Growing tobacco in MA w/ Pics

[Palmettoguy]

Just a few pics of me growing cig and cigar tobacco...

Seedlings

In the ground

All growed up...6 foot fence behind them

A few stalk cured leaves...

Trying my hand at growing tobacco using hydroponics

 

[njstone]

Very cool! Have you had a chance to try anything that you grew yourself?

This is something that I'd love to do at some point! Way to go!

 

[USCG Cigar Newb]

Awesome!!! Wow impressive, keep the pics coming.

 

[Palmettoguy]

Thanks guys...
Growing was easy...The hardest part I ran into was the curing process. I grew different types, so they required different curing processes.
The cig tobacco was "smokeable" after curing it and letting it rest for a yr.
The cigar tobacco, well, that was an epic fail, lol. My neighbor kept asking me to roll a few so i finally gave in. They tasted like lawn clippings smoked out of a burlap sack...oh well.
Also since I planned to smoke what I grew, I kept everything organic. The worms just laughed at my organic solutions so I was out there every day yanking those mofos off my leaves.

Front plot. 3.5' fence

My burley with orientals growing behind them

 

[USCG Cigar Newb]

Wow, I figured that it had to be a little more complicated, but since I dont really know about the process didnt even thing about the differnt curing and everything. What steps are you going to take about the Cigar tobacco to change it from here on out.

 

[hogfarmer]

I tried to grow my own last summer, Epic fail! We had a three week summer here in the northwest and my plants were nothing like yours. I'm still curing mine in my garage and don't have any expectations. Might have to use it for cigarettes. Going to try again this year.

 

[Palmettoguy]

I grew different types to see which would grow the best in my area.
The cigar strains did way better {the taller ones} than the cig tobacco.
Growing my own gave me a better understanding of tobacco as well as an apprerciation for those that grow it for commerce.
Those guys that grow for cigars are my heros...seriously. Take a wrapper for example...sun spots, ruined. Over fertilized, ruined. Bugs, ruined. Too much water, ruined. Hail storm, ruined. Guess you can see my point.
Also, I grew different strains because not every tobacco is the same. Cig tobacco allows nic to be absorbed easily through the lungs. While cigar tobacco allows nic to be easily absorbed by the mouth, tounge, back of throat. I wanted to see if there was a happy medium somewhere.
The hydro grow was a massive fail...too much water and the tobacco tastes like chit. My hydro plants got huge [still looking for the pics], but no matter how much I sweated them, I couldn't get the ammonia taste out of them.
I currently dont have any future plans to grow cigar tobacco as its just not worth the heartache to me. Burley and orientals, sure...just need some more land, lol.

 

[Nickerson]

Where in MA you at? We got quite a few smokers down here on the South Shore. I want to try growing some in my garden out back. About 24' by 12' area. Everything grows like a beast in there.

 

[Palmettoguy]

I live in the Woburn area.

My plants didnt do too bad considering I crowded them due to my small growing area and being shaded most of the day.

Seems like you have a decent amount of room for them to really take off.

 

[Nickerson]

I live in the Woburn area.

My plants didnt do too bad considering I crowded them due to my small growing area and being shaded most of the day.

Seems like you have a decent amount of room for them to really take off.

Cool. You'll have to venture down to Plymouth in June for our beach herf.

My biggest tip for growing... Burn. Over the fall and winter we put all the leaves we rake and fallen branches and christmas trees etc into the garden area and then burn it in the spring time. We've done this for over 10 years now and the soil in that area has risen 8" above the land around it. Has turned dirt that looked like playground sand into thick dark soft soil. Rototilling to loosen up the soil is also ideal. This past summer we had a squash vine that measured around 40 feet. If I were to grow tobacco I'd definitely put it in a netted enclosure like they do on real cigar plantations (unless its sungrown), caterpillars and inch worms reek havoc on any type of leaves here. Also rabbits, squirrels and other animals always find there way into our garden and nibble on things and tear them apart.

Seems like a fun project though, I would love to try it some day.

 

[Alwayslit]

Wow, nice plants.

 

[cartisdm]

Wow, that hydroponics stuff is bad ass

 

[Hot Lips]

Very cool - I've tried and failed so far at my own growing experiments. Not even worth the photos

 

[NickThePyro]

This is actually very awesome! And much like most home brewer's, your first batches will never be that great. Its a learning experience but it looks like you did exceptionally well for your first time. Thank you for sharing.