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Growing Your Own

Growing your own tobacco. While mentioned a number of times, it has yet to be the topic of discussion. Wazmo is growing tobacco in Florida * *, Jim in Ohio * and Smokin n Jokin in Arizona *. Scott Johnson has also mentioned growing his own *.

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First Harvest
Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Thursday, 09-Aug-2007

I actually harvested my first batch before I recently left for the UK on business...this initial harvest yielded about 2 pounds of dried/cured tobacco from Virginia seeds from Seedman.

The first few smokes I made weren't really as bad as I feared...not earth-shatteringly delicious, but certainly not bad. The tobacco ended up a golden brown colour with a faintly sweet aroma (no flavourings, casings, toppings, whatever) and tasted very mild with just a hint of a "bite" on exhale about half-way through the stick. It reminded me of a milder (and somewhat less nutty-tasting) Sagamore Virginia. It wasn't anywhere near as sweet-tasting as I hoped for (and as is usually typical of Virginia tobacco), but for a first attempt and a first harvest with very little effort, I was heartened that things will be learned and a better tasting tobacco can be had.

Sadly, I've lost a bunch of the flavourings and such I had ordered a few months back, so I've gotta order more to experiment with.

The actual growing of the tobacco was insanely easy (admittedly, I had built a small greenhouse for the task and the weather in Florida seems quite suitable for tobacco growth, and pests were never a real concern) and the flowering plants are actually quite beautiful to look at. Building the kiln to dry/cure the tobacco in was the hardest part, and really, tat was nothing. Hopefully others will join in and we can swap stories and techniques. Even if we as citizens allow things to continue going sideways in America regarding not only tobacco but other "quality-of-life" and personal-choice issues, I've learned that growing tobacco has been very easy and potentially quite rewarding.

Now, if I can figure out the flavouring for McC Virginia.... :-)

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Re: First Harvest
Posted by Dave L on Thursday, 09-Aug-2007

That's pretty cool Wazmo. Do you have any pictures? Did you pick the leaves after they started yellowing? How did you cut the leaf up? The now defunct Grandad's Tobacco method (box, clamp and cleaver) looked like a real PITA.

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Re: First Harvest
Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Thursday, 09-Aug-2007

If I can find my camera, I'll post some. I have pictures of the plants, but not of anything else really.

Dave, I started removing the leaves when they turned yellowish, yes. Certainly, determining the optimal colour for leaf harvesting is crucial, and hopefully I'll learn as I go along. I did notice that some of the leaves I left a little longer turned more yellow while some started turning brownish/black. I tossed those, but I failed to segregate the various "shades of yellow" so I could taste-test and figure it out. There should be another harvest coming soon. According to Alan Daly, it should be possible to harvest year 'round with care in Florida in a greenhouse. We'll see. In any event, Mr. Daly's instructions and videos are invaluable, and I recommend getting them if you decide to try your hand at growing. He successfully grows many tobaccos in England year 'round, so I imagine with a little ingenuity, almost anywhere in America would work, not just the typical "tobacco states."

As far as the cutting, I used the machine from the seedman site, which is really pretty much a meat grinder with special blades for shredding tobacco. After a few tries I was able to get a really nice long shag cut with the thing. You can see details of the process here: [link] It may seem hinkey, but believe me, it works a charm.

I've been trying to scour the Internet this evening looking for suppliers of flavourings and such besides just those offered from Seedman. Anyone here know of any?

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by bebop on Saturday, 21-Jul-2007

Now that's something I'd like to look into. Where would you buy the seeds and what kind? and what is involved in growing and processing?

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Saturday, 21-Jul-2007

I got my seeds (and many ideas, instructions, etc.) from the Seedman site: [link] Built the kiln from the instructions there as well. I've already begun harvesting some leaves and hope to have time this week for a report.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by bebop on Sunday, 22-Jul-2007

Thanks for the link! I might try virginia gold seeds, the toppings look interesting too, though there's a lot to choose from. I'll try just a few plants and see how it goes, Keep us posted on how yours turns out.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Sunday, 22-Jul-2007

There's an article about the Seedman site at RYO mag: [link]

Happy growing!

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Thursday, 26-Jul-2007

I bought my seeds from an eBay seller in Nova Scotia. Four varieties including rustica. The climate zone is close to mine so I had a feeling the seeds would do well. I was right. Though I planted them a bit late within the next few days most of my plants will reach the 3ft point.

I was surprised at how easy it's been so far. Though I did no research prior to planting, there are many sources of info available.

Here's a couple links:

[link]
[link]

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Sunday, 29-Jul-2007

For those considering growing or looking for seeds or new varieties, here's a link to the New Hope Seed Company's tobacco seed page. They currently carry 51 varieties, and sell both seed and seedlings. Seedlings are sold seasonally on a pre-order basis.

[link]

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Tuesday, 14-Aug-2007

Re: Growing Your OwnHere's a few links to photos of my main tobacco patch.

[link]
[link]
[link]

This area contains 38 plants (not counting the rustica in the foreground). From left to right in stagger planted rows the types are iranian scherazi, virginia gold, and kentucky burley.

I have more plants in other spots but I'm especially proud of these. These plants are planted much closer together than recommended but seem very healthy. They were planted 9 weeks ago, and the taller plants are 5 1/2 ft tall (topped) and growing about 2 1/2 inches a day.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Paul on Wednesday, 15-Aug-2007

Jim, great looking plants. I have been interested in trying to grow some for the past several years. I am glad that you posted photos and info. I liked the seed store link you posted also. Very informative and leads to many more links. Please keep us informed as your progress continues. I would like to know how the curing and processing goes. I am sure you will have a lot of readers. Thanks again.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Warren on Wednesday, 15-Aug-2007

Great looking plants. I couldn't see in the thread in which region (what kind of climate) do you live. I wonder whether eastern MA would yield anything like your garden? What is the smoke like from your own crop?

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Thursday, 16-Aug-2007

I'm located in an inner ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, which is considered a humid environment due to nearby Lake Erie. USDA Climate Zone 6a.

As I understand it tobacco will grow just about everywhere. The key is soil condition and providing proper nutrients and proper watering. It's important to watch how the plants look as they grow. If they begin to droop a bit it's time to water. Leaves a bit yellow early in the season shows a need for nitrogen. Not too much close to harvest though.

I'd say go for it. Growing it is easy. The tricky part is drying and curing.

Yesterday I harvested a small number of virginia gold leaves that had reached a nice, mostly yellow stage. It will take a while before they're dried sufficiently for curing. I'll post the results when they're ready and taste tested. I'm anticipating some very interesting blends. By my estimates I should get about 16lbs of dried cured tobacco. That's enough to keep me in cigarettes for almost 2 years years. :)

Next year I'll be adding orinoco and a cuban variety, bringing the total to 6 types.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Warren on Thursday, 16-Aug-2007

Thanks for the tips Jim. I might give it a shot after checking out info at the links you posted.

> should get about 16lbs of dried cured tobacco. That's
> enough to keep me in cigarettes for almost 2 years

The 16 lbs wouldn't last me six months. If you take about 1 gm per cigarette, the 16 pounds yields 7257 sticks or 363 packs.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Thursday, 16-Aug-2007

I pack mine a little light and get more cigs than others. I've been smoking American Spirit Organic and get about three packs out of a 1.41 ounce pouch. At 1g/cig a pouch would produce 2 packs. I smoke a pack a day so I use just over 2 pouches a week.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Monday, 27-Aug-2007

Re: Growing Your OwnUpdate: New links to photos of my main tobacco patch. The tallest plants are now over 7ft tall. Based on the rate of growth they should hit 8ft by the end of the week. [link] Another angle: [link]
Re: Growing Your Own
When tobacco is harvested green it is advisable to sweat for color. This is basically a controlled compost process that helps break down chlorophyll and convert starches into sugars. Here's a photo of virginian gold leaves stacked to color sweat. The leaves are alternately stacked with stems on opposite ends of the stack. [link]
Re: Growing Your Own
When color swearing it is advisable to unstack the tobacco once a day. Allow the leaves to sit and dry off a bit if there is excess moisture. Then re-stack so the leaves that were on the outside of the stack are now in the center. The leaves will turn a nice bright yellow. Here's a photo of a stack after three days of color sweating. [link]
Re: Growing Your Own
Once the leaves have yellowed nicely they are ready to hang to dry. [link]

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by wazmo Nariz on Monday, 27-Aug-2007

Do we need a username/pw to see these or is it just me who can't get through?

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Monday, 27-Aug-2007

I don't know what happened. The links worked when I posted the message. I checked them all when I posted the message. They were changed somehow.

[snipped]

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Dave L on Monday, 27-Aug-2007

I fixed the links... which may somehow have gotten busted (character encoding issue?) when I added the image to your post.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Monday, 27-Aug-2007

Thanks for fixing the links.

Too bad posters can't edit here like membership based fora. Many of them use phpBB. [link]

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by bebop on Wednesday, 05-Sep-2007

Thanks the info and the step by step pics. I noticed that you were hanging some to dry on what looks like your patio or porch. Do you take them down when it rains or does that not really affect the drying process? The reason I am asking is that I don't have a shed or enclosure to dry them in, but if a porch will work that may be what I'll try.

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Re: Growing Your Own
Posted by Jim on Thursday, 06-Sep-2007

The leaves were only under the front of the garage temporarily. It was a convenient place to take photos. I move the leaves outdoors periodically for air but mostly they're hanging to dry on nails in the garage rafters.

FWIW, It's best to protect the leaves from rain. Water exposure can result in mold.

I'm in the process of accumulating the components to build a curing chamber and hope to have it assembled and running in a few weeks. At this point coloring and drying the leaves before the first frost is the highest priority. Even so, I'm looking forward to testing the first batch of properly cured homegrown tobacco.

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