Growing tobacco

Does anyone raise it on a small scale?
I did the Google search and see that it would grow up here.
I can't afford to buy cigaettes any more but would like to have a smoke now and then. Cheroots? Is there folks who raise their own like some will brew their own beer or make some wine?
I like tobacco and would take up chewing just to have some. Any good types a guy could raise for that? Is there a market for a few leaves?
Can a guy grind and roll his own?
Thanks.

Yes to the following, it will grow north, you can grow your own, and you can grow it small scale. As to markets, if you sell it, it has to go to a tobacco company and they contract for it by type and area. Most of the tobacco raised that far north is cigar wrapper. Filler tobacco is typically a mix of burley and flue cured. Chewing tobacco is typically dark air cured and snuff is typically fire cured. But, I grew up raising burley so thats what I chew. I dont use any flavorings or sugar and like the milder taste and higher nicotine content of the burley.

An air cured tobacco is your best bet. Flue and fire cured take special curing and harvesting. With the air cured you simply cut it, spear the stalk on a stick, and hang it up to cure. Figure 2 pounds of cured leaf per stick with 6 plants per stick. Of that about 60 percent will be stems and 40 percent usable leaf.

I have wondered the same thing also. Where can you get seeds? When do you cut the plants and how long does it have to hang to dry? Chris

Have you thought of Wacky Tabacky,, really good cash crop,, and you can buy all the cigarettes you would ever want, the Indians used it, made nice peace with white man.

I don't think you will be able to sell any commercially b/c the USDA imposes quotas on the productions. <a href="http://www.richters.com/"> Richters</a> out of Canada has two different varieties available. I wouldn't plant them near any tomatoes since they both can be affected by tobacco mosaic virus.

Wisconsin grows some tobacco, friends family grew it for years. Transplants came in 200 plant flats from local greenhouse supplier- may have been Jungs- that also had them in small 4 plant packs as sample and displays. Last year he noted that supplier had told him that a lot of the 4 plant packs were being sold to gardeners. Some of the nicotine addicts are hanging the garden harvest in attics and barn lofts, seems to be working. Madison area has a lot of experienced rollers of smoking material-(not only tobacco) and ZigZag papers are available widely. Local convienence store has 100 papers for $2.39, pack of tobacco for 100 cigs for $6.00, 1 pound bags for $9.00 while selling the ready mades for $4.50-$5.00+/pack. Cost of 2 packs gets you enough material for a 100 home rolled- people that passed 4th grade math class figure they get better deal-over twice as much- rolling their own. State doesn"t collect as much tax either. RN

Depend on the area of MN. you intend to raise Tobacco at. All of my Families of Marion,Casey and Taylor Counties in Ky.up to my generation raised Burley Tobacco. I myself as a youngster pulled transplants from my grand dads starting beds,helped get the "Patches " ready,set out the transplants,hoed the growing crop keeping an eye and ear out for Diamondbacks or Copperheads,suckerd the crop,cut the crop,and ricked it up in the drying barn.Lots of hand work.When tractors came around the largest Tractor any one used was a Ford 8n or maybe an IHC A.The Picture is from Sept.2008's crop of my cousin just down the road from where I was born at Merrimac Ky.JC

I wouldn't sell a few leaves. You can give'm away but don't just sell a few. Kinda like corn squeeze'ns when you start sell'n Goobermet thinks they need a cut.

Yes you can raise on a small scale. I am about as small scale as you can get around here, I only grow 7,000 lbs.

Some where on the net one night I was looking for a forum like this only for tobacco growers and I found a few but they were all for people who are doing what you want too. Google tobacco grower forum and see what comes up. There was one that was real neat, had alot of pics of how folks were cure'n baccer in garages and basements.

Don't know realy where you are but if you have over 100 days from frost free date to first frost you should be able too. Might want to toss the fert. to'm inside and then transplant them larger than you would here.

If you are not a chain smoker 20 to 50 plants should get you by chew'n or smoke'n. I knew an old man here who kept a 100lb bale a year to chew himself but I'd say he was a bit excessive. (and yes cancer got'm)

If you just want chew'n baccer some of the older dark types chew the best. (from what I have tried out of the barn any way.) I know very little about burley so can't help you there. The best out of the barn flavor I have ever chewed was narrow leaf madole but its a full season variety and might not get ripe up there. I'd go with little crittenden or KY 171.

Don't try to smoke or chew any of the ornimental tobaccos they sell at some landscape'n outfits. (don't know where they found that stuff but it's pretty in a flower bed but you will get a wild head ache and feel pretty funny for a while.)

email me if there is anything else I can help with.

Dave

I put in a link to Rickards seed. When I was raising tobacco I always preferred their varieties to any other.

The following applies to light air cured (burley) and dark air cured tobacco. Flue and fire cured is its own art form.

To get to cutting you have to address topping. When the flowers begin to appear, somewhere 10 percent to 50 percent depending on variety you need to break the flowers and budding flowers out of the plants. Top all the plants not just the ones with open blooms. Then spray with MH 30 (maleic hydrazide). Even if you have to order it from tobacco country its worth it. Otherwise every leaf axil will form a sucker and you have to go through and break them out too. MH is cheap and does a good job.

Cutting is 21 to 28 days after topping. Cut the plant at ground level and spear on a wooden stick. Our standard sticks at 1x1 oak 48 inches long but some barns take 52 inch sticks. Use a metal spear to get the plant on the stick.

Hang in a barn or open shed, nothing metal so there is shade and airflow. If its curing too fast, use plastic to slow down the air flow, curing too slow fans will speed it up. The tobacco goes through two distinct curing phases, yellowing and browning. Yellowing should take 7-10 days. Moderate temps, slow steady breeze, and moderate humidity take care of this. All the leaf tissue should turn yellow and the veins fade to white. If this goes wrong it can set green colors (unmetabolized chlorophyll) which sets bitter flavors in the tobacco. Browning is more forgiving. Takes 4-6 weeks of the same kinds of conditions as yellowing. I like to slow down the air flow a lot at this point. When there are no fat stems left, its cured. Wait for a day of high humidity after the 6 week point and the tobacco will 'come into case' where the leaves bend instead of crumble. Strip from stalk.

At this point its ready to wash, redry, flavor if wanted, and consume.

Note!!!!! Potassium/potash should NOT be in the muriate form for smoking tobacco. The chloride in the muriate will adversely affect the burning qualities of the tobacco. Sulfate of potash is the preferred source for potassium. For sale, its not legal to use muriate but for your own use dont reckon it matters unless you are smoking it.
rickard seeds

You"ll find quite a history of tobacco growing in Stearns County- west of St. Cloud. Many old tobacco barns still around. Look for the older buildings that look like a machine shed, but the siding is vertical, and boards are spaced about an inch apart. Some farmers might still have their quotas. They grew cigar tobacco- St. Nicholas, Eden Valley, Watkins area. Mies"s, forerunner to the current JD dealer, had the local buying station- got torn down just a few years ago.

Thank you all for the thread on growing tobacco, I really enjoyed it, When I was a young boy, Growing up in Morgantown, WV. My grandfather Was friends with an old feller named Jonny West. Johnny grew tobacco, Don't Know what kind it was, He was going to teach me how to roll cigar's but never got around to it. (he pasted a way) but I always wondered what he did with the taobacco that he raised, I don't think he used it all for his own use, I often thought it would be fun to grow some but I wouldn't know what to do & if there was a market for it. In WV. Thanks brought back alot of good memories, Dave F.

Thanks fellows.
I might have got this idea early enough that I can do something with it this year. One more question. Is tobacco regulated by Big Brother in any way as to the production, sale and use of tobacco? Like could I sell it at the farmers market?

If you want to cure yourself from smoking just try a dose of fresh cured tobacco. Make yourself a nice short cigar, light it up and take a few puffs. Smoke her down a ways and be ready to lay flat on your back - you'll sicker then a dog.

gotta live close to a reservation like we do
can buy native smokes for as little as $6.00 a CARTON 7-11 stores sell the name brands for $8.50 a pack should really quit the dmn things but ......... i keep tryin
bob