Instead of continuing to hijack Stitch’s thread, I figured we could continue our Tobacco cultivation conversation here. It would be great if we could learn the craft from eachother and create some ongoing educational conversation. Here are the seeds I purchased from Seedman. TA28 Small Stalk Black Mammoth This is a deep dark tobacco that gives good weight and supports itself very well. This is a tobacco prized by specialty growers because it provides a great wrapper tobacco or a premium snuff tobacco when ripe. A good tobacco for beginners learning to roll their own cigars or for first time snuff makers.** TA62 Yellow Orinoco These seeds are descendants from the heirloom Virginia Orinoco plants grown back as far as the 1700’s. Considered to be one of the sweetest varieties available, this is and excellent plug variety, and is often used in pipe mixtures as well. TA09 Perique Tobacco Rare and famous Louisiana tobacco known for it’s dark, black color and unique flavor when cured. Tobacco was originally cured by stuffing it into hollow logs until fermented. Perique is a spice tobacco, usually used in Virginia blends. It has a dark, oily appearance, when cured and a taste of pepper and figs. Its flavor is a little strong, so it is usually found mostly in blends. It can be smoked straight, but isn’t intended to be. Being acidic, it tends to alleviate alkaline tongue bite, which is so often a problem with Virginia tobacco, so it is recommend to blend this with your cigarette blends. TA71 DF911 Dark DF911 is a high yielding tobacco with a dark leaf. This dark tobacco produces a good yield of high snuff or cutting tobacco . TA10 Indian Tobacco ( Rustica ) A half hardy annual that grows to about 3 ft. and is cultivated worldwide for smoking and nicotine production. Has many green to yellow flowers that remain open during the day. It is so potent that it has been used as an arrow poison in Mexico. Can be raised as far north as Maine.**I’m still not quite sure how many of each I will grow. I have so much reading to do that it just isn’t funny.
I grew about 10 plants in 5 gallon buckets. Worked out pretty good. Kept the ‘crawly’ type bugs off em.
@cstokes4 (good idea about the new thread and all!) Did you already recieve the seeds? I heard of the sight but did not order any from him. I was curious as to how they were packed, how many seeds, are they reasonably priced-maybe better priced if more are bought? The going price for burley plants is $10.00 for 200. Now, that’s just plain burley-I would think some of these specialty seeds would be a bit more expensive ,and probably worth it, too! I’ve tried perique in a pipe tobacco blend and remember it being very good, just like you say, spicy . I’m wondering if the “arrow poison” will give Rooster a run for the money?
I just ordered today. All of their seeds are $2.20 for ~40-50 seeds. The shipping was $3.50. So for all the seeds and shipping it was a whopping $14.50. From what everyone on the site says, I should receive the seeds by Monday. This weekend I will try to find time to get the tiny starter trays. @Bakdoor: Did you make anything with your plants or did you just grow them for ornamental reasons?
Just didn’t have the time to do anything with them. Go to Lowes or HD and get a Burpee seed starting tray. The kind you add the water to the bottom tray and it wicks the water up to the peat plugs in the tray above. Worked GREAT! By the way, the seeds are TINY! Poor some onto a white pc of paper and dampen the end of a toothpick to pick each seed up. Just drop the seed on top of the plug. DO NOT bury the seed. Make sure the plugs are damp before adding the seeds.
Put the clear cover on and set in a sunny (indirect sun) spot. I put mine on my porch. Don’t let them dry out. Add plenty of water to the bottom tray.
Burpee tray is on the list. Thanks for the heads up!
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How is that spike used? Even though they are the enemy… the worm is kind of cute.
Sweet truck! Looks like you have some nice property! Was the barn built just for the Tobacco?
You push the stick in the ground at a 45 degree angle next to the plant. Put the spike, which is hollow over the top of the stick. Holding the stalk horizontal to the ground, you push the stalk over the spike, (watching not to include your paw in the ordeal!), The stalk will split, but if you spike it up high enough (with at least 1 set of leaves below the spike) you will not split it all the way out. ((MUch like a tree is hard to split where a branch protrudes from the trunk)). Yes, I thought about eating the worm because when you squeeze him alot of juice comes out-can almost be positive it’s 100% NICOTINE. Would they sell, Chris?
That’s actually a corn crib at the farm next door. I went to Georgetown, Ohio last weekend to get some tobacco sticks and looked in a barn up there. The tobacco was almost BLACK! With the weather we’ve been having, (very humid, no wind and mild) it’s been a bad time for mold. I though I wouldn’t take any chances and be sure to get lots of ventilation in this crib. Threw some 2 by 6 between the walls to run the sticks on. They wilt rather quickly…will have to get a shot of them in the barn.
LOL, I can see it already: “Bart’s Nicotine Worms” I’m sure that Andrew Zimmern would eat it! I’ll have to order a spike sometime, but I’m a ways off from needing it. The first pic of the plants is quite beautiful. I miss those northern days.
@Bart: I’m a Ford fanatic and I LOVE your truck. Is it a 1952 model F100? Your tobacco plants are beautiful and I’m trying to calculate how many tins of snuff you are going to turn out! I do not have enough space for so many plants and will have to use whatever little space I have left in my garden. But it’s been a dream, ever since I started snuffing, to put something in my nose which I’ve produced from A-Z. I think time is right for it now. With all the info I’m getting from the forum, I am prepared to give it a go.
Hello, Pieter! My Dad bought that truck when I was a small boy. And good eye, it is a 1952 F3 , originally with a regular bed . The flathead was stuck when he bought it so my Dad took the engine out of a 1968 Impala we grew up with and transplanted in the Ford. That’s the only real modification: 350 ci, 4 speed Muncie “rockcrusher”, stake bed. I’m glad to see other people have been giving it a go on growing some plants, or at least thinking about it. I’m sure I’ll have many mistakes I can warn you about before you make them. The plants took up less room than I thought! I’d be glad to hear/see your experiment with them. I 'll help any way I can.
BTW, Pieter, Hope you get feeling better soon!
_Yes, I thought about eating the worm because when you squeeze him alot of juice comes out-can almost be positive it’s 100% NICOTINE_Sell it as snus!
_Sell it as snus!_Just what the snus world needs a portion that moves around when it wants to. I have decided I’m going to grow a few tobacco plants next year. Just to see if I can. I do pretty well with the garden vegis and most non flowering plants.
LOL, When you check under the Whatcha Chewin thread and see folks posting “Worm”, I guess that means Nicotine Rush has begun to carry the little critters!
Locally the natives dry and fry Mopanie worms - you can check it out at Wikipedia. Apparently it tastes quite good and it is healthy food as well. So why can’t we dry and grind those little buggers? Could make a good snuff. Edit: I’ve just checked wikipedia now. Do yourself a favour and check it out!!!
I think this is what Pieter was trying to link Mopanie Worm
Thank you John, that’s it!
This is all reminding me of some Pink Floyd song where the ‘worms got in his brains’… can’t remember the name now?
Waiting for the Worm, perhaps?
Aye, sounds about right! Seems as though I’ve lost more brain cells than I last calculated…
@ Bart. Wow those are some great looking plants! I’d be proud to show them off too. If you want to try some Virginia and some N. Rustica, I have fresh seeds from last season. All you need do is ask.
That would be great ,Stitch! My season is about done with here in Ohio. After first talking to you, I realize that you are FAR more knowledgable in the tobacco realm than this rookie. I hope you continue to post about your possible snuff production and the problems/success that you encounter. My wife sells roses and other flowers she grows at some local farm markets here in town and I can always feel this sense of people looking for a natural ,quality product, not mass produced really, and they don’t think twice about paying for it. The day of cigs has slowly been coming to a close. Seeing as history always repeats itself, I may witness the Holy Second Coming of Snuff in my life time!!! Wonderful!!
I’ve planted my seeds on the 3rd and…it’s germinating already!!
That’s great, Pieter! You live in a mild growing zone don’t you? So you can grow anytime you want? You may be a natural at it. ( Those seeds are pretty dang tiny aren’t they?) Hoping that seeing something sprout and grow will make you get feeling better. Sometimes it works that way, my friend.
I think that as long as there is no freeze (or you plant early enough before the freeze), you can grow year round? I’ll be planting my seeds this week, and I just ordered more. I may wait for those to arrive, not sure what to plant and how much of it to plant.
@ Bart, I’m at the coast, most southerly point of Africa. It’s spring and everything is blooming. Winter rains. I have the plants indoors in seedling troughs. Soon as the plants are strong enough, I will bed it out. @Chris, we are in a high rainfall area, so I doubt whether the plants would like that. Rain normally starts falling in April and by that time, I should have harvested allready!! Dreams are good friends.
Hi Roderick, yes they are around already. Everytime we have a shipwreck, or some crude oil is spilled by the big tankers, the poor animals suffer a lot. Volunteers catch and clean them by hand. Quite a job.
The tobacco plants are amazing. They are still VERY small, hardly visible. I took tweezers and pulled up one. The root is well developed and about 8 times longer than the visible part. And this is after 6 days only.
Excellent, Pieter! I never did hear how many seeds you’ve got? (Actually, you may not know right now-the dang things are so small!!) How is the soil where you live? I know nothing about Southern Africa…
Started my seeds on this past Sunday. I did 2 each of: N. Rustica Lizardtail Turtlefoot Little Dutch Small Stalk Black Mammoth Hopefully by the end of the week I will have some germination going on.
Nice! Your order inspired me to get some seeds as well. I have a similar order to yours, but it’s not here yet. Though I ordered on the 6th of October, my seeds never arrived. Fortunately, Jim at seedman.com was kind enough to re-ship, this time with a tracking number. So just a couple more days. I got Indian Tobacco, the Black Mammoth, Dark Tobacco, Virginia Gold, and some Havana. I’m mostly looking to make snuff, maybe some snus, but might roll a cigar when all is said and done, too. I hope to have some starting in a few days, too! I don’t have great aspirations until spring, but I do have a good windowsill to get a feel for how to germinate and get started! Good luck!!!
Those sound like interesting varieties, fellas. Haven’t heard of Pieter’s seeds and how they are going?
@puffpuff: Luckily, I think I can grow year round down here in FL. We had some nice cool temps this past weekend, but it’s supposed to be in the high 80’s low 90’s by the end of the week!
@ Bart, my “little ones” are coming along strongly. I’m still keeping them indoors as I have a very nice room for that purpose. I must have about 100 growing and getting bigger by the day. Our soil is very sandy and I’m already working on the patch where I will be able to plant about 20 of my seedlings. I do not have a lot of space, so the remainder will be scattered all over my garden. I hope to have about 50 plants growing eventually. In the mean time I still have leaves fermenting right here in my office. I will start drying them from the first of November and would like to have the snuff ready by Christmas. This will be the first time for me, so I don’t know how much snuff I will “reap”.
Looks great, Bart! What does it smell like? Never thought that leaves hanging in a shed would make my mouth water so much!
Even though it’s a corn crib, it really has gotten the smell of a tobacco barn! You can tell in some photos that the leaves still have a slight green/tan to them at the base-they’re not quite dry. But there was no molding during the wet spell here, so I’m very excited. I brought a few leaves home to experiment with, I couldn’t resist. I would like to see your set up when you get going ,: Grow year round-Damn you’re lucky Chris!
Set up? Well, my garage is mighty fancy! LOL! I wish I had a corn crib and ample land to grow on. I suppose it’s a trade off.
LOL! Well, at least you’re growing it. You’re all hydroponic, then. There’s a store over in Ky., not sure if they are country-wide ,called Worm’s Way. I went in once in December and couldn’t believe the involved systems they would help you set up !! Everything from closet systems to full garage with timers, bulbs, fertilizer, etc. I just couldn’t figure why these fellers in tie-dyes were growing tomatoes in their closets!!LOL!!! Hells yes,a man needs his Vitamin C in the Winter!!
I thought about growing it the hydroponic way, but too expensive. Plus there is a certain “crowd” that goes to the stores, and I just don’t fit in. I’m sure if I told them I was growing tobacco the response would be “Oooohhh Yeeaaahhh, we get a lot of people growing tobacco, farout man” *wink* LOL! My garage is going to be my curing barn. I figured the decent humidity would help the baccy cure in there. Plus, it stays a nice warm temp even in the winter.
I’ve counted my seedlings today and there are 150 strong little ones. So I reckon I should be able to get at least 50 plants going.
@bart I just couldn’t figure why these fellers in tie-dyes were growing tomatoes in their closets!!LOL!!! I know over on http://www.thehotpepper.com there are many who grow their peppers indoors year round Unfortunately grow lights in windows tend to attract unwanted attention for some. My dad has some extra land with a berry field on it. I could probably put a few tobacco plants on it since my brother has been interested in trying to grow some of his own, but my parents think I already spend too much time on my hot peppers.
I grew some cold habernos this year. You can eat them just like a bell pepper. Sweet as sugar. They are still yeilding too.
@Chris, how are your seedlings doing?
I finally have some germination. I was starting to get worried. They are still in their little “greenhouse”. Can’t wait to get them outside! I am going to plant some Perique as soon as my lettuce plants get big enough to go into pots.
Hi guys! I finally got my seeds last week, too. I sowed on the 22nd, and at T+5 days, here’s an example of what I got out of a few nicotiana rustica seeds: 
and a close up crop from the same shot: 
This shot was from last night, and by tonight, they’re already notably more green, and less white, and more upright. Both shots were taken with my Pentax K20D, with a 1:1 macro lens (Tamron 90mm) at just about 1:1, for those interested… It’s very magnified here. These seeds are a fraction of the size of a poppy seed. The seedling pictured here is probably about 2mm long. I can’t see them this well with my bare eyes.
@puffpuff, nice photo’s, you have just shown us one of the wonders of Nature. Those little plants will grow into giants, 1.5 metres high! The leafs which were fermenting in a glass jar are now in my “tobacco drier”. This consists of a large cardboard box with some holes cut out on the sides, right at the bottom of the box. I have fixed a 40 watt globe (bulb) on the bottom of the box. I hung the leafs on thin iron bars which lies across the box. I’ve covered the box with a lid in which I’ve also made some holes. When the bulb is switched on, it causes some heat in the bottom of the box which then starts circulating because of the updraught of the warm air. This is actually my biltong box but I’m sure it will dry the leafs in no time. The sweet smell of tobacco which fills the air in my garage where I keep the box, tells me that things are happening in there. My seedlings are growing strongly. We are enjoying some warm weather, so I put the tray outside during the day.
The tobacco drier is working very well and I should be able to grind the leafs before the end of this week.
Amazing photos, PuffPuff. I can see the nicotine glistening on the little sprouts now!!!
I’m taking little pinches of KarooStof Maryna. I’ve been waiting for this moment for 6 months! Btw, “Maryna” is the name of the lady who brought me the tobacco. The snuff is medium grind and, of course, very dry. The nicotine hit is above average and it leaves a beautiful “visiting card” in the form of a slight nose burn. The taste is straight forward plain tobacco. It is still very fresh, or raw, as I’ve ground it only 30 minutes ago. Now, to leave it alone to settle is gonna be a problem! So far I’ve only got about 15gram because the rest of the leaves are still in the drier. But at least I’ve got some idea of what to expect. I’m happy, very happy indeed!
I took Pieter’s advice and put a couple of my tobacco leaves in the electric coffee grinder over the weekend till they ground down quite nicely. Maybe just because they are not totally cured, when I opened the grinder I was met with a scent not to unlike the inside of a pumpkin!; a slight green vegatative smell mixed with the tobacco smell.I’m sure part of this has to do with the leaves not being absolutely cured yet. It was very light in color. I believe I had remembered reading that F&T HDT used the tobacco stalks as well in their grinding of that particular mix? I may be wrong… So I then ground up a couple of the bigger stalks in another batch. It resulted in a darker, slightly greener color,slightly courser grind, as expected, but I couldn’t notice any more distict power to it. It had a nice kick to it, though. Something I’ve been wanting to know, directed somewhat toward Rodrick, but others may know: Does a company like Toque hold contracts with different growers who supply them with shipments of ground ,plain tobacco where it is then scented by the particular company? Or is it even more basic than that, where Toque receives the tobacco in leaf form and begins the process at that point. I’m aware some of the other companies in England do their own grinding but I had never heard Toque’s full process. I may just be missing a link, though. I hold no plans to supply Toque with tobacco, but was curious to their process that leads up to the finished tin. Thanks, Bart
My tobacco plants are growing very slowly. It seemed as if they were not getting any bigger. I’ve noticed today that a second set of leafs are forming at last. Maybe the roots had to grow first or maybe the weather is still to cold. We had some rain again. Who else has got some babies going?
Mine are taking FOREVER as well.
I did notice when I set mine out they looked as if they were going to die. I mixed some wood ash in the field and at first I thought I put too much in there. Then, kind of like a tomato plant does, they took off like crazy. I wouldn’t be too worried if they seem to slow down at this stage as long as they aren’t yellowing.
The seeds arrived today. Nicotiana Tabacum - Virginia Gold Nicotiana Tabacum - Kentucky Nicotiana Rustica Unfortunately I still have to wait a few months, until winter´s gone, but at least I´m all prepared now. The horse dung settles nicely on the field. hehe Still have to search for containers for the curing. But after all, we had pottery in school so if all else fails, I´ll make them myself.
@Redstar I’m going to try putting a bit of my Burley in a hollowed out log. I’ve read about placing it in an aromatic tree–I’m going to try Sassafras, which is pretty common in these parts, adding a bit of bourbon, and letting it sit for 6 to 12 months. I’m sure this cuts down on the possibility of molding as well as adding flavor. Looking forward to hearing how your plants go, RedStar.
The idea with the hollow log sounds promising. But for starters I´ll use a “neutral” container, that doesn´t affect the taste of the tobacco. There´s plenty of playing around with fermentation and curing alone. I´m not even trying to recreate anything, as the taste is too much depending on climate and soil (which makes cuban tobacco so unique, as far as the experts say). So even if I had the same seeds as someone in Spain or Turkey, the result would never ever be the same, even before processing the leaves. Fortunately, my father worked as a farmer, at least in his youth and has green fingers, so to say. He reserved some small fields in his garden for the experiment. So I´m not too worried about growth, but rather about the taste, as that will be my responsibility alone… I´ll post pictures from all the stages, as soon as it begins.
Great photos! Good luck to all who try growing. It has been a lot of fun for me and after a couple years aging the snuff is pretty decent.
My plants are acting very strange! Some of them are still like when they germinated while others are almost big enough to transfer to their permanent home. I’ve also planted some cannabis seeds and after 10 days the plants are already higher than the rustica in 2 months.
Let’s see pics of the cannabis seedlings…
pieter are you going to make a cannabis snuff? Or is that just an excuse to sprinkle snuff on a smoking blend?
I’ve quit smoking on the 14th of February 2007 and there is no way that I will ever risk starting again. My wife is a nagger and she is scared to death that the police might get onto me. I love to give her something to nag about and that’s why I have the cannabis going! I believe the leafs can be used to make a good snuff. That’s according to some of our members here. Unfortunately I won’t be able to share this with you because then the cops will “come and take me away” for sure. The plants really grow very fast. It germinated within 5 days. I must still decide what I’m going to do with them. Can’t risk planting it in the garden because I have a gardener who will “use” it. I’m thinking of potplants which I can take outside during the day and keep indoors over night.
tie pretty little flowers on them to throw people off… I tried to grow weeds in my youth, but my house got searched before they got real big and I had to flush the pretty ladies down the toilet…
sure just send it with someones return address that you hate.
According to some of the members here it is not the leaves but the flower buds that have a great scent.
My Rustica plants are coming along nicely now. I will transplant some of it this coming weekend. The weed is also growing fast but I only have 3 plants going. Who else has got some tobacco going?
Really seems strange to hear talk of transplanting this time of year. I know you’re south,Pieter–what’s the temp there today or during this season?
@Bart, average temp during the day is 28 celsius going up into the 30’s during January and February. Our growing season is from September until end April.
I’ve transplanted one of my seedlings in a pot today. Will have to see if it will grow there. I’ve got quite a nice number of plants in the tray still which is also ready to go. Holding thumbs because the seeds are from the original SJ plants.
My Rustica plants are doing well and I hope I will be able to harvest enough leafs to experiment some more with the replicating of SJ. This has kind of become an obession with me. For the moment I will concentrate on nursing my plants to adulthood.
Out of 150 seedlings only 21 developed into strong and healthy plants. I’ve transplanted them today. The rest of the plants grew very slowly and remained small, so I just chucked them away. I will (hopefully) catch some fresh seeds from one or two of the plants. The rest I hope to use for snuff. Problem is they are growing so slow, I doubt whether I will be able to harvest before winter starts. Our winters are wet with only little bits of sunshine. How am I going to dry the leafs? Are there any of the other members who’s got some tobacco growing at present? If so, I hope you have more luck than me.
Far too early to get tobacco, tomato or peppers started, even in sunny San Diego. The winter/spring garden is all in though with fava beans, red radishes, carrots, pak choi, parsnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, red oakleaf lettuce, kolrabi and beets. Also some dill is sticking it’s cotyledons out and some bare root strawberrry plants are already blooming after a month in the ground.
Stripping my tobacco out over this New Years break and going to do my best to tie them into ‘hands’. Will try to post some photos of my feeble attempt. May try to braid some into ropes, as I’ve seen in some old photos.
How could something so beautiful and useful be hated by so many people?
Nice work. Those hands are beautiful.The tobacco I mean, not yours. Yours look sort of grungey.
Nice looking hands! The tobacco, that is. Why should a vegetable be something to hide? - F. Zappa
@Bart: Great stuff! This reminds me of those centerfolds of sticky buds in High Times; tobacco porn! hehehe. I’m hoping to plant a few 'baccy plants myself in the backyard this spring; nothing much since my yard is small, maybe 3 or 4 just to see if I can do it…
I’m sure you could grow them , James. Just treat them like tomato plants early on. One thing, I’ll be sure to try and grow some of that Rustica this year if possible. HahA, I know what you’re saying about the High Times deal! Hell, by the time I got done stripping them out, my hands where almost totally black and had a thick coating of resin I could peel off with my fingernail. I didn’t sleep too soundly that night–I’m guessing I was dosed pretty decent on nicotine.
Bart, awesome success there! Congratulations!
Thanks, Sprangalang! It is a nice feeling when you have a small part in raising something from a sprout, as others are doing as well here. I’ve always said, it would be an honorable occupation to get into.
I started a couple Rustica plants on November 12th in my homemade hydroponic system. I am doing everything wrong so my plants are now only 3" high. They are growing EXTREMELY slow. I am using a crappy, cheap plant light and I started the seeds in Jiffy peat starters. The peat is too compressed and hold water too well, at least for use in my setup. I also went overboard and over-fertilized the plants, fortunately they survived the dousing, can’t say the same for my sugar baby watermelon plant. I’ve got better supplies on the way as well as some more seeds! Looking forward to reading more tobacco growing experiences, this thread is great!!!
zzedo310, I’ve planted my Rustica seeds on October 3rd and the plants are still only about 3" high. We have nice, warm weather and I’m really nursing the babies but, as you say, growth is very slow. This is my first experience with tobacco, so I don’t know if that’s normal. What I do know is that it will be winter before the plants are big enough to harvest. I will have to start earlier next time round.
I didn’t start mine from seed, so I missed that part of it this time. But I’ve seen some tobacco growing in Kentucky on some land so poor you couldn’t raise an umberella sitting on a sack of fertilizer. I’ve also seen tomatoes growing in the dryer parts of creek beds during the middle of Summer where it seems nothing could be capable of growing. I’m thinking some types of tobacco don’t need the best land? But then I’ve also read on here that the soil is what may impart a distinct scent from the region where it comes from. I would like more info on that as well! I think I said I added quite a bit of hardwood ash to my soil and ran a wheel hoe through it before I set my plants. Like you fellas, I was really sweating it for about 2-3 weeks it seems before they took off. And when they do, they seem to grow at an amazing rate–(So do the freakin tobacco worms, though) Pieter, could I meet you half way, and grow your plants here on a sharecrop deal?
Pieter - are your plants indoors?? Have you had to support your plants? My plants seem to be top heavy so I added a couple toothpicks for the plants to lean on because they want to fall over. I think the big thing slowing mine down is the hard, compacted peat. Next trial will be with a medium such as rockwool…can’t wait! The only reason I picked Rustica to start out with is because it seems to be one of the smaller tobacco plants. I would like to keep my plants indoors all the time for fear of things such as Bart’s tobacco worms! I’m sure they are harmless and even considered a delicacy to some but I just don’t wanna share my plants with them!
I think some of you guys are smothering your plants with attention (over watering, fertilizing etc) Heck, if farmers had to do all that they just couldn’t grow those enormous fields of tobacco. The only thing they do that you don’t want to imitate is the extensive use of pesticides, which is how they control the many critters that know tobacco is fun to chew. The lack of insecticides is what limits the size of your crops.
zzedo310 - yes I have my plants indoors most of the time. They are still to small to plant them outside. It seems as if some of the stems are to thin to support the plants. I still have them in small pots and place them outside during the day but indoors overnight. We have some strong winds blowing this time of year and the plants are to weak to withstand the wind. I have one plant which is in a large pot, indoors and which is growing very nicely. I would like to keep it as a potplant to harvest the seeds as I believe this is the true Rustica used for Spanish Jewel. I hope to gather enough seed to experiment more next season. I’m thinking of sowing some directly into the ground but we have problems with lots of snails and other “chewers” here. But it’s fun and I will persist until I succeed.
My Rustica is really growing fast now. I’ve also learned that an old friend of mine grew up with tobacco farming. He will guide me through all the steps of harvesting, drying and, best of all, fermenting.
I’m curious to know how the other “tobacco farmers” here are faring with their crops. My plants are growing like mad and I’m so happy. @Bart, have you used any of those lovely leafs of yours yet? To me it looks good enough to eat!
How well would tobacco grow in the UK ?
@ukiceman, I’m only guessing but it might be a bit to cold and wet for growing tobacco. If you have the use of a hothouse it might be possible. But again, I can only guess. We have hot summer weather with almost no rain and our growing season is from September until April.
@Pieter Claassen Thanks Pieter, I was worried you might say that, never mind
Well, the weather in southern England should be a bit more suitable than in continental Europe, although generally comparable. There are some “traditional”, sturdier Tobacco´s that have been / are used in Germany and Austria which should do well in England as well. How suitable they might be for snuff… hmmm, don´t know. I can send you half of the seeds I´ve bought, when I send you another parcel, Shaun. It´s worth a try, I´d say.
Yeah, I was wondering if it would be possible to gorw some in the UK. Would it be possible to grow one or two plants indoors in a large enough container? Really would like to give it a bash.
Hi Michael… I’d definitely be interested in having a go. I’m quite envious of the members who live in the climates that our beloved plants thrive in. I guess I can’t get any further south than the Isle of Wight and, my parents garden has one side which is south-facing so, it might work! They probably won’t look anything likes Barts pictures above but, I’d still be happy at crop time.
@Snuffin, I’ve seen some pictures of indoors potted tobacco plants and they were beautiful.
@Pieter I’m waiting to hear more info from you on the fermenting info involved. That seems to be where my information falls short because everyone around here cures their tobacco, sells it, and that’s the last they see of it. I’ve got mine stored in boxes in the garage where it stays moderately warm. I check it weekly for mold or any other vermin. It has begun to move from the ‘green’ tobacco smell to straight strong scent, which I’m excited about. I’ve talked to an old timer who says you have to let it go through the ‘summer sweat’, back and forth between the humidity, but don’t let it get too hot, like storing in an attic, for it will lose all of it’s scent. Glad to hear yours are doing well…
Bumped this up…Is there any more news from those growing their own in the warmer climates?
@ Bart, No warm climate overhere, but I plan to sow in a couple of days and let them germinate in front of the stove, as farmers did a century ago. So not a revival of “Amersfoorter Bestgoed” but “Rotterdammer Bestgoed”. Jaap Bes.
@Bart, I started off to late this season. All my plants are flowering although they are still quite small. I will harvest the seeds and start again in June, doing what Jaap suggested.
Aye, sounds like everyone is regrouping! My absolute last day of frost is May 10 but I’m gearing up for tobacco again as well, and potatoes in the ground on St. Patty DAy, my annual search and making of Sassafras for tea to thin the blood, and Morel mushroom hunting late in the season–You don’t know how much you miss Summer till you start talking about all the different yearly rituals we all have
I’m going to try again soon. I let my seedlings die. It will be in the 80’s and humid here pretty soon.
@cstokes4 “It will be in the 80’s and humid here pretty soon” Thanks for that while i’m still freezing my nuts off in the UK
Sorry Uk. Move to Florida! It was 39 this morning, and it’s supposed to be in the 70’s tomorrow. No wonder people are always sick down here.
I’m glad you guys posted on this thread, reminds me to get the seedlings started. I’m going to try germinating on damp towels this time, then move to soil. I guess I should get some sand. Has anyone made anything with last year’s harvest yet?
Bart, Have you made anything with the 2,345,234,216,635,136 pounds of tobacco you harvested?
HahaHA,AYE, Chris!!!, ME MADE A BATCH OF SNUFF GOES BY THE NAME OF " Grimstone’s Eye"
lol, what a great name!
Instant hit with a name like that.
I have decided to take the summer off from school. And since I will have a little less to do, I am going to start getting my tobacco plants ready. Anyone else considering a new crop for the summer?
Count me in. I made some mistakes last year I’ve learned from and want to do a better job this time. No burley this year.
What did you end up doing with it?
I’ve got a couple batches fermenting in bourbon in the cellar but the majority I’ve got stored in the garage where it’s cool for now. I check it every week or so to make sure it’s not pulling too much moisture and molding but it’s dry out there. Also ,I’m mixing some with some local apple cider I picked up this weekend for some chew.
Sounds good. Would you reduce the cider to a syrup and then sauce the tobacco with that?
That’s all I’ve read. Reduce it to a fairly thick sauce, throw a couple dashes of salt, and put only enough leaves in to soak up the juice, trying not to actually cook the leaves, taking them out fairly quick. I’ve tried something similar and got something that looked like cooked greens in the pan, haha. Too much heat and not thick enough juice, I suppose.
After a fortnight the seeds have germinated in front of the stove. Jaap Bes.
New planting season for me. I just planted 5 of each: Small Stalk Black Mammoth Greenwood Dark Little Dutch Heirloom Lizard Tail Turtle Foot Perique Pennsylvania Red Leaf Silkleaf Virginia Gold Dark Tobacco Yellow Orinico
Alot of variety, Stokes! Do you already have seedlings up or are you talking just planting SEEDS!?? I have to get rolling here
I just started about 30 plants, too, after my indoor dry run that started back in October. That poor plant lasted about 5 months (never got taller than a quarter), until I went on vacation and it died over the week. But it did give me a little experience dealing with the tiny seeds. I kept it in a tiny terra cotta, watered and not fed, so it’s lack of growth was mostly my own doing… I just sowed this list in a 5x6 seed starter tray. I’m probably just a little late, but maybe not. 5x havana 5x virginia gold 5x Dark Tobacco 5x Small Stalk Black Mammoth 5x Yellow Orinoco 5x Indian Tobacco I don’t expect all 30 to make it to transplant outside, but hopefully I’ll have 10-15 that are hearty enough to survive outside…
@Bart: Just planted the seeds.
I’m still waiting for my plants to “shoot” their seeds. Funny things are happening here in our area. My plants are flowering AGAIN, bearing new flowers on the same plants. I have a Black Mission fig tree which has dropped all it’s leaves a month ago. Now it’s budding again and it’s covered with new leaves although summer is almost gone! We are also still picking grapes in my backyard which is unreal for this time of the year. It seems as if I’m the only one/thing getting older all the time.
@cstokes4: How are your seedlings? Is anything showing yet? My Rustica sprouted already, but none of my other types have even begun to show any signs of sprouting. Am I being impatient?
Not yet. I put them outside yesterday so they can get the full range of temperature. It’s supposed to be mid 80’s this week, so once they do sprout, I’m sure they will take off.
puffpuff, I’ve also planted some other seeds last year, same time as my Rustica, and the Rustica was much faster in germinating.
Thanks, guys, that makes me feel a little better. I won’t try to sow additional seeds until I give these more time.
I’ve reaped my first Rustica seeds today; one little pod gave me about 1,000 seeds! And there still are lots of “little pods”. So I can really try different experiments this season.
Wow! Is that for just 1 flower?
Probably a good feeling, Pieter! I’m starting some by this weekend which puts me 6 weeks out from the last frost in this area. I never started seed, always purchased the plants, but all I can get around here is Burley. 200/ $10.00 This season will be different…
I will not let my wife near my tobacco sprouts when they’re growing. I think her nagging, abrasive voice would surely stunt the little guy’s growth…they are so impressionable at that age
@Chris, yes that’s on pod from one flower. Maybe it’s more like 500 seeds in there. I have two plants flowering from which I’m reaping the seeds and there are lots of flowers on both. Then I also have some smaller plants flowering of which I’m not going to catch the seeds. I will just leave it in the ground and see what happens.
That’s awesome! Looks like the growers here might be able to set up a nice exchange.
How do the flowers smell?
Just checked my plants and I have sprouts. Some here and there, not a lot though.
Me, too! My havana started sprouting this morning. I’ve got just a couple showing on my Dark Tobacco and Virginia Gold. Looks like they’re trying!
Here’s a pic I took tonight - click for a larger version:
Is the window on the left,Puff? They’re all reaching for something ,haha!
LOL I see that to Bart!
Lol, yeah, they’ve had limited access to light, as it’s still pretty cool here. They’d clearly love some more. Even just this morning, they (the rustica) weren’t that tall (or leaning). They’ve been moving around the house, due to sun, or just simply being in the way, so the window’s been on every side, but probably most recently on ‘that’ side.
Could anyone point me in the right direction on finding information/links on the toasting process of cured tobacco leaves. I don’t really desire the ‘smokiness’ but more of a toast similar to F/T HDT and the way a LUCKY STrike short smells. (Whenever I search toasted tobacco, it always involves hash or something else I have no interest in) Would a slow increase of heat in a vacuum be out of line? Also I am currently “bulking” my tobacco, storing it pressed in close quarters. Is there a set point when it is better to age it in snuff form rather than leaf?. Possibly, Jaap may be the only able to answer some of these.
@ Bart: Sorry, I am not familiar with toasting. The only thing which comes to my mind is that before our Karottenfactory was rebuild and became a multipurpose building there was a plate dryer installed, which may have been used to dry or toast tobacco. The question remains wether the tobacco was sauced before toasting or was not sauced at all and only toasted. What exactly do you mean by by “bulking”? If you press the freshly harvested leaves together in a closed container you should closely follow the proces that is going to take place, because to much humidity in the leaves can cause moulding and/or putrification. It maybe better to store the cured leaves as they are. I hope this is of some use to you. Jaap Bes.
Well, I have them stored in boxes, somewhat airy, but packed in close quarters. That’s been fine during the Winter with the dry air. I’ve been checking it often to make sure no mold would start and they’ve done well. With the Summer coming on, the moist humidity has me concerned that I may run into storage issues. I’ve heard storing cured tobacco this way is better than hanging the hands up again in a barn on sticks. Again, this may be wives tales, I don’t know enough about the final steps of storing and prep work after the leaves have cured–there are many techniques! Without giving away any secrets, is there a source of information for what I’m speaking of, Jaap?
@ Xander, the flowers are small and I don’t detect any smell from them. @Bart, I’ve spoken to a friend who grew up on a tobacco farm. According to him, they “heated” the leaves by covering it with hessian bags, the old type flower bags. He says one must check the tobacco every day, turn it around and watch for moulding. The tobacco must “sweat” to get rid of the juices and it also makes it taste stronger. I guess it’s a case of trial and error because, up till now, I could not find anyone with a proper recipe. Luckily I will have lots of seeds to sow and hopefull I will have enough tobacco to just try and try again.
@ puffpuff, those little plants are funny. They will linger for a long time but once they are big enough to live outdoors 24/7, they will just start shooting upwards like mad. They like lots of water once they are on the go. They are quite tough; we have had terrible winds blowing but they just ignored it. Just watch out for other “snuffers”, those once who actually snuff out your plants by eating them.
Thanks, Pieter… I remember you had a buddy who was going to give you advice and I was waiting to see his thoughts. I’ve heard of the ‘summer sweat’ too. You may be right.just experiment and keep track of the results, I suppose.
@ Bart: I found a small booklet on tobacco growing in the Netherlands which dates back to 1942. It gives information about the cultivation of tobacco, harvesting, drying and a little about fermentation. In short: After drying the tobacco leaves are tied together in bundles of 25 with the stalks. The bundles are put together in pretty large heaps as soon after drying as possible. Because the leaves are not all the same it is nessecary to give each bundle its own place in the heap. This is because the temperature in the heap is different at different places. Place of the bundle and temperature of the heap are matched to assure a good fermentation. For “Bestgoed” (used for snuff) heaps of 3m diameter and 2m high are advised. Optimum temperature is 40 degrees C and should not come higher than 50 degrees C. The heaps has to be turned upside down and inside out regularly. During this proces the leave bundles has to be shaken. Dense packaging of the heap gives slow fermentation, loose packaging vigorous fermentation. The air in the fermentation room has to be saturated with water vapour. The humidity of the leaves is crucial: to dry, no fermentation, to wet wrong processes will take over. Temperature is also important. To cold: no fermetation, to hot possebility of drying out. It will be obvious that to small a heap cannot heat its self due to the unfavourable surface to volume ratio. Note of myself: Possibly polystyrene boxes can give enough insulation to overcome some of this problems. Jaap Bes.
Thanks again, Jaap! That’s the most specific direction I’ve gotten so far. Seems the older information is actually easier to come across and more useful to a amatuer like myself. I think the process you describe is what 'Lucky Strike" was referring to in some of their old literature as ‘bulking’ the bundles. The toasting process they went into very little, that being their trademark quality at the time. The one other time I had tobacco as a young boy, I kept it in too hot of an area with little ventilation and ended up with very dried out scent-less leaves, a mistake I never want to make again. These Burley have gained in their tobacco scent over the past 2-3 months and begun to lose the ‘green’ scent they originally had. I’ll continue to work with them. Thankyou,Sir! Bart
What a difference 3 days makes… (the unlabled column is Rustica)
I plan to spec out and possibly build my raised garden beds this weekend, so they’ll be ready to move outdoors in the next 2-3 weeks…
Very nice. Little Nicorettes. Wait…
Checked my plants yesterday. Everything is sprouting up very nicely, except for my Turtle-Lizard Orinco.
Mine are emerging now as well. I´ve been quite worried, as I´d thought they´d sprout alot faster. Took them 6 days. Checked the garden beds yesterday. The horse dung settled very nicely. Should give them some boost, when they meet!
Checked my guys today. DAMN CATERPILLARS A caterpillar totally wiped out 1 tray. I still have another tray that looks wonderful! So, I will have to plant another tray, which is fine as there are some other seeds I want to try. I’m still deciding a punishment for the little guy. It’s either eternal damnation in the toilet, or a chuck over the fence. (I’ll probably let him go, he’s too cute)
Will your turtle eat them?
But, I still have: 
lol Would at least be a good use for the little fella. Transferred the biggest plants this afternoon. Maybe I can plant them next weekend, depending on the weather. Still quite frosty at night.
I’m sure that my Redfoot would eat him for sure, and my Red Ear would devour him… but he has tobacco in him so I won’t feed him to them.
True, but I´d say the nicotine content should be next to nothing in these little plants.
Most likely. I’ll let him transform into whatever it is that he… transforms into.
Dang, that’s too bad, seeing how much work it takes to get to that point!
I have in my nose, at this very moment, a pinch of snuff made from my own tobacco!! WOW!!! Nothing to brag about, it actually smells of fish. Good nose burn and a fair nic kick. It’s still fresh and maybe it will improve with time. But even if it does not, it’s still a first for me and I’m happy.
Pieter: Congratulations on your first crop! Well done, sir, well done indeed.
That’s something to be proud of, Pieter!
Good job Pieter! Curing is an art form, my season is just beginning, 12 Rustica and 24 Virginia giant leaf sprouted so far, gonna plant on a farm this year., good soil and just north of classic growing area.
Excellent job, Pieter! They say plants respond to how they are treated by their owners. You’ve done it right it seems!
Pieter: The yahoo snuff-grinders forum has a file folder with documents related to the Nigerian snuff industry, correspondence between an american tobacco company and the Nigerian Tobacco company. They suggest simple grinding of whole leaf with the addition of 5 to 8 percent of potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate (washing soda) for a simple dry snuff. Might be worth a try to steam the leaves in their ground form, dry them out, then add the carbonate and maybe a topping. I’ve got 5 pounds (about 2 kilos) of air-cured tobacco on-hand, and I’m making it up into carrottes (or periques or pricks), except for about a half pound or so that I’m experimenting with alternate methods (most likely, it’ll end in tears, but who can say?).
The only washing soda I know is caustic soda and I won’t dare put that in my nose!
@Pieter - “washing soda” is traditionally sodium carbonate. It is similar to baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) except for the missing hydrogen atom. It is a little more basic than baking soda, but not that much. It isn’t particularly dangerous to skin, although I cannot say if it is dangerous to nasal passages. “Caustic soda” on the other hand is sodium hydroxide, and I agree with you - I wouldn’t put that up my nose either! Caustic soda is used to make soap, so we effectively rub that all over our bodies, but of course it has reacted with various fats first in the saponification reaction. Perhaps you are confusing “washing lye” with “washing soda”? Washing lye is an old name for caustic soda…which is an old name for sodium hydroxide. Or perhaps in Europe (or S. Africa) they like to use the term “washing soda” for lye rather than for sodium carbonate?
cstokes that catapillar turns into anti-tobacco zealots. You should put it in a jar and then re-educate it when it pulls its metamorphose.
Kind of inspired by Juxt’s video a couple days ago, got off work early today went to the fabric store and got some linen, and rolled a couple ‘pricks’ up out in the garage. One I just kept plain and one I misted with Evan Williams Mint Julep mix before I squashed her down. As a side note for stripping tobacco, I found a better way for myself that maybe useful for others who are stripping out their Rustica, etc. With the leaves in case, hold one leaf up in front of you, top of the leaf facing the floor, you holding the end of the stem. Fold both sides of the leaf in towards eachother. Now the stem runs along the top. Holding the leaf stem in both hands, act as if it is a ‘zip-lock’ bag and strip from large to small end of the vein. A person can strip through amazing amounts of leaves very quickly this way. (I have always held the leaf open and stripped down both sides, one at a time…very slow)
I’ve harvested and counted my seeds today. I have 3,569,342 seeds waiting to be planted.
The seedlings are still waiting to be planted outdoors, because last night we sill had freezing temperatures. Jaap Bes.
I just finished transplanting the best of my sprouts into 22 inch pots. They look good. I’m at the end of ‘Phase 1’ and the beginning of ‘Phase 2’. I’ll try to take a picture tomorrow.
Ok, a week later, but here’s 10 of the 14 plants I’ve started:
@puffpuff, looks very good. Just watch out for the “guys” that chew green tobacco. Snails and caterpillars can cause a lot of damage. And those babies need a lot of water daily.
Nice Puff! How big are those tubs?..5 gallon or so? Do you keep them in those for the duration of the season? Just curious
@Pieter: Thanks, I’ll keep my eyes out for 'em! @Bart: I’m not certain of their volume. They were labled as 22inch pots. Maybe a little bigger than a 5 gallon bucket, and wider at the top. I do plan on keeping them in those pots until harvest. If it seems to stunt their growth, I’ll know to try something different next year. But Tom from Nicotine Rush described using 5 gallon buckets with some success, and these are a little bigger, so I’m hoping it will be alright. This is my first attempt at this, so my expectations are low, but my hopes are high. I noticed that I seem to have lost the bottom leaf on most of my plants during the transplanting. The lowest leaf on many have yellowed or decayed to some varying degree. Should I prune them off, or leave them on the plants to survive as best they can?
May be caused by water spash, too ,Puff. All my plants last year had that…the round of leaves on the bottom caught the sand/dirt spray thrown up when it rained. I just left them to protect the leaves above–figured as spindly as they were they weren’t sucking much nutrients from the main plant. ( The old farmer I know from KY. calls those leafs 'Sand-Lugs")
The Rustica plants are quite funny. Although it’s winter, cold and raining, they are still going strong! I have 5 plants which are growing very nicely with some big, strong leaves. They are flowering but I remove the flowers all the time. It seems as if I will have some really nice leaves in the new season from last seasons plants!!
The N.tabacum, the N.rustica and the N. alata seedlings were planted out last week. Hoping for some warm weather now. Jaap Bes.
Good luck, Jaap.
Transplanting 20 plants today, been putting it off too long. Then I’ll be sewing a bunch of new seeds, I want another crop to come behind this one. Mostly Rustica this time.
Mine are definitely hardy now…they’ve been on the porch for almost two weeks. It is strange how all the descriptions of growing has had the plants enter a stage when it seemed as though they were sure to die, …kind of yellow up and no new growth…and then suddenly they pull through and green out, gaining strength daily. Never give up on those little guys! I have roughly 30 out of 40 that I planted ready to go here next week, I hope. Did you solve the worm problem, Stokes? And how??
Haven’t had any issues thus far. They have been uncovered on the porch with no issues. I hope that they don’t come back. I didn’t do anything special to get rid of them, it might be getting too hot for them, though! My poor guys have been constrained by the little pods they were in. The roots were growing through the pods, certainly needed to be transplanted. Now that they are in the pots, they should sprout fast with the root development that they have. The only thing I have to worry about now is a hurricane hitting the oil slick and pelting my plants with tar balls at 100mph.
Floridian’s favorite snuff: Wilson of Sharrow BP Hahah, well actually it’s not too funny…just a terrible mess down there.
Hi all, Just wanted to give a quick update. I’ve been hanging out more over at howtogrowtobacco.com than here recently… 
Just like you guys said, they’re taking off now!
Holy crap, yours are really taking off!!!
Shit I should hit the woods soon and see if I can pick up some rustica.
Beeeaaaauuuutiful!!!
Very nice, Puff! Mine are pretty far behind yours…
Mine are waaay behind. It’s been very dry and very hot here. Very hot.
7 days since the last picture. It’s staggering. 
Unfortunately, the Rustica bolted early (top left and right, in this photo), like almost as soon as I put them outside. I foolishly put 24x7 light on them early when they were seedlings, and moving outside seems to have triggered the Rustica to flower. It’s not too bad, though, since the rest seem to be doing very well!
Dang, thats an amazing difference in the Rustica. Would something like powdered chicken blood fertilizer that’s super high in nitrogen stimulate more leaf growth I wonder? Maybe it’s too late for that, I don’t know. It’s worked well when I used it on spinich. Possible some passing dogs could have watered them too?
My plants are still pee-wees compared to that. I’m not sure whats going on. Maybe its just too damn hot for them.
@Pieter: Yep, they have been transplanted. Our weather has been very “on and off”. One week it is dry as a bone and hotter than 2 hells, the next week we get torrential downpours and it’s hot as hell.
Today I’ve been hoeing weeds, they grow as fast as my tobacco plants. Next time I’ll put a picture in. Jaap Bes.
Update! The plants are doing great. Some are as tall as I am, and probably would have been even taller. 
Clicking that image will take you to a gallery of more pictures. I’m expecting to harvest 4-6 ripe leaves today. Probably only about a month away from my first sample snuff!!!
@puffpuff, you’ve got some super nice plants there!! Mine is not even half as big as yours. I’ve tried a new trick today. I’ve sown some seeds directly into a trough in the open air. I’ve noticed that some seeds have germinated in the pot in which one of last season’s plants is still growing. It is seed which were dropped by the plant and they are growing quite nicely. So I decided to see whether I can get the plants started outside. I do have a lot of seeds left if this should not work out.
A noob question, what would be the best starting seeds for making snuff. What plant variety. Looking for something robust/easy to plant/grow, etc. My thumb is neither green nor brown (in the sense of killing all plants I touch). I also live in NC which should be a plus for growing tobacco. Just looking for some guidlines before I buy some seeds. Ken
You could probably buy seeds at a feed store up there. I would start with Greenwood and N. Tabacum.
@puffpuff: Your plants are looking great, you must have a green thumb.
Tried to put some pictures in this frame, but haven’t been succesfull. So in words: The N. rustica is doing perfect. The plants are 1.8 - 2 m high and are flowering. Yes I know they should not, but I do not plan to use them exept for seed production. The N. tabacum plants should be higher by now but due to the cold and dry spring and early summer they are not higher then 1.5 - 1.8 m. They also start to flower and as said before, they are only used for seed production. The N. alata has not been doing well only 4 plants of the original 20 has reached the flower stadium. The rest was destroyed by some visitors. End of the month I’ll start the harvest then we’ll dry the leaves in the mill. Maybe we can imitate the curing process. Jaap Bes
I’m wondering about cross pollination for you sir.
Juxta, not to worry. Jaap only sleeps with one woman.
@ snuffmiller: Destroyed by visitors? Human visitors or insect visitors? Are these going to be for the St. Omer snuff? @Juxtaposer: Can different species cross pollinate?
After NOT reading all of this I have concluded it is possible but not likely.
Comparing the plants growing on my balcony and the ones in my parents garden, it´s really obvious that fertilizer is the main key. I didn´t use any on my balcony plants while the others got the fertilizer OD and then some (they´re 3-4 times as big and really good looking). It´s showing at the leaves, they´re turning yellow, or rather pale without the addition of fertilizers/nutritients. Pictures will follow.
@Juxtaposer: I’ve been growing the three species next to one another a couple of years now and haven’t found any sign of cross polination. @Xander: Human visitors, the Karottenfabriek is rented for meetings etc. and some of the users are pretty careless where they walk or let childeren play. @ Pieter Claassen: indeed and already more than 35 years with the same!
The seeds which I’ve sown in a trough outside are growing like crazy. Compared to the ones I’ve kept indoors last season, they are giants already and in much less time. I’m confident that I will have a much better “harvest” this season. My biggest problem is that I still don’t know how to cure the leaves.
I was hoping you were getting together with a fellow who was to give you tips on fermentation and curing, Pieter? That’s where I was totally clue-less as well… My plants are alive but scraggly.
Scraggly here as well. I’m going to wait until it cools down to try again. Our winters are like spring in the north. My Uncle told me that they used to harvest around the first of summer, so I’m way off.
@bart, the guy I mentioned gave me the recipe for making chewing tobacco. I will try it in any case because I know of no other “recipe”. I think the plants need a lot of sunshine and regular watering. The seeds don’t mind a bit of cool weather as mine germinated while it was still cold. It also seems that keeping it indoors for to long, is not to their liking. My first lot was “thin” and grew VERY slowly. Some of them are still growing and I might harvest them together with the new ones. The current ones are “fat” and I can almost see them grow. Wish I knew the right way of doing it!!
Bumped for Hoopei’s sake.
Ok, I took my plants down this past weekend. I honestly don’t have much hope for my bright leaf varieties, as 90% of my previous curing batches have developed mold prior to completion. The air-cured I have been able to use was pretty lame as a snuff, but very pleasant in my pipe, which isn’t surprising, since most of it so far has been Virginia/Brightleaf. I’ve hardly harvested any ‘snuff’ tobacco until this weekend. Some of the plants I harvested Saturday had leaves that were longer than my arm! I didn’t weigh anything, but I estimate I’ll get maybe a pound of tobacco from what I’ve got hanging green as of tonight. More than 1/2 that weight is 4 full plants of Dark Tobbacco hanging that I’m hoping will make a wonderful snuff. I suspect I’m about 4-6 weeks from done air-curing the Dark Tobacco. Having seen all the little nasties that have crawled on this stuff over the past few months, I’m inclined to ‘cook’ it in some way, and not just grind up ‘raw’ cured leaf. I know Irish High Toast is toasted, but is it correct that all (most?) nasal snuff is toasted? Anyone have any info (recipes?) on post-harvest (from ‘raw’ air-cured leaf) dry snuff manufacture, especially if it ‘targets’ (any) certain type of snuff?
I’m drying a bit of last years crop while this years leaves are starting to turn yellow. I will be making snuff from my own grown tobacco soon.
Just read through this thread a bit and thought I would share a little bit of advice for curing leaves. You can either build your own kiln at home for relatively cheap (with insulation and a small heater) but for those like myself with limited resources I have found that simply using a stove or oven works as well. Cook a number of leaves on a crappy old pan for some time or until a tobacco scent starts filling your kitchen. For your first time, keep an eye on the plants and if they start to crumple up or blacken then you know you’ve gone to far. I grew my own pipe tobacco for a number of years with great success. Good luck with your crops all
HI Pieter, So do you just grind your ‘raw’ air-cured leaf? Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but even if there’s not visible colonies of mold, that there’s probably a bit after hanging in semi-moist conditions for 6 weeks. Do you normally toast it before or after grinding? Maybe process it in some other way in addition to grinding? The best part of my crop for snuff is about 3-4 weeks from completing it’s air-cure. I’ve got 4 full plants of Dark Tobacco and 2 whole plants of Small Stalk Black Mammoth that I’m really looking forward to!!!
@puffpuff, we are almost in the middle of summer, with no rain, so mould is not a problem to me. I must still decide how I’m going to cure the tobacco because grinding it straight away does not work. I’ve tried it and although the snuff was quite strong, it tasted bland with no flavour. I’ve only got Rustica. Something must be wrong because I have new plants which started flowering to soon. The plants are only about 40cm high and the leaves are quite small. Maybe our kind of weather does not suit the plants. I have lots of seeds from my previous crop and will sew again. It might take another season or two before the plants will realise that they have no other option but to GROW!!!
I’ve filled a glass jar with dry leaves today and filled the jar with Spanish Brandy. The jar seals 100%. My wendy house gets quite hot during the day and I’ve placed the jar in there. I will now forget about it for a while. Seems as if that’s the best thing to do! I have about 1,000,000,000,000,000 seeds for the new season. I will continue this experiment until I succeed.
SB snuff sounds interesting, haha! I’m in the same boat. My plants grew large enough to gather seed from them and then they died, they did. It is Jaap’s seed, so I am very excited to start again in the Spring here. (Is that a Trillion or Jillion, Pieter?)
@Bart, are you working with Jaap’s seed? Are you sure it can be used for making snuff?
LOL!
Looks like I’am omnipotent ! Jaap Bes.
I’ve finally cut down my 4 stalk-cured plants of Dark Tobacco from the 2010 grow season. This is one plant. It seems to have yielded about 100-125g of tobacco per plant, which means I have about 1lb of tobacco from the 2010 grow season. 
I brushed each leaf individually with a basting brush to remove any ‘hangers on’ and boxed them in cardboard for storage until I’m ready to process. It’s now 18 months from the time when I started the seed. This is really a hobby that rewards patience.
WOW!!! Snuff and smoke!! I’m waiting for my baccy to grow LARGE like yours but it seems as if the seasons here in SA are no good for Rustica. The plants start flowering to soon.
@PieterClaassen Rustica will never grow large like this. This was ‘Dark Tobacco’, a field crop variety, not like the wild rustica at all. This Dark Tobacco type gets to be about 5-6 feet tall growing in containers in my climate. Some individual leaves can grow longer than an entire Rustica plant (~75 cm) The Rustica variety I’ve grown here in the same containers rarely grows above 30 inches. The leaves on my Rustica plant are about the size of a person’s hand.
Very cool pics and congrats on the harvest. That would be something I’d like to try sometime.
Are you guys topping your plants,ie removing the flower heads as soon as they apper? That will force them to put more growth into the leaves. Leave a couple heads for seed production and top the rest. edm
I do typically top my plants shortly after the flowers appear. But not always. I grow my plants in containers in my front yard, and I like the look of the flowers. I’ll admit,though, I didn’t see any wild differences in plant size when I do and don’t top. In addition, topping the plants triggers suckers, and they’re a lot of work to remove every day.
Sweet, sweet success! Last friday, I pulled 100g of leaves from the cardboard boxes where they’ve been aging for the last couple months. Here’s my first try recipe: 100g Dark Tobacco leaves (TA71/DF911 from seedman) stalk cured 10 months, brushed, and then aged 3 months whole leaf in boxes. 3.5g Sea Salt 1g Sodium Bicarbonate (Arm&Hammer Pure Baking Soda) 25-30g Distilled Water Mix the salt and bicarb into the water, in a finger sprayer/atomizer. Spray each dry leaf on each side, and place in mixing bowl. Let sit for about an hour, and occasionally ‘stirring’ to make sure all the tobacco gets moistened. It was in heavy case (very moist), but not falling apart at this point. I loaded the tobacco into the top tray of a large steaming pot, and put about 2 inches of slightly salty water in the bottom of the steam pot. Then put the steam tray in the steam pot and baked (covered) for about 3-4 hours at 170°F. I opened it about every 30-45 minutes and stirred it. During this period, it was like cutting an onion, in that standing over the full tray of tobacco it smelled like a bottle of ammonia. It burned my eyes and nose to stand over it. At the end of the 3.5 hours, I took the steam tray out of the steam pot and took the steam pot out of the oven. I then put the steam tray back in the oven alone (with a tray underneath) for 15 minute increments, removing the dry, crispy tobacco each time. During this stage, I removed most of the larger midribs and left only the leaf. At each 15 minute interval, I hand crumbled the tobacco in the steamer tray with holes on the bottom and sides. It was all over a mixing bowl that I used to collect the crumbled tobacco. Once it was all dry, and mostly had been pushed through the holes in the bottom of the steam tray, I was left with a bowl of crumbled tobacco, and a bowl full of midribs. Again, at this point, the smell was not pleasant, very strong ammonia, and it even smelled a bit oatmeal or woody, but not in a particularly good way. In about 4-6 batches, I used a small Krups bladed coffee grinder to pulverize the tobacco into a fine powder. I find that the Krups smells funny if you run it for a long period, so I did it in short bursts, shaking the grinder gently while running. Probably about 30 seconds per batch, but with 1-2 second pulses. Once the tobacco was all reduced to powder, I put all 100g of it into a pyrex bowl with an air-tight lid. I originally planned to sieve it, and I may yet still. So far, the grind is very pinchable. It may not be 100% consistent, but so far, it seems close enough for me. If I do sieve it, I’m going to get myself calibrated sieves so that I can adjust grind in a controlled way. This batch is above the scale of using a shot glass and a bit of panyhose stretched over the top that I’ve used before. Of course, I had to try it right away. BAD IDEA. I thought it was going to burn my nose off. I like a bit of ammonia in a fresh tin of snuff, but this was B-A-D. I let it sit for 2 more days, and it started to lose the ammonia, but it smelled woody and not that great for the next couple days. I couldn’t bring myself to take another pinch just yet. (yes. The burn was that bad, though nothing a little O&G couldn’t cure.) So I closed the tin, and spent the next 3 rainy days thinking about what to do, pinching the whole time. Then I remembered in one of the recipes that after the mix was blended and ground, it was dried in the sun for a day or two. This appears to be a critical step. Finally, today was the first clear sky, sunny day. I put the pyrex on the dashboard of my car, and let it soak up the rays while I was at work. It lost all the ammonia and most of the oatmeal/woody/silage smells, and now smells (in the nose) like the sweet raisin scent that my aging boxes have. The ‘tin smell’ is still a bit woody/silage, but much more honey/raisin than yesterday. In the nose, I only get the wood, and the tangy honey/raisin completely overpowers everything else. I think I’m going to give it another 8 hours tomorrow, then I think it will be ‘complete’. It’s got a nice kick, more medium/strong than strong. It’s fluffy, and deep reddish brown. The burn is all but completely gone. It’s now on par with any commercial snuff I’ve tried, and preferable to many. There were a lot of points during the 2 years it took for me to get this point where I thought this wasn’t going to come together. I can now say I’ve made my own snuff from seed, and that it was worth the effort involved! I actually like my snuff!!! If anyone has any ideas or recommendations on adjustments to my recipe, please let me know your thoughts. While I’m happy with the results I’ve gotten so far, I believe this is a work in progress, and I know that my snuff making can improve from here! Thanks to all who have contributed to this project, directly and indirectly. I have learned a lot on this forum, and Snuffhouse contributed mightily to this snuff!
You’ve done well, Puff! And taken it alot further than I have. I still have my tobacco boxed for the most part and a few tightly tied linen wraps of burley that I hope great things of in the future here. I guess I need to just make the time for it as you have. ^5 Bru!
Great Job! I am still getting some growth from my 50 dark tobacco plants, lots of rain made them go nuts. I purchased 20 pounds of dark Burley to play with while I give the plants a year to cure. The Burley is two years barn cured all ready.
@puffpuff, well done, sir!! I can asure you that your product will only get better and better if you let it mature. I’ve just now tried a pinch or 4 from my meagre supply (about 200g) of KarooStof Rustica which has been sitting since January this year. Very good, if I may say so myself. The main thing is that you now have snuff which is unique and NO one else in the universe can copy you!!!
Thanks, guys! @Bart! It’s really a shame to not take the last couple steps, if you’ve gotten as far as you have. Once I got to the ‘boxed up phase’, it was tempting just to let it sit. But I’m really starting to enjoy my own more and more. I’m already worrying about when it’s gone, and I’m only about 5g in! Take that last step! @PieterClaassen - So true about the uniqueness. Even if the recipe is followed precisely, the results have been impacted by weather and timing. @whalen - your experiments have been a great inspiration. THANKS!
I grew some in Minnesota, USA here in about '94, was totally an improvisation and a little bit of info from here or there. Had one packet of Virginia seed, and one packet of-I think it was called Shiraz, or something like that, supposedly a more aromatic type from probably the Middle East or something. Planted probably mid/late spring. Eventually grew to about 4 to 5 ft before I decided to harvest. Did pluck most of the flowers that popped up and left a few to go to pods. I had heard that the flowers are/were highly prized by some Native Americans. Indeed they make for great smoking, just dry them and place one at a time intact into your pipe and light up! They taste more tobacco-ey and less floral than I expected-very nice. I did find the curing process to be the hardest part as it seems many others do too. One of the biggest issues otherwise was that at harvest I noticed lots of gnat like insects being stuck to the leaves and didn’t know how to deal with that. Just figured to brush them off as well as I could, and to wash/rinse the leaves in tap water, not knowing if any of this would damage the leaves in the end. My attempt at curing was only partially successful, and much was lost to mold. The most intact in the end was some which was half-green, I suppose became dry partways during the curing process. This was ok in a corncob pipe, tasted kinda green, but seemed to be quite potent. The only part that actually became a nice brown, smelled like tobacco and kind of tasted like tobacco soon succumed to mold as well. At least it was a learning experience. Maybe I’ll try again. A lot of you guys had much better results than I, keep it up!
Oh yeah, one tip I heard somewhere is to thin out your seed with sand before sowing, so that they get spread widely and more evenly…