How to Grow Tobacco

It’s time to join “Big Tobacco”, by learning how to grow tobacco plants. Tobacco has been a major cash crop through the history of the United States of America, though tobacco was a popular crop in America, before the U.S. existed. The British colonies became major parts of the British Empire, because of the profits reaped from tobacco production.

Tobacco is used for obvious applications like cigars, hookah and, of course, cigarettes, so many people are interested in learning how to grow tobacco. Growing your own tobacco is a wise decision for smokers, since store-bought tobacco isn’t as fresh and is of lower quality than the product you’re likely to harvest yourself.

Homegrown Tobacco

Much of the store-bought tobacco contains unhealthy additives and chemicals, which make cigarettes more addictive and even more harmful to your health. Besides, tobacco bought in a store is going to be expensive, especially due to the high taxes placed on tobacco, to make smoking prohibitive.

When learning to grow your own tobacco, it’s important to know the tools and supplies you need to get started, as well as the different sorts of tobacco plants you’ll be growing. You need to learn about the actual physical process of planting, growing and harvesting tobacco plants.

Our guide to growing tobacco contains additional tobacco tips and concerns, to maximize your success.

Tobacco Disclaimer

Remember, smoking tobacco has been shown to cause cancer. Ingesting smoke is patently unhealthy, whether you’re ingesting store-bought or homegrown tobacco. Different methods of smoking tobacco have different grades of risk, but that’s not meant to imply any type of tobacco smoke is “healthy”.

From the John Rolfe’s “Orinico” tobacco planters in early 1600’s Virginia to the 21st century smoker, tobacco smokers have tended to develop cancer and other illnesses more often than non-smokers. Smoke tobacco at your own risk.

Preparing to Grow Tobacco

Tobacco has been cultivated and smoked for centuries either in pipes, dips or rolled cigarettes. Tobacco is harvested from nicotiana leaves and is an extract from a plant rather than a plant type itself. Tobacco is a resilient plant and, in America for instance, is grown in a variety of climates.

However, warmth, dampness and plenty of sunlight are the conventional requirements.

Several items and ingredients are required for you to finish preparation of the tobacco growing process. You need the requisite tools with which to do the job. Depending on where you live and whether you choose to start a large-scale growing operation in an outdoor garden, or a modest potted plant setup inside of your home, you need the following, though obtaining all of these things should prepare your for any circumstance.

Growing Tobacco Indoors

How to Grow Tobacco

How to Grow Tobacco

Remember that tobacco yields fairly large crops. It’s possible to harness and prune your plants down to a size for conventional indoor growth, though this requires a lot of extra work and isn’t natural for the regular growth

However, some people grow tobacco indoors and allow it to grow to full height, if they have the facilities with which to do so. If you want to do this, you need a fairly elaborate setup of large potting containers, timed lighting systems and timed watering systems, as well as a large unused room, like a basement to grown the tobacco in.

Growing Tobacco Outdoors

I’m assuming you’re going to grow your tobacco outside, though these instructions can be tailored to inside growth methods, as well, as you learn how to grow tobacco. Tobacco grows best where there is soil that drains well and lots of sunlight. In preparation, till your soil well, choose a planting area advantageous to daylight.

In case you’re growing in potted containers, add a thin layer of gravel to the bottom of your plant housing to allow for drainage. Next, plant your seeds. These seeds are easy to obtain from a local plant orphanage or other type of agricultural store.

Each seed should be planted in the soil about 1 inch deep and spaced about 24 inches away from each other, so they don’t interfere with the other plants, when they begin to grow. Tobacco requires rich soil and fertilizer.

Tobacco Fertilizer

Using manure, fertilizer or any other type of common soil enrichment product generously is a good idea. In fact, even after the initial planting stage, regular administration of this type of product ensures healthy and prosperous growth of your tobacco plants.

There are special fertilizers designed for use with tobacco. These should be easy to find in the same place you buy your seeds. Be sure to water your tobacco plants with ½-1 inch of water per week, depending on your climate and the aridity that each plant experiences.

The only other important step, besides regular application of fertilizer and water, is pruning the plants. Tobacco grows terminal buds that stop or stunt the growth of tobacco leaves that you want to harvest, so use pruning shears to nip these buds and ensure your leaves grow lush and plentiful.

Harvesting Tobacco Plants

The final step when learning how to grow tobacco is the tobacco harvest. Harvesting is as easy as removing the leaves and drying them with either a dehydrating machine or by hanging them in a dry room.

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