So, does anyone here grow their own tobacco?

Not the wacky kind, btw...



I have been interested in the prospect of growing my own tobacco for a few years now, but never got around to obtaining some seeds until now. Nicotiana rustica, the most potent variety with nicotine contents that get up to 8 or 9% seemed most interesting, but I wanted to purchase some strains in addition that wouldn't kill me if I smoked a few cigarette's worth (cancer will take care of that eventually).

A German seller on eBay currently has a number of inexpensive lots with selections of seeds for 4 good conventional varieties, so if I planted a nice little field I could potentially craft a blend that is at least comparable to good commercial blends, perhaps sprinkle some rustica for an extra kick if it seems like a good idea. Planting and tending the plants is not an issue, as there is land, tools, and fertilizer on hand. It will soon be time to start some tobacco seedlings indoors so they will be a decent size by the time the weather warms enough to permit planting outdoors, but the problem is the curing and special treatment process after harvest, processes which I have no experiences with.

I got this selection so far:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290390440649&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/4000-tobacco-seeds-Virginia-Burley-Samsoun-Adonis_W0QQitemZ130361062095QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5a1ff2cf

I was wondering if any of you may have knowledge and experience with the processing of tobacco, or suggestions which might improve the product? Anyone know of good strains for the production of cigarette tobacco and cigar tobacco?

There is plenty of info in the internet, but much of it seems misguided so I would value your input quite a bit more.

Thanks!

Here are some good sites. The last one has varieties for cigars.

http://www.newhopeseed.com/tobacco/index.htm
http://www.victoryseeds.com/tobacco/index.html
http://heirloomtobacco.com/
http://www.seedman.com/Tobacco.htm

MY BROTHER IN LAW WHO HAS ALWAYS LIVED IN N.C. IN THE HEART OF TOBBACY COUNTRY KNOWS A GOOD DEAL BOUT IT. HE DID TELL ME WHAT THEY RAISED WAS SO STRONG RAW IT WAS HARD TO CHEW,SMOKE ETC.

Hey Plumby,

"May 4, 2010
Tobacco Planting Day
9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Come learn how to transplant tobacco seedlings and help the site start its yearly tobacco field." From Duke.



Check here, too. Road trip?

My Grandmother raised tobacco for years; however, with the new buyout programs and new regulations on the growing of the stuff, it just became to much of a headache and she bailed out. Growing tobacco isn't fun, planting is ok, but during the growing process you will eventually have to top the tobacco (removing the suckers from the top of the plant once it grows to a certain height), which is a sticky and hot process. Then there is the ever lovely harvesting where you cut the tobacco stalks down and using a sharpened metal horn slide them onto long wooden sticks so that it can be hung up to dry in the barn (you will need a barn for drying), then when it gets colder and they have cured enough you have to go through the process of grading the tobacco into different grades based upon the condition and type of leaf that the tobacco has cured to. I'm pretty sure that most cigarette tobacco actually comes from the ragged leaves that went into the poorest quality hamper. While the better leaves where used for chewing tobacco and such. Once you have them bundled in grades you take them to market to be sold at a local warehouse.

If I'm not mistaken Grandma raised Burley tobacco, because that was what grew best in the mountainous region of the Southwest Virgina Appalachian Mountains. Most of what I know granted comes from asking questions and listening to conversations of my grandmother and uncles while helping them with the tasks laid out above. I wasn't there for every aspect of raising the crop, but I did have to help out with the majority of it. Most of the tobacco used in cigars are raised in other parts of the country and world. The best tobaccos come from the Caribbean island area, Cuba being the most note worthy, however, if I remember correctly some of the tobaccos used for wrapping the cigars came from the Connecticut area.

I don't know where you live, but some types don't do well in certain environments, burley pretty much grows anywhere from what I gather, but I'm no expert. Good luck in your endeavor. Grandma always tried to get me to raise some of my own, but I never really had the interest, because I already spent a good deal of my childhood processing hers. LOL!

BTW looking at the auction, sounds like he's trying to sell you burley, Virginia tobacco sounds like burley to me, and those wonderful flowers are what you have to cut off during topping. One thing to remember is that my grandmother never raised the crop from seeds, apparently that is a pain in the butt. They would buy them already about five to six inches tall so that they would have a better chance of surviving in the less than perfect environments that they were planting in.

When you are harvesting tobacco you will need something like this. This is what is commonly known as a stalk splitter. You would slip this on the one end of your hanging pole, stand it vertically yet able to pull the pole down toward you as you worked, and you would force the meatiest part of the stalk onto this usually in the middle so it will hang thus splitting the stalk down the middle, but don't do it too close to the end or it will split all the way down and fall off. I used many of these over the years, and that's why I ended up purchasing one for nostalgia's sake. It is a crude item made from a single piece of thin gage metal rolled into a rudimentary cone, welded together, and then sharpening the point.



One item that I don't own but want is a cutter. it is another tool which uses a flat piece of square metal, usually on an angle, set into a wooden handle. It kinda looks like a mail box flag, and this is sharpened on the side and bottom for use in topping and cutting the stalk during harvesting. The of course you will need the tobacco basket. I don't remember any other tools needed for tobacco harvesting or topping, but it was nearly twenty years ago. You may not need any of this really, there are a few videos online where people are harvesting small gardens of tobacco with smaller and more time consuming tools; however, we were working on a more industrial scale.

Be sure to check with your local Agruculture office to see how much personal you may grow in your state as this crop is goverment regulated . Morbious gave some pretty good info .Its a bit diffrent now than it use to be .Burley is what we grow here in Maysville Ky.We were know as the sencond largest producer in the world for many year with Lexington Ky being the leader .Brite leaf from N.C .is a good too. I know I've handeled my share for R.J.
bill

I grew Kentucky Burley some years ago. It grows great in Oklahoma. I used no insecticides, so every morning I had to go out and find and remove the tobacco hornworms (great big caterpiller a with horn-like projection sticking up at the caboose end. Same as tomato horn worm, except you found it on a tobacco plant.) Watch for their black scat and you can locate them. If not caught quickly, one caterpiller can skeletonize a huge leaf in a day. I had just 6 or 8 plants, so hand de-worming was practical.

At growing I succeeded. At curing, I pretty much failed. I bundled it in open plastic bags (to slow down drying and to (so the book said) allow the rich mellow taste to develop.) The resulting product (and I had a lot of it) had very little taste in my pipe. I gave some to several friends who chew. They said that it had a killer nicotine hit (too much.) I didn't really notice that in my pipe, but then I didn't smoke much of it, as it was so inferior to "store-bought." With all the info available on the internet, you will undoubtedly do better.

INTERESTING! WILL HAVE TO QUIZ MY BROTHER IN LAW MORE AS HE GREW UP ON A TABBACO FARM IN WILKS COUNTY N. C. JAMIE

ORIGINAL: ombudsman

I grew Kentucky Burley some years ago. It grows great in Oklahoma. I used no insecticides, so every morning I had to go out and find and remove the tobacco hornworms (great big caterpiller a with horn-like projection sticking up at the caboose end. Same as tomato horn worm, except you found it on a tobacco plant.) Watch for their black scat and you can locate them. If not caught quickly, one caterpiller can skeletonize a huge leaf in a day. I had just 6 or 8 plants, so hand de-worming was practical.

At growing I succeeded. At curing, I pretty much failed. I bundled it in open plastic bags (to slow down drying and to (so the book said) allow the rich mellow taste to develop.) The resulting product (and I had a lot of it) had very little taste in my pipe. I gave some to several friends who chew. They said that it had a killer nicotine hit (too much.) I didn't really notice that in my pipe, but then I didn't smoke much of it, as it was so inferior to "store-bought." With all the info available on the internet, you will undoubtedly do better.

Click to expand...

Is that what those worms are called? I remember seeing them, but never knew what they actual name was.