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Hi --

My name is Bob and I grow tobacco at home and refuse to pay the punishment taxes that make the price of tobacco so outrageous.

I've been growing tobacco as a hobby for many years and I run a greenhouse where I sell garden transplants in the spring, houseplants and small numbers of landscaping plants. Tobacco is a beautiful tropical plant with huge leaves that grows up to 6-8 feet tall and has gorgeous sprays of flowers in late summer when gardens are needing some color. Also, tobacco will grow in a 4-5 gallon pot and is great to put around patios and swimming pools where tropical folliage is welcome.

Let me start by dispelling a few common misconceptions about growing, harvesting, drying, curing and processing tobacco to use as cigarettes, cigars, in pipes, as chew, dip, snuff or snus.

Tobacco takes a large amount of space, doesn't it? Actually, in the field or garden, tobacco is planted 2 feet apart in row and 3 feet between rows. The typical cigarette smoker will need from 100-125 plants for an entire year's supply. This can be achieved easily within a 30x30 foot garden.

Tobacco is really hard to "cure" isn't it? Actually, drying tobacco is as easy as hanging it up somewhere where it doesn't get sunny or wet, like under your eaves, in the top of a garage, or in a small shed. Curing tobacco can be as easy as just boxing it up dry and waiting a year or as complicated as building an insulated box with temp/humidity controls and finishing it in a month.

Isn't growing tobacco illegal? No, growing tobacco for personal use was made legal by President Bush and the republican congress in 2005. Before that you needed a federal quota.

I'd like to dedicate this thread to helping people prepare their gardens, start the seeds indoors and successfully grow their own tobacco at home. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask them and I will continue to watch this thread and answer them promptly.

It's time to tell the Tobacco Taxman UP YOURS! and grow your own tobacco at home!

Thanks!

Bob Kemp
GYOtobacco@yahoo.com

ps. I actually started answering questions in the Introduction section under my name....bk

thanks again for starting this thread! I'm really interested in growing tobacco..I love growing all different types of plants. I do use tobacco, but even if i didnt would still love to grow it. Is it a plant that grows well in organic soil? Does it require nutrients? thanks

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one man gathers, what another man spills

Where can i get quality tobacco genetics? Id love to complement my garden back home with this beautiful plant. I have to agree fuck the outrages tax on tobacco. I have no problem paying tax, but really, that much??? Thanks for the awesome post, and keep us up to date on where to purchase the seed!!!

Sgt Bamberger

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Sgt Bamberger

You have to fight, for your right to ...

hey Bob...I was wondering how excactly one would go about score'n some tobacco seeds? Do you sell them? thanks

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one man gathers, what another man spills

Hi --

I'm sorry about my late reply. I'm certain I set this thing to e-mail me when people posted to this forum, but got no replies.

Bamberger and MikeIsGreen and anyone else interested, I do sell tobacco seeds. If you will PM me here or e-mail me I will return you a catalog of what I have now and what I expect to get shortly. I trade with other growers who produce their own seed.

As long as I'm here, I will talk about how to start the seeds for a bit.

Indeed, tobacco seeds are very tiny. Actually smaller than a mustard seed. As such, they need a little tender loving care to start. Typically, the seed is started 6-7 weeks before your last average frost and grown to transplanting size much like tomatoes. I use 72-cell plug trays to start my seeds but many people use 6 inch pots and separate the transplants when they are larger.

I use a commercial peat-based potting mix to start my seeds. I screen the mix through a 1/4 inch hardware cloth to make sure it's very light. Then, bottom water the tray to moisten it. You will not be watering these seedlings from the top. I fold a white piece of paper in half an put a quantity of seed at one end and tap it until as close to one seed falls in each cell on top of the media as possible. Do not cover them with potting mix. Don't worry about putting 2-3 seeds in there as you can either tease them out of the cell later with a toothpick and replant (handling only by the leaf) or simply clip off extras with a pair of scissors.

Cover with a clear plastic sheet and either put somewhere where the temperature stays a steady 72-78F or put a heating pad under them on low. Do not put them in the sun as they will cook. After they germinate in 7-10 days (I use a magnifying glass to see them), remove the plastic. You will want to put them in about 75% shade (or 25% light) for 12-15 hours a day. You will then mist the seeds twice a day or more. Keep them very moist and humid. If your air is very dry, you may want to put them in a tent with ventilation to maintain humidity levels. This is when using a sterilized commercial potting mix and clean trays pays off as in this humidity and temp, molds and algaes will want to form. If you see a white fuzzy mold, allow them to dry out until it dies. If you fertilize them after they reach dime size leaves, only use 1/5th strength Miracle Grow types at most. Remember, you are watering and fertilizing them from the bottom (float on water until it soaks up)

As the seedlings get bigger, give them a little more light until you have reached about 50-75% full light and the leaves are about the size of a quarter. Then you transplant to 4" pots and move them gradually into full light. Around this time you can start giving them 1/2 strength fertilizer as needed.

That's about all I'm up to typing today! Ask me any questions and I'll try to answer them.

Bob Kemp
GYOtobacco@yahoo.com

sounds good man!!!!

Hi --

I thought I'd talk a little about how to grow the tobacco outside in a field now. I've already talked about starting the seeds indoors 6-7 weeks before your first average frost, but what do you need to do in the field to prepare to plant and what about during the growing season?

Picking the field - Tobacco requires full sunlight all day. The location of the field should give the maximum of direct sunlight without shade possible. At the very least, you must have 8 hours of full sunlight. Try to make sure the field isn't on a hillside with an extreme slope unless you are able to control flooding and runoff erosion. Make sure the field isn't in a place where flooding occurs and water is likely to stand. If so, you may need to consider using raised beds. Tobacco does not like to have its feet in standing water.

The first thing to be aware of is that the soil should be well-worked. If it is a new field, then a deep plowing is usually required. This should be done NOW NOW NOW! (early Fall) If you do not have access to a tractor and a plow and are growing a small crop of 150 plants or less, then you can use a heavy garden fork. Go down the row and put the fork as deep in the ground as you can, lever up the soil and turn it over and continue until it is done. After that, till the top 8 inches or so to prepare to put the transplants out in the spring.

Next, it makes good sense to amend the soil almost anywhere you are located with a good composted manure. If you can, get a soil test at your local ag extension and follow their directions for adding nutrients and adjusting the ph. Ideal ph for tobacco is about 6.8, just slightly acidic. If the ph is too low, you can add lime. If it is too high, you can add pelleted sulphur. These amendments are available at a reasonable price at a feed store.

Tobacco does not like highly fertile soil. In fact, the best tobacco quality comes from sandy soils poor in nutrients. You add what the plant needs, just enough for it and no more. Unlike tomatoes which are heavy feeders, tobacco should be fed just enough to grow the leaves you want then starved for nutrients so that it does not store up a lot of nitrogen compounds in the leaves and stems. In this manner, you make it easier to color cure after harvest (I will write a section on curing after harvest later).

Hardening the transplants - About a week before you put them in the field, place them outside during nice weather starting at a couple of hours of light a day and ending up with them in full sunlight. Beware of freezes. Beware of high winds. Beware of the pots completely drying out.

I typically put out the transplants and put about 1/2 cup of Miracle Grow (or other full-nutrient liquid fertilizer equivalent) on each plant. In the hole, before I plant them, I put 1 tsp of epsom salts and a handful of compost and mix it up. Be SURE to plant the transplants deep! You can remove the bottom 2 leaves or so if you like. If the transplant is 6 inches tall, plant at least half of the stem under the ground! Tobacco will root from the stem like tomatoes, and this will give it a much bigger root system faster. It will also reduce the problem of plants falling over in the field later.

One week later, I side dress the plants with a dry fertilizer. The type you will need will depend a lot on your soil test, but if you didn't get one your local feed store will advise you on what is best. Half of the nitrogen should be in a slow release form. You can take a hoe and make a 3-4 inch deep trench about 6 inches from the plants along the row on each side and spread the fertilizer according to the lbs per sq. ft. needed then cover it up.

Watering -- The new transplants will not have an established root system to support the full sunlight. Expect them to wilt during the heat of the day but don't panic! They will usually rehydrate overnight as long as you supply some water to the roots. Water in the morning and never during the full light of the day no matter how wilted they look.

About 6 weeks after you plant them out, side dress again with the same fertilizer. That's all the fertilizer you will need for the year.

Ok, that's a pretty good description of how to get the field ready, to plant and how to get them started. Next I will talk about pests, fungus and weed issues and how to control them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Bob Kemp
GYOtobacco@yahoo.com

Hi --

This is going to be a quick one. Harvesting tobacco isn't rocket science. There are basically two methods -- whole stalk harvesting and priming.

Whole stalk harvesting is typically done 3-4 weeks after a percentage of the plants in the field have broken buds. Almost all varieties of tobacco are harvested in this manner because it is the least labor intensive.

Whole stalk harvesting is just that - the whole plant is cut at the base of the stem. Then, it is either staked out upside down in the field in bunches on a sharpened stick to keep the leaves off the ground, or staked on a wagon specially made to haul the crop to the drying barn. To stake tobacco, the main stem is split near the base of the plant.

Priming is the harvest method which picks individual leaves off the plants as they yellow from the bottom-most leaves upwards to the top. This is the most labor-intensive method of harvesting tobacco and is generally used for high quality cigar tobacco for blending. Home growers of tobacco will frequently use this method as it makes it easier to color cure and they don't typically have quantities large enough that the labor expense is too excessive.

Priming, in commercial farming, is generally done one-third to one-fifth of the plant at a time. The bottom third, middle third and top third (for example) of the plant are picked in separate harvests. The leaves are picked by snapping them off at the base in a quick, downward motion although for some varieties of tobacco a special hatchet is traditionally used. They are then brought to the barn and tied or hung to begin the drying process.

A typical tobacco plant has roughly 18 usable leaves that are spread among 5 primings. From bottom to top, these primings are referred to as Volado, Seco, Viso, Ligero and Corona. These defined areas of the plant have special significance to cigar makers as they are stronger or weaker in flavor and are used to blend the cigar filler, binder and used as wrappers.

That's the basics of harvesting tobacco and I hope that helps you all.

As usual, should you find anything I need to add, alter or remove in this, please comment and I'll react appropriately!

Bob
GYOtobacco@yahoo.com