Anyone Planning on Growing their own?

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by alist on Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:38 pm

Pete Gatti wrote:

I knew those cutworms could be a problem before I even started my seedlings. Right now the Sevin seems to be keeping them at bay. I was hoping for el-natural' but picking them off by hand was a real pain, especially in the hot Florida sun. Besides, you'd be surprised how much those little buggers can eat before making the next daily round of bug plucking.

There is info on the howtogrowtobacco forums regarding cutworms. If I remember correctly, it involved sprinkling some type of iron around the plants.

I finally got mine in the ground yesterday, or at least, the ones large enough to go in the ground. I have a few not yet ready due to my late start. Here's what I have so far in the ground:

Turkish:

3 Basma
4 Bursa
4 Izmir-Ozbas

Virginia:

6 Virginia Gold
1 BW low nic (I suspect this is a Virginia but am not sure)

I hit them with a capful of fish emulsion and a half capful of seaweed extract in 64 oz of water just a few minutes ago. I have Safer 3 in 1 on standby in the event of insect infestation, which can be used right up to the day before harvest since it is organic and won't chemicalize the bacccy.

I knew the Turkish varieties do not get as large as others, so planned to grow far more Turkish than other varieties, hoping a large number of the smaller Turkish plants, would balance out the 2 foot long Virginia leaves.

alist

Smoker Joined: Sep 01, 2007 Posts: 137

by Pete Gatti on Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:28 pm

alist wrote:

Other than using Sevin or another pesticide, don't remember the name, I read about putting some sort of tube around the base of the plant that acts as a barrier. Haven't read anything about sprinkling iron. I'm wondering if small sections of PVC pipe would work as a tube. Just have the plant grow up through it.

A few of my Turkish have already gone to flower. I pinched off the buds on a few more. Such a beautiful cluster of small Morning Glory looking flowers for such an evil plant. Smile

We've been getting heavy rain almost every day and the Sevin gets washed off so I'm thinking of spaying the grass between the plants with Triazicide. It's potent stuff but I won't be spraying the plant or around the root ball so it should be OK. I don't know, I have the worms pretty much under control. still finding one or two small ones every now and then so maybe I'll forgo the Triazicide and not take a chance. Last thing I need now it to ruin the entire crop.

Lots of luck with your crop. Within a month, you won't believe your eyes how fast they grow. I see you're not growing very many plants but read in another thread you switched to snus, so I'm guessing that should be plenty for you. I should give snus a try, lots of down home snus users around this neck of the woods. Problem is, I love the aroma of tobacco smoke so I would miss that part.

Pete Gatti Enthusiastic Smoker

Enthusiastic Smoker Joined: Mar 26, 2009 Posts: 243 Location: Dade City, Florida

by alist on Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:21 pm

Pete Gatti wrote:

I was lurking earlier today on the same website and someone mentioned crushed egg shells around the plants to keep the cutworms away. They said they won't get washed away easily by rain or watering.

Pete Gatti wrote:

A few of my Turkish have already gone to flower.

I am so JEALOUS, but also HAPPY for you! FVCK SCHIP TAXES! YAY!

Pete Gatti wrote:

Lots of luck with your crop.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. They are totally at the mercy of the elements at this point. I would have had them in the ground mid-June, but we had a HORRIBLE storm with baseball sized hail. I was able to snatch the plants back indoors once the hail let up. I haven't been able to get them in the ground due to the aftermath of the storm. It's a pity too, because I have seed for so many varieties that I didn't plant this year.

Pete Gatti wrote:

Within a month, you won't believe your eyes how fast they grow.

I am psyched about that part, particularly since reading they only need 65-70 days to reach maturity. I thought it was 90.

Pete Gatti wrote:

I see you're not growing very many plants but read in another thread you switched to snus, so I'm guessing that should be plenty for you.

I was smoking 10 pounds a quarter, which would have meant 160 plants annually to feed my habit. It takes me 5 days to get through a tin of mini portion snus, which is only 10 grams of tobacco. Roughly 7 plants will make enough snus to keep me in my habit for a year. Also, this year is a test. I want to get a better idea of how this goes before attempting to grow much more.

Pete Gatti wrote:

I should give snus a try, lots of down home snus users around this neck of the woods.

Snus is like a nicotine IV drip, rather than the quick, steep nicotine spike in the bloodstream you get from cigs. If nothing else, snus works perfectly for those times and places where you can't smoke, such as work, on planes, etc. I am presently experimenting with loose snus instead of portions, to be ready to consume my crop when the time comes, although I can create portions cheaply, with very minimal effort, if need be. If you do decide to play around with some snus, don't buy the US made Camel stuff. The Swedish stuff is so much better.

alist

Smoker Joined: Sep 01, 2007 Posts: 137

by shihan on Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:35 pm

I am a member of another board where everyone is raising their own tobacco. I have 30 plants in the ground (15 Common Burley and 15 Virginia Gold Leaf). I currently have a few Huge Leaf that are not ready for transplant. My largest plant is around three feet tall but the majority are between 18" and two plus feet.

I came across a post not too long ago that suggested mixing home grown (HG) with RYO tobacco. It seems to me that it would be very cost effective to use one pound of RYO and three pounds of HG. This would solve the problem of tobacco falling out of tubes and keep a vague flavor of the RYO. You can also add your own flavorings like those sold through Seedman.com.

I am excited about raising tobacco, mad at the hornworms that keep trying to eat it and happy there are no laws against raising it!

shihan

Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Houston, Texas

by alist on Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:23 pm

SUCCESS!!!!!!

1st lesson learned in this year's experiment; DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FERTILIZE TOBACCO PLANTS (AND PROBABLY ANY OTHER PLANTS) WITH FISH EMULSION ONCE YOU PLANT THEM IN THE GROUND! (Some animal or animals which have yet to be identified are particularly fond of the scent of the fish emulsion and will promptly dig your transplants up.)

2nd lesson learned in this year's experiment; DO NOT PLANT ALL OF YOUR SEEDS AT ONCE! (I thank my lucky stars I didn't!)

3rd lesson learned in this year's experiment; DON'T PLANT LATE IN THE SEASON! (I had no choice given my late start in ordering seeds.)

I ended up with two plants, neither of which reached maturity due to the late start. Given the late start, they are only waist high. However, the leaves are HUGE, being at least twice as long as my size 12 shoe.

I haven't even dug the plants up yet. I will most likely trash them anyway. That's ok, I learned what I needed to know, got my feet wet, have PLENTY of Swedish snus on hand, have PLENTY of seed for spring and am far better prepared for spring 2010 than I was in 2009. At least I know it can be done and really isn't that difficult.

alist

Smoker Joined: Sep 01, 2007 Posts: 137

by shihan on Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:21 am

alist, congratulations. It's a great feeling isn't it. To have a plan and watch it come to a successful end.

I have harvested all my burley and have over an ounce of seed from 15 plants. I still have six Virginia Gold plants blooming and believe that I will be able to harvest the pods way before the first frost.

I lucked out and have about a lot of tobacco to show for it.

After curing I obtained;
1) a Presto Salad Shooter for $16 from EBay - It shreds very well.
2) A Powermatic cigarette injector - $42 from EBay
3) Tubes from local smoke shop - 8$ for 400.

At first I thought I had screwed up because the cigarettes would not stay lit and some tobacco would fall from the tubes. They were also hard to puff/draw.

I just set the injector for the loosest setting and let the tobacco dry more - you can microwave a lb for two minutes and let cool and fluff between heating until it is dry enough. They now stay lit and draw evenly. A little harsh but not too bad. There are flavorings that help with harshness.

shihan

Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Houston, Texas

by alist on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:46 am

shihan wrote:

alist, congratulations. It's a great feeling isn't it.

It most certainly is. I can't wait to be at the point where what the government does no longer effects my tobacco usage.

shihan wrote:

I still have six Virginia Gold plants blooming and believe that I will be able to harvest the pods way before the first frost.

Virginia Gold is a most REGAL plant. Good GOD the size of those leaves! From what I understand, you will want to plant the seed from those pods next year. In other words, the seeds from plants grown in your soil, will grow better in that soil than seeds purchased which grew somewhere else.

shihan wrote:

At first I thought I had screwed up because the cigarettes would not stay lit and some tobacco would fall from the tubes. They were also hard to puff/draw.

Did you cure your tobacco at all?

alist

Smoker Joined: Sep 01, 2007 Posts: 137

by shihan on Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:33 pm

I did cure in a home made kiln. First I color cured by letting the leaves hang in a warm dry place until thay went from green to yellow to brown and after they color cured I placed them in my small kiln for 45 days. You do not want to smoke dry green leaf or the harshness will almost make it impossible. So far all has gone pretty well.

shihan

Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Houston, Texas

by libertarian99 on Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:10 am

shihan wrote:

Did you plug your kiln into a standard wall outlet or did you have an electrician put in a special outlet?

Last edited by libertarian99 on Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:52 pm; edited 2 times in total

libertarian99 Enthusiastic Smoker

Enthusiastic Smoker Joined: May 01, 2009 Posts: 453

by vredeman on Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:07 am

HI I have a Tobacco Farm & Seed/Plant website. Please PM me for more details at vredeman@gmail.com

vredeman Guest

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