19-02-2003, 03:39 AM
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Has anyone ever grown tobacco?
In article ,
writes:
With the price of cigarettes going up, I have taken to rolling my owm.
I have no intention of quitting, but I am getting tired of paying
those prices, and they are talking about adding more taxes. I live on
a small farm, and have done my share of gardening, but I have cut back
on the gardening because I grow all the veggies, and have no way to
store most of them, and they just go to waste. Bring a smoker, I
thought that I might be better using that garden space for tobacco.
I am only planning on a small patch, maybe 25 x 50 feet, just to grow
my own for myself.
I'd like to hear from others that have grown tobacco and learn what to
do, and not to do.
Anyone????
I have grown the ornamental version, nicatenia. It was fairly easy to
cultivate. I got a 6 pack of them started as sprouts and planted them. It was
an impulse purchase that I was quite happy with. They stayed in flower and
smelled wonderful for most of the summer and into the fall. You might try a
bit of that as well as the smokable version. You do not have to pick the spent
flowers to keep this plant in bloom. I am not sure where you would get seed
for the smokable version. There are likely places on the net, and I hope that
they give you the lowdown on what is expected of the plant, both while growing
it and treating it after harvest. There are several types that have different
textures when finished. From what I recall the treatment of the herb after
harvest is important, with a lot of care given to drying it out, but not
completely.
I do recall that there was a moth or butterfly that had an interesting
preference for this plant in California. It interested me because I could
cultivate both at the same time, as there were not that many of them and I had
about a 4' square patch of the plant. The caterpillar favored the flowers, but
when it noticed motion it would stop eating and become quite still. I have
never observed this sort of intelligent behavior in caterpillars before. It
also had an odd habit of 'stalking' the reproductive center of the flower. It
would stay there as if it was planning to pounce on other insects that might
come and try to pollinate the flower. I never actually saw it pounce, but the
possibility was there. Such behavior has been documented in Hawaiian
caterpillars, but has not been seen on the mainland... perhaps because no one
has looked long enough.
David Giunti email: unity
What is the question? Gertrude Stein's last words
No one mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing. Alan Watts
On Display in the UK http://www.web-gallery.co.uk
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