BC Canada - Rustica and Virginia crop 2026 - First time grower: @Nicotiana rustica

[Nicotiana rustica]

This is my first time growing tobacco. I've got N. rustica and N.tabacum (Virginia). Looking for criticism, tips, trick and any help you can offer. I just topped a few of the rusticas that were flowering and pinched off the suckers. I've heard of also putting chemicals on to prevent suckers, how much does that help, what are the upsides and downside of doing that? Some of the rusticas are getting long internodes and small leaves, is this just genetic variance or something I'm doing? It doesn't seem to be correlating to more or less soil which is what I noticed with other plants I have grown before.

Also, are leaves from suckers and topping worth using for snus this early in the season?

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Read the New Growers' FAQ, linked in the menu bar. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, also linked in the menu bar.

Bob

 

[johnny108]

Welcome!
Very pretty crop you have!
Sucker control chemicals, for the home grower, aren’t worth it. Additionally, there is almost no tobacco industry information on rustica growing- it hasn’t been done since just after WW2- and that was for chemical nicotine production, not smoking products.
There is no real easy way to get “home amounts” of sucker chemicals.
As tough as it is, suckering for rusticas is done by hand (maximum every 2 weeks).
As for keeping the suckers for use- I don’t believe anyone has tried it- it might be worth a shot.
Your rusticas appear to be the Aztec variety?
I’ve noticed similar leaf/internode variance in that plant, as well- some with leaves the size of dinner plates, some are the size of a hand, so I don’t think it’s anything you are doing.
Again, welcome!

 

[Nicotiana rustica]

Welcome!
Very pretty crop you have!
Sucker control chemicals, for the home grower, aren’t worth it. Additionally, there is almost no tobacco industry information on rustica growing- it hasn’t been done since just after WW2- and that was for chemical nicotine production, not smoking products.
There is no real easy way to get “home amounts” of sucker chemicals.
As tough as it is, suckering for rusticas is done by hand (maximum every 2 weeks).
As for keeping the suckers for use- I don’t believe anyone has tried it- it might be worth a shot.
Your rusticas appear to be the Aztec variety?
I’ve noticed similar leaf/internode variance in that plant, as well- some with leaves the size of dinner plates, some are the size of a hand, so I don’t think it’s anything you are doing.
Again, welcome!

Thanks, I'm not sure which variety they are I will check and get back to you. Wish they were all these ones with the short plants and giant leaves, they seem like they will yield a lot more than the long ones with small leaves. Maybe I will try to get some seed from the nicer ones. They are close to my Virginia (N.tabacum) will they cross pollinate?

 

[StoneCarver]

Some of your issue with long internodes may be due to the hours of direct sunlight your plants get each day.
However, the suckers on these plants will have long internodes anyways. That's just how these plants are.
The leaves in pictures 2 and 3 in your first post above are about as big as you can expect rusticas to get.
The other plants with smaller plants may just be due to soil quality.
Since your plants have started flowering, pinching flowers and suckers will be a non-stop chore from here on out. I recommend priming the leaves instead of stalk harvesting.
These plants will continue to grow suckers and flower even after cutting their stalks.