Hello from Wyoming

[Huffelpuff]

My name is Jim and I'm looking forward to learning a whole lot more about the processing of good tobacco. Eventually I'd like to try my hand at growing but I'll take it one step at a time.

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Jeesh Dive in
Welcome aboard.

 

[Huffelpuff]

Lol no I'm not one to just jump in. I tried that a few years ago but was in way over my head. I managed to get my hands on two beautiful stalks of nice tobacco, actually managed to get it color cured and was working on aging it but lost the whole thing to a batch of blue/green mold when the rains set in and I couldn't get them dry again. I will get a good footing before I waste good leaf again.

 

[Smokin Harley]

welcome to FTT. when you're ready to grow ,hit me up . I have a whole bunch of seed from my 2015 crop . Not sure how IL grown (mostly cigar varieties) tobacco seed will grow in WY but its seed.

 

[Huffelpuff]

Many thanks Smoking Harley. I'm really concerned about getting anything to grow here at 7200 feet, but I figure if they can get it to grow in Canada I should be able to pull something off. The growing season here is only from June to maybe mid September if you push your luck. I'll have to do some serious reading up on the cigar varieties as I really don't know much about them.


Jim

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to the forum. I live at 1200 m asl (3900 feet) and have growing conditions similar to yours. Tobacco is a resilient plant, you'll have no problems to make it grow but curing... that is difficult in a dry autumn environment! Try to grow strains that mature fast (50 to 60 days) and plant early in june, so you can have that last summer humid days for color curing.
Pier

 

[Huffelpuff]

Great information thank you Pier!

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. 7200 feet is way up there.

Of note: Tobacco is grown commercially in Nepal. My Machu Picchu Havana was originally found growing in Peru in 1936, on Huayna Picchu (alongside Machu Picchu) at ~6900 feet above sea level. I know that the finest Ecuador Shade wrappers are grown in Ecuadorian cloud forests, which appear in the range of 6500 feet.

Your climate (during the growing season, as well as during the curing season) is likely a greater determinant of your success with tobacco than your elevation.

Bob

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the origin of Nicotiana tabacum is thought to be along the slopes of the Andes.

 

[Huffelpuff]

Hummm....well....that opens up some interesting questions as to how fast the tobacco would acclimate to the elevation. Or would it matter at all? I know it is a 2-3 week ordeal for my brothers or mother when they come up. They can't breathe or do much without wearing out severely in a few minutes time. Takes the body quite awhile to build up enough extra red blood cells to deal with the thin air. Would it be worth looking into specifically growing high altitude cultivars? Would them having been grown at a lower elevation as seed stock over the years have made any difference? Lots of things to consider for sure. I'm pretty confident that I would have to figure out how to cure pretty quickly. My guess is that the fastest method is going to be some type of pile curing in the house. Certainly not a deal breaker for me. Especially as I would be severely limited in the number of plants I can grow until I move into more sutable space. I actually have zero space in which to grow unless I use containers. Gotta love it when folks cement over the yard to avoid having to do upkeep, lol.

 

[Hasse SWE]

Welcome Huffelpuff, if you ever start some seed please make a growing blog, it would be interesting to follow you and your growing.

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome to FTT. I've hunted and fished in Colorado a couple of times at around 10,000 ft. I can sympathize with your low lander family. I felt like a fish out of water. lol.

The owner of this forum also owns www.wholeleaftobacco.com. I can highly recommend them as the source for your whole leaf.

One of our members, Skychaser, from Washington state sells some great seed. Northwood Seeds Retail

 

[deluxestogie]

Would it be worth looking into specifically growing high altitude cultivars? Would them having been grown at a lower elevation as seed stock over the years have made any difference?

You'll be germinating the seed indoors (~6 to 8 weeks prior to your last frost date), and they will do just fine. Plant them. Grow them. Regional acclimation is transient at best. (Historically, the adaptation of tobacco to a new growing region--written about frequently in the 19th century literature--was mostly due to cross-pollination with other varieties grown nearby. Genetics was never even considered.)

In your second year, seed taken from your first crop may yield plants that display minor metabolic adjustments to the growing conditions of that first year. Of more importance, your skill at managing tobacco will vastly improve after just one crop.

I suggest obtaining seed for varieties that seem interesting to you, and not worry about the altitude.

Bob

 

[Huffelpuff]

@ Hasse I agree given the unique conditions here a grow blog would gives others footsteps to follow.

@ Knuckehead our local hospital treats lots of folks for altitude sickness every year. Definitely not fun. Good information on where to buy many thanks.

@ deluxestogie very good points. I definitely shouldn't waste time worrying about things I can't change. Will tuck in and find what tickles my fancy and just go for it. The worst that can happen is I'm out a few plants and have to try again next year.

 

[Hasse SWE]

@ Hasse I agree given the unique conditions here a grow blog would gives others footsteps to .

Yes it's really interesting to follow people around the world.
You can also put up other things than tobacco. As more we learn about and from each other as better (I think).
I found FTT really amazing in that way.
Hope you enjoy this forum!

 

[Smokin Harley]

Since you are a bit wanting for growing space and time ,try Little Dutch. It grows great, is a shorter plant with long swordlike leaves ,very versatile use, it color cures very quickly. I check my color curing leaf every day and my LD barely spent much time in yellow . Seemingly overnight it went from green through pale yellow to a brown and has a great aroma....I would start out trying one or two varieties ,sew seed in mid April and be ready to plant in Late May or early June in 5 gallon buckets .

 

[Huffelpuff]

Little Dutch had made my short list as have a few of the oriental varieties such as Adiyaman, Alma-Ata, Lattique92 and Meechurinski. All look to be very short season plants which is great. Grew tomatoes last year in rather large rectangular tubs. Probably hold 15-16 gallons each. I figured they would work for closely spaced Oriental varieties. This is looking more and more doable every day. Only issue I had with tomatoes last year was some of the plants developed an odd leaf thing where the leaves shriveled upwards. No bugs or any type of visible fungus. Never seen that before, but the plants still produced.

 

[Alpine]

If you can grow tomato LEAVES you can for sure grow tobacco! Consider growing of some sort of bright leaf or cigar filler along with orientals. In my experience, oriental-only blends are a bit "boring" (very savoury but lack in kick and nic)
Pier

 

[Huffelpuff]

Sounds like a plan. I've been a pipe smoker for 30 years and I still don't do the high octane blends such as the G&H ropes in anything but the smallest Dutch clay Gouda type pipes. Way too potent for me lol. Great taste but will kick your butt.