Hi from Bucks UK pipe smoker.

[pyrotech]

Hi, I'm just starting out, this season will be my first attempt at growing my own tobacco. Jitterbugdude has been helpful in my quest for suitable UK tolerant strains of pipe tobacco, and suggested I join here.

I'm a former pyrotechnician and special effects tech. Lost an argument with a fork lift truck and am now classed as disabled. My cellar has diminished too too quickly and even "importing" pipe tobacco has still got a high relative price tag so I'm going to attempt to grow my own.

I've got some UK seed for the wifes roll your own and I'm now looking to find seeds for my habit and advice on obtaining and processing a reasonable harvest.

My taste tends to be high nic flakes eg FVF and St James's. Though my daytime smoke used to be Orlik Golden Sliced .

 

[Dean]

Welcome, there is a wealth of information here and some very knowelage gents with plenty to share.

 

[holyRYO]

Welcome pyro. For fantastic Virginias you must try the WLT leaf in your pipe if you like Orlik and FVF... plenty of nic... way cheaper.

 

[Rickey60]

Welcome Pyrotech! Glad to have you join us. Like Dean said there are a lot of folks here that will give you all the advice and help you need to grow your own. Take a look at the "FAQ" board to get some help also. You are on the right track to save you some money.
Rick

 

[leverhead]

Welcome! You're in the right place. There are other growers here from the UK that could give you some hard earned tips for dealing with your growing/curing conditions.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Hey Pyro.. what took so long?..

Do a search for" Perique Press" and "Cavendish". There are some pretty good methods listed to make the stuff pretty easily. Hopefully some of the Brits on here might respond with some tips or offers for seed... unless of course they are all still outside swimming in their yards.
JBD

 

[Markw]

Hi Pyotech and welcome aboard. You have come to the right place for all the information you require. What are you planning on growing this year ? I expect that JBD have sent you some good strains.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I expect that JBD have sent you some good strains.

Not yet but I figured you could maybe put some on a raft and float it over to him..

 

[Markw]

Not yet but I figured you could maybe put some on a raft and float it over to him..

That would be a pleasure. If you would like to PM me I will pop them on the boat !!!. Maybe JBD could recommend some good pipe strains for your first grow.

 

[squeezyjohn]

Hi pyrotech! and welcome from me too.

I'm growing just outside Oxford and the plants seem to do OK even with the disastrous summer we had last year! I've tried a handful of varieties and they have all done pretty well - the only one which didn't really produce for me was Del Gold.

From your pipe tobacco preferences it sounds like you should try some bright leaf varieties and maybe some dark virginia too. I'm trying a bright leaf variety called Oxford 207 just because of the name this year!

The tobacco I've grown has been relatively mild in nicotine compared to the whole leaf I've bought in the past - but you can get stronger leaf in a hot summer and adding extra nitrogen (muck!) to the soil will also boost nic levels.

To get that kind of virginia flake/perique kind of flavour you like - you need to process the tobacco very differently to how you'd process it for cigarettes. And actually in the UK climate that's a bonus. I did some experimentation using an old sailors technique for making what the old boys in England call a "perique" of tobacco - but more correctly it's a carotte or deluxe navy roll - it really develops that deep, ripe, fermented taste in a pipe if you cut coins from the resulting "sausage". The results of my experiments are here: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/3557-What-have-I-made

Having bigged up how easy it is to grow in the UK ... a word of warning about the curing! We need to grow right up to September to get the leaf ripe - and then the curing can be mighty hard with the onset of autumn and damp conditions where mould might be an issue. If you can get a variety that matures early - it's a far easier task to get it colour cured (turned from green to brown) - and then you can process it like the video in this post to create the kind of tobacco you're after: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/2155-Squeezyjohn-s-2013-UK-Grow-Blog/page27#267 - I've tried this tobacco in a pipe made from Dark Virginia and it's a pretty close run thing with the kind of commercial tobaccos you've described and it also saved my crop from mould.

Cheers

Squeezy

 

[madhouse]

Hi Pyotech and welcome to FTT i am sure you will have a great time here, as Squeezy says our summers can be a pain for curing, i tried some strains that i got from Ukraine this year that grow fast, ripen early and colour cure before the on set of autumn, not sure if they are any good for what you want but they are very good in cold climates.
Galician original, Herzegovina Flor, North Caroline NC-82,

Bill

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco.

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome pyrotech. Any friend of JBD's is..... well, welcome anyway!

 

[pyrotech]

Whoa, I'm used to forums where once you introduce yourself the only response you get is from a bot. thanks , seems like I've found the right place to be, especially as one of the responses is from somebody relatively close by.

I'm space limited to about 40 plants and as we have decided to do 20 Virginia Gold, for the wife I've got 20 plants to mess with. fortunately I've got some cellared Latika I obtained 8 or so years back, which I can add to the mix.

Going to read the responses from pipe smokers then go hunt down the seeds, there is a UK supplier of quite a few varieties on eBay so making the choice maybe the hardest.

Also found on here a link for UK whole leaf supplier, and we have ordered a pound to mess with / experiment with . Get the feel of properly produced product in advance. So I feel like a winner already,

Again Thank you very much for the responses, hopefully I'll be able to contribute in some fashion even if only as an example of bad practice..

 

[Knucklehead]

You will need a shredder for your wife's cigarettes. We've found the Powermatic to be a wonderful device. Joe may sell them at PureLeaf. Here's the link at www.wholeleaftobacco.com to show you what they look like. It's currently out of stock everywhere as they are about to introduce the new model. http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Powermatic-S-Whole-Leaf-Tobacco-Shredder-PwrmtcS.htm

You can also get by for awhile with a pasta maker and angel hair attachment, roll your leaf into a "cigar" and make small cross slices with a knife. There are thread under "Shredders" that have other methods also, but the Powermatic was a godsend when it was introduced.

 

[indianjoe]

Welcome to the forum

 

[winston-smoker]

You will need a shredder for your wife's cigarettes. We've found the Powermatic to be a wonderful device. Joe may sell them at PureLeaf. Here's the link at www.wholeleaftobacco.com to show you what they look like. It's currently out of stock everywhere as they are about to introduce the new model. http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Powermatic-S-Whole-Leaf-Tobacco-Shredder-PwrmtcS.htm

You can also get by for awhile with a pasta maker and angel hair attachment, roll your leaf into a "cigar" and make small cross slices with a knife. There are thread under "Shredders" that have other methods also, but the Powermatic was a godsend when it was introduced.

Pure Leaf used sell the Polish-made Gabej machines.

 

[madhouse]

Whoa, I'm used to forums where once you introduce yourself the only response you get is from a bot. thanks , seems like I've found the right place to be, especially as one of the responses is from somebody relatively close by.

I'm space limited to about 40 plants and as we have decided to do 20 Virginia Gold, for the wife I've got 20 plants to mess with. fortunately I've got some cellared Latika I obtained 8 or so years back, which I can add to the mix.

Going to read the responses from pipe smokers then go hunt down the seeds, there is a UK supplier of quite a few varieties on eBay so making the choice maybe the hardest.

Also found on here a link for UK whole leaf supplier, and we have ordered a pound to mess with / experiment with . Get the feel of properly produced product in advance. So I feel like a winner already,

Again Thank you very much for the responses, hopefully I'll be able to contribute in some fashion even if only as an example of bad practice..

pyrotech pop your Location in your profile so folks have a good idea where you come from, UK supplier i may well now the person

 

[pyrotech]

pyrotech pop your Location in your profile so folks have a good idea where you come from, UK supplier i may well now the person

Okay I've updated my profile.

 

[Mad Oshea]

The pasta m. is a good cutter.I use it and a paper shreader. However it takes me time to de-stem LOL Welcome.