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I've been a smoker for years and have no desire to stop. I love my nicotine and everything about tobacco. If you don't like it, close this page now and go Google "people who have business butting into other peoples lives"!!!
I don't want to hear from you about why I should quit.
Tobacco has a lot of bad press and justly so because of all the health issue, but a lot of the problems society is facing with Tobacco is due to the chemicals additives the big corporations are adding for flavor, preservatives and so on.
"Natural" home grown has none of these harmful chemicals and in some way good for you.
I have not smoked a "Commercial cigarette in over 5 years now and feel better today than I did 6 years ago from smoking Camels and Marlboro for 20 years.
My lings have cleared, I've lost my morning "smokers cough", and find I smoke less per day and don't crave it as much as I did the commercial brands. I'm a solid believer that you should only smoke chemical free homegrown tobacco, it's good for your health!
But is it legal?
Yes, homegrown tobacco is perfectly legal in all the 50 states. I can't speak for other countries, but here in the USA its not unlawful. What is unlawful is selling any processed leaf without the proper license and permits from ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency)
Seeds can be purchased from many sources but I recommend staying away from on-line auctions as you never really know what your getting. you could get a variety that is meant as a decorative plant only and not good to smoke.
Where can I learn more?
Two websites that not only have seeds for sale but a lot of good information and forums on this topic are,
http://www.howtogrowtobacco.com/forum/index.php
and
http://www.coffinails.com/forums/
Just to name a few. look in the Seeds for sale or Classified add section for seed sellers in your area.
(yes, best to get seeds from plants that have acclimated to your region, but seeds from anywhere will still grow, just not to their peak)
Can I grow Tobacco where I live?
There is an old saying "If you can grow tomatoes where you live then you can grow tobacco" and is so true. I know of people in Canada and Alaska growing (albeit with assistance of a greenhouse at the start) and I have a friend in northern Wisconsin that grows some of the finest tobacco I've ever tasted.
So how difficult is it to make homegrown tobacco?
Like home-brewed beer, it's can be very simple if all you want is to have your own basic smoke or dip, or it can be as intense as working towards the ultimate genetic cross. it's as simple or complicated as you want to make it like many hobbies are.
Is it hard to grow?
Tobacco is a tough plant, it almost seems to thrive on hardship to some extent. I've had stalks of 7' plants get knocked over from rain soaked soil and hard winds only to have them start reaching back for the sky again in a week or two. some had over 1/3 of their stalks laying horizontal as the main stalk was already back vertical again and nearly back to it's original height or higher.
We start their microscopic seeds on top of the soil as they need sunlight to germinate, the seedling roots are weak and have not penetrated very deep into their starting mix and they just flop around as their early leaves begin to grown. Then we prick them out of the soil to transplant them to a starter pot where they continue to grow for a few weeks until the soil in the garden is warm and ready for the newcomers, then they are taken outside and introduced to the garden, planting the stem just a little deeper than it was in the pot and firm up the soil to keep them erect. they do suffer a bit of transplant shock, but soon after this they really take off and in a little more than 2 months they can be as tall as 8' in some varieties with leaves over 2 feet long.
I don't have a big garden or I live in an apartment
No worries, tobacco is hardy and adaptive and is happy to grown in a pot on the patio or balcony.
sure, only a couple plants are not going to supply you with your tobacco needs for a year, but it is a big, facinating plant with lovely flower blooms. So when a friend comes over and says "Whats that plant growing there?" tell them, "oh thats just my tobacco"
So do I just pick the leaves and stick in the microwave to dry them?
Good god no!, the process of curing and aging tobacco is always an ongoing debate on the forums, but in a nutshell..
- Pick when ripe: some varieties will yellow, others stay green
- Color-curing: The leaves need to be a nice rich brown before you dry them totally, if any green remains they will take much longer to be ready to smoke. color curing is similar to leaves on the tree turn from green to a rich brown in the fall
- Dry completely. This part of the process will create a chemical reaction in the leaf cells, starts natural enzymes and dries out the otherwise untasty sap in the main rib of the leaf.
- Aging: They say tobacco is like wine as it gets better with age. So true! Be patient and you will be rewarded with some finest tobacco you've ever grown (grin). There are some ways to speed up the process, but it gets complicated and time consuming. if you keep the tobacco at a constant temp indoors with a relative humidity of 50 to 60% (like a humidor) then in about 8 months to a year it will be ready
Did you just say "Ready in 8 months to a year?"
Yes, it's like a fine wine or cheese, you can't rush mother nature or she'll give you less than you expected.
look down at that pack of high-dollar commercial cigarettes you are smoking now, the tobacco companies age that tobacco for several years before it sees that package.
Wine stays good for decades in a cellar, but only a few days (if that long) after it's been uncorked.
Cheese can still be very tasty and even better after several years, but once the rind is cut and the cheese exposed, it will mold and decay
Tobacco is the same way. after the aging process is started, it will slow down or stop once it's opened to air.
Why? because of oxidation! same for all three examples, oxygen in the air around us reacts with the anaerobic enzymes,yeast and other chemicals in the wine, cheese or tobacco that were safely locked away until we opened them and the flavor or taste starts to decay until spoiled or stale.
Now tobacco isn't as critical as wine and cheese in that it only dries out and may lose it's flavor but still be smokable for a very long time.
I want to grow enough for a year supply, how many plants should I grow?
The average cigarette has about 0.0034 grams of tobacco so there is about 29 cigs to the ounce
if you smoke one pack a day, then thats about 5 oz a week or around 15.5 lbs a year.
the typical tobacco plant will produce around 0.12 to 0.15 lbs of cured tobacco so a safe figure would be to plan on 100 to 150 plants if you want to supply your entire needs with home grown. Now that sounds like a lot of plants, but with careful planning you can get 100 plants into a 30'x30' garden area. Some varieties produce a lot of cured leaf whereas others only a fraction of that.
It's very satisfying to light up your own smoke and think back to when you first saw those tiny little leaves pop up from the soil for the first time.
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