Howdy from New York

[ThomM]

First I got to say, what a great forum.
Now a little about me.
I've been a smoker most all my life, but have never tried growing my own tobacco. I have been into gardening since I was a kid and worked in landscaping since 1988. I even spent a couple years in college studying plant science and have indoor growing experience with hydroponics and organic vegetable and flower growing.
I'm a widower living alone in the family home that has been in my family for over 80 years. I've only got a half acre of land, but it's enough for me to take care of and grow on. Currently most of it is lawn, but that is slowly changing.
I have a friend I ride (motorcycles) with who grew tobacco this summer in his garden. He had enough success with it to get me thinking about giving it a try myself. Someone I know from another forum told me about this forum, and here I am.
I know nothing about growing tobacco, but am pretty good with soils and the like.
So that's pretty much me, a 58 year old who is looking to grow his own.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Since you have already experienced the vicissitudes of horticulture, I think you'll find that growing tobacco is fairly straightforward. This is the time of year to plan next summer's planting, and to acquire your seed.

Bob

 

[indianjoe]

Hi and welcome. Sounds like you have some good experience to apply to tobacco.

 

[ThomM]

Thanks to both of you for the welcomes.
I put in my request for the seeds for joining so I figure I've got the seed part covered for my first grow.
I don't think I'll have any problems once they're in the ground.
I got to learn about when to start them, when to harvest and the ins and outs of drying and curing.
From what I've seen here so far it's just a matter of doing some reading and asking a question here and there.

 

[Chicken]

welcome thomM ..

with your past experience at growing i think your going to be surprised at just how easy growing and smoking your own product is going to be,,,

i at first thought growing baccy would be so difficult, especially after i seen how small the seeds were,
but once you get the seeds sprouted and going,, from there it is pretty simple growing,,,

i would suggest you get some poision ready for the hornworms,, they damn near took my whole crop this year, i couldnt control them,,, then i found out about B.T. { bacillius therogenius } it's a poision in liquid concentrate form,,,b.t. is the name of the main ingredient,,,as long as it has that in it,, it will kill any caterpillar type worm,,,, THURICIDE h.p.c. is what i got,,,and it works excellent,,,

but to not have some type of pesticide on hand before planting is asking for trouble,

good luck brotha, and look forward to seeing your future grow,

 

[ThomM]

Thanks Chicken, I'll keep that in mind.
I don't plan on putting many plants in the first grow.
Right now I'm very limited on where I can do the drying and curing and that will decide how many plants I grow.
I've used B.T. before for Tomato Hornworms, so I'm familiar with it.
I tend to use what's called an I.P.M. (Integrated Pest Management) approach to all my growing.
With the small number of plants I'll be growing, I'll be able to inspect them daily and hand kill most insect pests.
Barring being able to do that, I can get to the garden store and be home spraying in under an hour if it's needed.