Growing Tobacco

[ADK_Pipe]

Good afternoon everyone!

I am putting together some thoughts for attempting to grow tobacco next year and I would like to start off on the best "foot" possible.

I am a fan of both good latakia / english blends and well done aromatics... but I end up smoking more aromatics. Anyhow, if I was looking to grow some tobacco and wanted to have that tobacco flavored once it was cured, what variety should I grow?

I'm also interested in the pressing and aging of tobacco, which - from what I read - Virginias do pretty well. Any other recommendations?

I'm in Central NY --- I notice that there is another guy on here (Mark...?) who is also a grower in NY.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

From another thread on this board, I found these suppliers:

http://www.thetobaccoseed.com/

http://www.newhopeseed.com/tobacco_seeds.html

Thanks for the help!

ADK

 

[ADK_Pipe]

I also just found this site, which has a pretty good mix of varieties:

http://www.seedman.com/Tobacco.htm#2

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Care to chime in here, mark? (He'll be here soon,,,,,,,,,,) :lol:

8)

 

[mark]

http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/Nicotiana.htm

http://www.gb-online.co.uk/growing_guide/tobacco.php

http://www.howtogrowtobacco.com/

http://www.eonseed.com/catalog501.html#TOBACCO

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Tobacco/

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/curing-methods-and-tobacco-types/

http://www.electricfreeze.com/art/tobacco/harvest.htm

http://www.thetobaccoseed.com/Pipe_Tobacco.html

There's a ton of information available, your best bet is the howtogrowtobacco.com forum. They take you from seed to final processing,,,opinions and techniques vary but the basics are there, you simply pick and choose what you feel will work best for you. It's easy to grow for crying out loud, it's a weed. I've grown Greenwood Burley and Golden Virginia with great success here (northern ny) for three years. Start your seed in January in a warm spot in your house or in a table top mini greenhouse (has an electric warming pad), size is 2 ftx 4 ft approx. Use some small peat cups or punch some holes in the bottom of paper cups (for drainage) and just sprinkle the seed sparingly ON TOP of your soil, and water when needed. (spritzer bottle). Cold hardening when warm weather arrives before planting insures hardy plants and good success rate. I bought all my seeds from thetobaccoseed.com with a 95% germination rate. I reccomend them. Any questions I'll be happy to help.

 

[ADK_Pipe]

Thanks for the great list of information... I have a lot of research to do!

I'm surprised that you start them in January here in Upstate / Northern NY.

How big are they when you put them out after the threat of frost?

 

[mark]

Six to eight inches high depending on which plants you're growing. The latest I would start them is groundhogs day. A lot depends on how good the soil is that you're starting them in, and how warm they're kept.

About 30 miles southeast from here tobacco was a big crop in the 40s and 50s and there's some hanging sheds still standing here and there. I'm not sure where you're at but Canada grows tobacco on a big scale with a shorter growing season than us.

 

[mark]

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[elshano]

I started a thread "Home Grown Tobacco" because I didn't see your own here. I appreciate the info - though I live in Southwest Florida - and will have a good bit of a read ahead.

I agree that the "How to Grow Tobacco" is a wealth of grower's information. I look forward to checking back in, as new posts come in. Thanks and the best of luck.