Hi all, I'm a complete newbie to the site and tobacco growing.
I watched a series of YouTube videos from a guy growing tobacco in the Midlands, which is where I live. As you know the weather isn't great in the UK, and slightly poorer in the Midlands. I live near Birmingham for reference.
So I was surprised to discover that you can actually grow what seemed to be an exotic plant here in a very temperate climate!
Anyway, like I said I watched a few videos from this guy, and have since googled a few things, but one thing no-one has really done is give an in-depth detailed guide on growing tobacco. I have lots of questions, some will crop up in my mind in due course probably I would really appreciate some help.
So a popular brand of tobacco here is called Amber Leaf, and it is what I smoked. So I ordered some amber leaf seeds from eBay and my plants are 4 months old now, I seeded the end of March. I've put most of them into a 4m x 2m x 2m polytunnel, in 10l pots. I think I've done this wrong. Lots of people say they're growing different varieties, and that store bought tobacco is a blend, whereas I'm growing a variety that there's no information online about?
Some seem to be growing quicker than others, and as the plants have grown I have been harvesting the yellowing leaves, or any that have snapped stems from me knocking them. I'm hanging them in my living room and some are browning but some are remaining yellow and not drying too well?
I did try and cheat with some small leaves early on. I thinly sliced them and put them in the oven on a low heat for about an hour. They were very brittle afterwards, and when I rolled them into a cigarette it just tasted of leaf and that's it. There didn't appear to be much nicotine in them.
When you come to harvest, what do you do with the leaves that have been nibbled at by pests?
Back to drying - I keep reading leaves take 2 months to dry and cure, but I have some that have took half that time and look ready to shred? I don't have a garage and loft access is difficult, and I'm not sure my lounge is the best place to dry them?
Sorry for all the questions like I said I've never done this before and I've never really done any gardening before either!
I watched a series of YouTube videos from a guy growing tobacco in the Midlands, which is where I live. As you know the weather isn't great in the UK, and slightly poorer in the Midlands. I live near Birmingham for reference.
So I was surprised to discover that you can actually grow what seemed to be an exotic plant here in a very temperate climate!
Anyway, like I said I watched a few videos from this guy, and have since googled a few things, but one thing no-one has really done is give an in-depth detailed guide on growing tobacco. I have lots of questions, some will crop up in my mind in due course probably I would really appreciate some help.
So a popular brand of tobacco here is called Amber Leaf, and it is what I smoked. So I ordered some amber leaf seeds from eBay and my plants are 4 months old now, I seeded the end of March. I've put most of them into a 4m x 2m x 2m polytunnel, in 10l pots. I think I've done this wrong. Lots of people say they're growing different varieties, and that store bought tobacco is a blend, whereas I'm growing a variety that there's no information online about?
Some seem to be growing quicker than others, and as the plants have grown I have been harvesting the yellowing leaves, or any that have snapped stems from me knocking them. I'm hanging them in my living room and some are browning but some are remaining yellow and not drying too well?
I did try and cheat with some small leaves early on. I thinly sliced them and put them in the oven on a low heat for about an hour. They were very brittle afterwards, and when I rolled them into a cigarette it just tasted of leaf and that's it. There didn't appear to be much nicotine in them.
When you come to harvest, what do you do with the leaves that have been nibbled at by pests?
Back to drying - I keep reading leaves take 2 months to dry and cure, but I have some that have took half that time and look ready to shred? I don't have a garage and loft access is difficult, and I'm not sure my lounge is the best place to dry them?
Sorry for all the questions like I said I've never done this before and I've never really done any gardening before either!
