" layer of composted cattle manure.  Then I
> filled the bed to the top with a mixture (by volume) of equal parts 
of the
> compost and that doubtful gray-looking stuff sold in bags for 
topsoil.
> Then I planted more than a hundred seedlings from nine pods.  One 
pod
> was TBxTB, five pods were TBx1/4AB (disqualified ABs from the start)
> and three pods of TBx1/2AB.  These did not yield equal numbers of
> seedlings, of course.  Then I proceeded to give them water every 
other
> day.  Generously.  Boy, was this successful.  I lost only 10 
seedlings
> and at least seven were directly attributable to grasshoppers.  As 
I go
> into fall, this is still in place.  The seedlings are really nice 
sized
> plants
> for the most part.  More than half have one or several or more 
increases.
> The fans give the appearance of mature plants.
> 
> Currently I'm in the process of constructing a long series of 
raised beds.
> Probably will be working on these the rest of my life, which will
> undoubtedly
> be shortened by the hard labor involved.  Two units (two pods) are 
complete
> and planted in more or less the same manner and the watering 
schedule
> continuing in place.  The first two pods have continued to grow 
with no
> sign of transplanting shock.
> 
> This seems to be a lot of water for plants I'm not accustomed to 
giving
> that much H2O.  Do seedlings have different requirements for optimum
> growth?  It seems to me they must.  If I had given that much water 
to
> the established beds in the sun, it would surely have killed them
> (wouldn't it?).  I know I can give those in shade more water, but 
those
> with a lot of sun can fold up quickly.  Am I constructing beds 
which by
> definition are going to require more water?   Water is a scarce and
> expensive commodity here.
> 
> I don't know how I escaped more damage from the grasshoppers.  They
> certainly ate on the leaves.  But here is another question - does
> grasshopper
> tobacco have a growth inhibitor in it?  Does anyone know?  The 
reason for
> the question is those seedlings which are eaten at ground level or 
have a
> notch eaten in the tiny rhizome, even when they put out new fan 
growth,
> never seem to recover altogether.  A case in point is one TBxTB 
which
> was the largest seedling from the pod until it was eaten severely.  
It
> survives, but is now the smallest and has a delicate look to the 
growth.
> Others have fared even worse if they survived.  I'm not talking 
here of
> chewing on the leaves, but actually devouring the plant down to 
more or
> less ground level.  I have noticed this before on bee pod seedlings 
and
> it also applies to increase on mature rhizomes when they are eaten 
the
> same way.  The above cross put back out promptly, but I wonder if it
> will ever do much.  Some of those with small aril-type leaf growth 
did not
> have this appearance until the grasshoppers lopped them off, so I 
don't
> think it is their heritage showing.
> 
> Still, at this point I'm very pleased.  I was doubtful of success 
at all
> considering
> the conditions we are in.  I don't know what these will do when 
they get a
> dose of more normal handling, but they don't have the excuse of not 
being
> well-grown at their beginning.
> 
> Donald Eaves
> donald@e...
> Texas Zone 7, USA
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