Grow Your Own

[puffinbilly]

Hi Gents,
I haven’t made a post for an absolute age I do however occasionally “ghost” these pages. I would like to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience you chaps hold.
Retirement nears and I live in terror of spending my days mooching around town shopping, writing letters to the Times under the pseudonym Outraged of Basingstoke, reading the obituaries to see who has died, breakfast at 10 o’clock, watching TV etc. etc.
Because every man needs a shed, a place to escape to, I bought a garden a couple of years ago (we live in the city). It is 600 square metres of Shangri-la with a nice little cabin on it, equipped with running water, porcelain loo and electricity. The perfect den, ‘tis all surprisingly neat and tidy and I really do enjoy wasting time there a couple of evenings a week.
So…… yesterday I was struck by a thought, why not try planting tobacco? A search of the internet showed seed/seedlings are to be had; it doesn’t appear to be illegal? Ok drying pressing, curing and all the other processes for turning freshly harvested whole leaf into “Bill’s Special Blend” come later but is it practical? Well ok perhaps not practical but is it do-able? What plants would give me the best results?
The soil is moderately heavy clay. It has however been improved by years of digging in compost and garden waste. I have both sunny and sheltered shady areas. July is the hottest month with an average temperature of 18°C (64°F) and the coldest is January at 2°C (35°F) with the most daily sunshine hours at 10 in July. The wettest month is June with an average of 3.5” of rain.
Has anyone here given it a try?
Fixed thread title, please see rule number 9. Pertinent portion: Please capitalize words in the thread titles.

Thank you Robert.

 

[skraps]

Hell with the tobacco... just give me that 600 sq. meters with the shed. That sounds amazing, Puff. Enjoy it.
There are several guys here who have planted their own. I'm sure they will chime in. Cosmic is the first that comes to mind. He is quite knowledgeable in regards to growing.
Good luck.

 

[woodsroad]

Welcome back, puffinbilly. We have several members here who grow their own, most notably Cosmic. Where are you located? Sounds like the UK. I know that that there is an active tobacco growing community there. You might want to check out some of the forums dedicated to home growing. The one site that I frequent is http://fairtradetobacco.com/ Lots of info growing and curing, but I suspect that there are UK-specific sites out there as well.

 

[puffinbilly]

Hi Woodsroad, I live in Dortmund, Germany; I settled here about 20 years ago following a career in the military and now work as a translator. It was in fact a photo I came across a while ago which showed a black market tobacco plantation in the ruins of Berlin at the end of the war that sprang to mind when I first thought about trying to plant my own. Tobacco prices in Germany are moderate in fact compared to many other countries we are rather spoilt and there are many tobaccos out there which I enjoy. It is however, the challenge that appeals to me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have planted a few varieties, and Virginia Gold is the best beginner tobacco, IMO. It is easy, every seed germinated, and it is relatively easy to process. I recommend it as anyone's first crop. It is a commercial seed stock, and a very high percentage of the tobacco grown worldwide is from this same strain. My plans are to get the seeds for my crop started this weekend. It has a very fragile first few weeks, and it benefits from being started early and by having the first months grown inside. It is a very easy to please variety. You can order the seeds from anywhere from Amazon to your local farmer's Co-Op, to specialty websites.
There are a few grower's forums, that are worth a lurk, and there are quite a few books that I found helpful. I just don;t have them handy to give you the titles or authors, at the moment. But, it is fun, easy, and as you probably know, anything you grow yourself just tastes so much better.
We have a few guys on here that probably know way more than me, but if you have a question, you are welcome to PM me. If I don't know the answers, I maybe can point you to the best person to ask.
I might add, Virginias seem to do well with sun curing (not my preference) but you can also rig ways to flue-cure it or sweat it fairly easy, without having to invest a lot of money or gadgetry. This is an area that I have had the most fun with trial and error, so I might be best at helping you with this part. I think of it as the cooking part of the process. This is where you are doing the real tobacconist work, IMO.
Gardening is good for the soul, the stomach, and the pipe. Have fun! ::

 

[cosmicfolklore]

This might help also - Cosmic Crop 2015

 

[sw0snuff3r]

I'll second woodsroad's suggestion of having a look at the Fair Trade Tobacco site, it helped me greatly when I was starting out. I know of people growing in Sweden so I assume Germany should be no problem. You may also consider growing a little bit of rustica along with some Virginia as Cosmic stated. The rustica varieties are even less fussy than the others, however it has a higher nicotine content which you may or may not be after.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Rustica, is an interesting plant. I will say that just handling it, made me feel very ill, with nicotine overdose. Just walking around it in the garden even can make you "feel its presence." It is worth growing, just beware. And, smoking it... you will most likely find your spirit guide. It is potent. I have even read that it is the most potent tobacco known, and it is revived strain from an archaeological find. The seed stock for this comes from stock that was not even grown for many many years, and is what many tribes were growing when we discovered the New World.
I love the stuff, but it is not for the faint of heart.
Also, tobacco can be grown very well anywhere tomatoes can be grown. It is grown commercially from Canada to the equator. It is a very adaptable plant, and is grown worldwide in all climates. Now, no excuses. Get out there and grow some. ::

 

[puffinbilly]

Hi Guys,
Thanks ever so much for the pointers, I thought now might be the time to start if I was to be growing from seed I shall definitely give Virginia Gold a try and perhaps a couple of other tobaccos. I may well take you up on your kind offer to get in touch if I have any specific issues. Thanks again if it turns out well I will certainly post some photos.
Bill

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Please do. I love looking at the plants and the ways people grow them as much as I enjoy looking at pipes.

I'll look forward to your posts.

 

[jpmcwjr]

If growing good tomatoes is doable in your part of the world, I think you should be good to go.
Best of luck and enjoy!

 

[jitterbugdude]

Start your seeds 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date. There are plenty of people on the Fair Trade Tobacco site that will send you seeds. If you decide to grow a Virginia type you will need to sun cure it or flue cure it if you want to retains the sweetness. I'd suggest starting with a few Turkish varieties. They grow small and are very flavorful smoked straight.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

^^^Jitterbugdude, a great guy to go to for questions also.

 

[woodsroad]

Jitterbugdude, I apologize for not remembering you as a grower and good guy to go to for help!

 

[averagegent]

Puff, though I can't say I'm a grower, I do spend a lot of time in Germany (my family is historically German-Swiss) and thought you might be interested in knowing that a family friend of mine, living in Karlsruhe, has a house with a barn to the rear, in which tobacco used to be grown. I'm afraid I don't have any pictures, but upon climbing up to the rafters, you can still see rows of nails from where the tobacco was hung...

 

[jitterbugdude]

Jitterbugdude, I apologize for not remembering you as a grower and good guy to go to for help!

Hey Woods... no problem... just send me 27 pounds of War Horse in compensation..
Puff.. I should add this lit tidbit of info for your planning purposes. Plant Virginias about 30 inches apart, Burley about 36 inches apart and depending on the strain of Turkish, 8 to 12 inches apart. I like 4 feet between rows but you could manage with 3.

 

[ltstone]

I was thinking of growing some baccy too. Its the curing part that seems like the most difficult.

 

[puffinbilly]

Thanks Jitterbugdude,
Thank you for the tips, especially the planting dimensions, that spacing is huge! My garden is approx 30 x 20 yards. I did have visions of planting it tight like maize I guess I could fit in three rows of 20 plants before I have to dig up the lawn, chop down the pear trees or pull up my wife’s treasured dahlias!

 

[okiescout]

Welcome back, Puffinbilly. Sounds like you have it all planned out. Great idea.