How to Grow Tobacco

Please also read Fermenting your Tobacco

Your Soil
Tobacco plants are very heavy feeders. Select an area of your garden that has full sun. Prepare your soil before planting by working in well rotted compost and manure. Try to plant where leaves or wood ash has been burned as the plants will thrive in these spots. Tobacco requires a lot of nitrogen and potash which is supplied by wood ashes. The ashes from charcoal grills are also beneficial. Working in rotted manure is very good for the plants. Depending on strain you will need 1 to 2 Square foot per plant. Never raise tobacco plants in the same spot in the garden for over a few years at a time as tobacco plants will totally deplete the nutrients in the soil.

Starting your Seed
In colder climates best to start seed inside 6 weeks before planting. They need light to germinate so best to start in a tray. Gently press the seed onto soil. Germination occurs best at temperatures of 70-80 degrees F. Must be kept moist until germination occurs in anywhere from 5 to 15 days. The seeds are extremely tiny so you may wish to mix with a bit of sand to help distribute seed evenly.

Transplanting
The plants are large enough to transplant when the largest leaves are 2 inches or larger. Always transplant outside in late evening or when it is cloudy and overcast. Water plants thoroughly after transplanting and water daily each day until plants have become established. The roots do not like to be disturbed much so best to only transplant once, either directly to garden or to a pot large enough to accommodate an adult plant.( 2-5 gallon) If the spring is cooler you may find your young plants stagnate and do not seem to be growing, warmer conditions will help approx. 55 degrees F.. Once these plants take off they grow at a tremendous rate. I grow the Glauca strain in tubs and bring it in for the winter months.

Growing
The tobacco plant is a thick-stemmed annual bearing large leaves with short petioles or leaf stems. Leaf blades are often more than 20 inches long and half as wide. They rise in a spiral along the stem. Stems grow 4 to 6 feet tall and terminate in a cluster of flowers if not topped. Prefers a temperature of 55 degrees F. Except for seed production, however, plant terminals are usually removed when flowering begins in order to increase size and thickness of leaves - the marketable portion. After transplanting, side dress your rows with more compost or rotted manure to ensure large production. Plants like to be kept moist but well-drained. If you have clay soil break up by adding peat moss. If you save your own seed the plants will adapt readily to your soil conditions and will produce a better crop from your own seed. Tobacco plants suffer from several diseases and are attacked by several leaf chewers. Use a organic, natural product like pryethrum spray to control them. Be cautious not to use any form of systemic insecticide that will penetrate the leaf. Remember, you may be chewing or smoking this plant and you do not want to be ingesting chemical residues.

Harvesting
Harvesting may consist of removing most mature leaves by hand at about weekly intervals or cutting the whole stem. The former method is more generally used as it gives higher leaf yield and better quality. Curing and drying your tobacco is the tricky part. Commercial growers have special drying barns that maintain the correct humidity for curing. Backyard gardeners usually hang dry the whole plant upside down. To increase humidity for a slow dry you can hang the plant in a large plastic bag. You can hang each leaf separately on a hanging poles or rack. Spraying your leaves with water will slow drying for a better cure. Drying and curing is dependent on your areas moisture content, so is very much trial and error. I suggest experimenting a few ways of drying and see what produces the best smoke for you.

One method for home users to try for curing your own. Cut the plant off at base and hang to dry where they will have some air ventilation. Slow dry as much as possible for best taste. While leaves still pliable, remove from the stalk and layer about 8 leaves one on top of the other, alternating the tip and base of leaf so you have the same thickness. Roll the layered leaves up tight lengthwise so a shape of a large cigar. Twist both ends of the roll in opposite directions, creating a tight loop at the top, and let the ends wrap around each other. Fold another leaf lengthwise and wrap it around the base of the roll and tie. Hang to dry in a warm place for a day or 2 or until shockable, and store in airtight jars. For tobacco slice off a section of the roll, and this should look like the crinkly commercial type tobacco.




Organic seeds can be purchased from Horizon Herbs.

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