Golden Virginia seeds.

[Mother]

Thanks,
Never knew you could grow tobacco.
Had a look and have now ordered some seeds.
Going have a go at growing them in pots in a couple of windows

[MKG]

They're certainly interesting plants. I have 6 which were treated with loving care, another 6 which were transplanted late, and another 8 which were left entirely to their own devices until I decided to stick them into the old pond area (totally new, manufactured soil). Of the first 6, five are doing really well. The last of those, planted in the same bed, is lagging. Of the late transplants, 4 have caught up to the lagger of the first 6 and show every sign of catching up to the other 5. The pond plants have begun to pick up their leaves and are now increasing in size. The largest plant I have now has a 14 inch spread (depending upon the time of day - they lay their leaves flat in the sun and lift them almost vertically when it gets cooler). The smallest plant I have is a mere four inches across - but that's one of those I neglected. I also have one in a large pot, and that seems to be doing OK (although that was a late transplant, too).

Anyone spot any general rules there?

Mike

[demi]

They're certainly interesting plants. I have 6 which were treated with loving care, another 6 which were transplanted late, and another 8 which were left entirely to their own devices until I decided to stick them into the old pond area (totally new, manufactured soil). Of the first 6, five are doing really well. The last of those, planted in the same bed, is lagging. Of the late transplants, 4 have caught up to the lagger of the first 6 and show every sign of catching up to the other 5. The pond plants have begun to pick up their leaves and are now increasing in size. The largest plant I have now has a 14 inch spread (depending upon the time of day - they lay their leaves flat in the sun and lift them almost vertically when it gets cooler). The smallest plant I have is a mere four inches across - but that's one of those I neglected. I also have one in a large pot, and that seems to be doing OK (although that was a late transplant, too).

Anyone spot any general rules there?

Mike

as soon as the plants being to flower you should cut the flowers off so the energy goes into the leaves.
when the leaves on the bottom of the plants start going yellow they are ready to pick. pick from the bottom up, in rows "hands" ( the leaves are in groups and go up in levels from the bottom up ) only pick the yellow leaves.

to dry them, thread a big needle on a length of string and thread each leave through the main nerve at the base of the leaf. thread all the leaves onto the string then hang it up in a greenhouse to dry. if you dont have a greenhouse you can hang it up outside in the sun, covered with a plastic sheet to keep the rain off ( make sure the plastic isnt touching the leaves or they could get damp from condensation and go mouldy.) or you could hang it up on your inside windows. traditionally it is hung up outside to dry in the sun on a specially made wooden frame, covered with plastic, but in brittain the weather might not allow this.

mouldy tobacco obviously should not be smoked. if you see mould you should get rid of the effected leaves so it doesnt spread and futher comtaminate your crop. bring the crop inside to dry if outside conditions are too damp.

[MKG]

Well, I must be doing something right. The plants in the test bed are now up to my waist and producing large leaves like billy-o. The ones in the old pond are about half that size, but now expanding rapidly. The one in the pot is, as expected, smaller - but perfectly healthy and growing quite well. One thing I've discovered ... I knew they liked water, but now I know that they love being just about flooded (as long as you have very good drainage). I haven't fed them at all, as this is apparently not a good thing - you get lots of growth, but it's soft (I'm told) and not so good. But it really looks like they don't need to be fed.

My first harvest of the yellowing leaves from the bottom of the plants is now drying in the shed, which appears to be very conducive to that process (after three days, one of the leaves is already turning a nice shade of brown and becoming crispy).

Overall, a success, I think - at least so far.

I worked out that I'd need 50 plants to keep me at my normal habit levels, which equates to 8 or 10 square metres of bed - rather a lot, given that OH would rather grow something she can use too . However, I found a snuff supplier, and I've been starting to use that over the last two weeks (snuff, I'm delighted to discover, is not subject to the same taxes as smoking tobacco - in fact, it's dirt cheap). So far, I've used about half of the first tiny tin I bought, but my smoking has decreased to half of its original level, and there have been no marked deprivation pangs. So, I now reckon that between 20 and 25 plants would keep me going for a year if I turned it all into snuff. That's a remarkably easy process - much, MUCH easier than the curing and shredding necessary for smoking the stuff. You dry it, you crumble it, and you grind it to a powder - and there you have it ... snuff. Takes a bit of getting used to (it doesn't half bang your nostrils the first few times) but then so does smoking.

How's everyone else doing?

Mike

[boboff]

MIne are growing slowly, about the size of your June 7th ones, so encuraging that I should get there.

[southeast-isher]

MKG, for you: http://www.snuffhouse.org/

I have heaps of snuff i can post to you - as i use snus now.

[MKG]

MKG, for you: http://www.snuffhouse.org/

I have heaps of snuff i can post to you - as i use snus now.

Woo Hoo - sounds interesting . I shall drop you a PM in the morning.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Haven't even planted mine out yet as nowhere to put them until the peas, mange tout and broad beans are out. I repotted two as they were going yellow and the rest I'll chuck cos I think 2 will be enough and need the space for other things desperately.

They do actually have leaves up to about 4-5 inches long now.

[chilitony]

the 6 i planted out about a month ago have leaves about a foot long and have already started to pick and dry some.
tried smoking some but think it was still abit wet, so will let it dry out more

[MKG]

I've just been touring the US tobacco-growing sites and found out a couple of things.

The first is that those people DO feed their plants - a high-nitrogen fertiliser is regarded as essential. So much for wherever I picked up the "don't feed" advice.

The other thing is those lower leaves that yellow quite early on. If you're already drying or even smoking those, don't be too disappointed - they're always, apparently, much milder than the upper leaves which ripen later on. I've already tried a couple of mine and I have to agree - they're EXTREMELY mild.

Mike

EDIT: I've just noticed that the largest plants are forming flower buds. I thought that was sooner than expected, but checking around tells me that it's about right. So, as soon as the buds have emerged a bit more (they're ungettable-at just now) I'll be clipping all but one off.

[Millymollymandy]

So the yellowing is normal? I thought it was cos they were in pots and needed feeding. I have repotted so will see if there is a difference.

Still can't plant them out cos the older mange tout had another spurt after some rain in June and it decided to come back to life again!

[MKG]

Yep - the yellowing is the sign you're looking for - pick off the offending leaf and hang it up to colour-cure and dry. You do that with all of the yellowing leaves, working your way up the plant. But the first ones are mild, graduating up to the upper leaves which thicken up after potential flowering (pick the buds out from all but one plant, which is the one which will provide your seeds for next year) and become the ones absolutely loaded with nicotine.

The received knowledge is that between the mild ones (you're not sure if there's any nicotine in them at all) and the top ones (you wouldn't want to smoke those without a bit of dilution) a mixture is the best thing to smoke.

The other, rather important, bit of received knowledge is that a curing chamber is totally unnecessary. Time does everything - allow the leaves to dry and then mature, and there's no problem at all. It's back to the Red Indian thing, I suppose, and those people certainly didn't have curing chambers.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks Mike!

[southeast-isher]

Mike, a jiffy bag should be winging its way to you with the snuff in. Let me know when you get it. If you wanted to rule out the smokes completely then i recommend snus. Please check my signature for the health implications.

[MKG]

Many thanks, SE. When I've got used to the snuff, I think I may take a hard look at snuss. Purely as a philosophical exercise, of course, given that it's apparently illegal in the UK. I find it hard to believe that particular bit of legislation - smoking cigs is OK, but sticking something nicotinish in your mouth is a bad thing? That includes, I assume, a number of approved money-making smoking cures?

Ah well - par for the course. Not that I'm going to object even to the evils of burning the stuff and inhaling (Jeez, what a habit!! )

Mike