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First time grower need advice

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Jason91

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Hi all,

first time posting.

i live in Australia and our prices for a packet of 40’s cost around $46 aus ($36USD).

Five months ago I decided to “try” grow my own tobacco with not much success.
I have little to no knowledge in regards to growing tobacco besides watching a few YouTube videos here and there. I ordered tn90lc seeds which I was told would be a good tobacco for cigarettes???? The seeds germinated in about 3 weeks but never really took off. Five months later and they only ever grew to about 2 inches and I noticed the leaves where going yellow, so I purchased some tomato fertiliser and within 2-3 days they had just died.

I have so many questions but never had solid answers, maybe someone could help?

1) Is cigarette tobacco just one type of tobacco, or is it a combination of different tobaccos?
2) What is a good cigarette tobacco that is the strength of a 10-12 mg?
3) What sort of soil should I be using and what do I need to lookout for?
4) When should I be adding fertilisers and what type?
5) What size should they “roughly” be after 5 months?
6) At what size should I be planting them into bigger pot plants?
7) Water using a spray bottle or put them into a tray and let the water soak up?
8) Should I be using some sort of grow light? If so what type?

I know I’ve asked a lot of question but any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Jason
 

Youn

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Welcome Jason, you'll find answers and more here.
Most of your questions are answered here : http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/695-FAQ-for-Beginning-Growers
I've also found some help with this little guide : http://northwoodseeds.com/tips.htm
And you can take a look at the key threads : http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/3868-Key-threads-in-the-FTT-forum
For a specific search, you can use the search engine of the forum but Google search is often more efficient, enter your request in the following way :
"cigarette blend" site:http://fairtradetobacco.com

Good luck!
 

greenmonster714

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Welcome Jason, this was the first year I attempted to grow tobacco. Before I did anything I spent about three months just reading threads here at FTT. The amount of information here is priceless. All the questions you ask above are already in the many threads here. Try using the search menu to help guide you to the answers you seek. If you do the research first I am sure you will succeed next time around. I'd suggest you start in the How To Grow Tobacco section in the main forum. All the answers are in there. Again, welcome to FTT. Your going to love this place.
 

Tutu

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Besides that, read the deluxestogie grow logs over the years. They're easy to find. Helped me a lot first time growing tobacco, which was about a year and a half ago
 

Jitterbugdude

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Welcome, I will reiterate what others have said.. Read up on some grow logs and the FTT FAQ. To get you started though, I'll attempt to answer some of your questions.
1) Cig tobacco is usually a combination of Flue cured and Burley. There are exceptions of course. Some cigs add a small amount of Turkish and some are completely Flue cured ( as in some Canadian brands). If you roll just Burley into a cig its going to taste more like a cigar than a cigarette and it will be harsh if you inhale it.

3) Soil that grows tomatoes, corn etc will grow tobacco.
4. Adding fertilizer should be based on a soil test. You add what you are deficient in. If you think your soil is deficient and don't have the resources for a soil test you could try some generic 10-10-10 or 10-20-10. Apply it early in the growing season.
5) Tobacco comes in all shapes and sizes but generally speaking a Burley when it starts to bloom will be very roughly about 5 ft tall. You would plan to harvest about 1 month after you see blooms. Flue cured will be similar in height to a Burley and Turkish will be considerably smaller (2 to 3 ft)
6) The rough rule of thumb is to plant your seeds inside about 60 days before you plan to plant outside ( or before your last frost date).
7) Your best bet is to water from below. The seeds are almost microscopic so if you water from up top they might just float away. The "water only from the bottom" is not gospel though. I will often spray the top of the soil if I see it is drying out.
8) A grow light and a heat mat will give you amazing results but they are not required. They will just help with germination and growth. There are many pros and cons on what is the best grow light to use, the distance from the seed bed etc. I use LED grow lights with a higher (wavelength )Angstrom number (I think 6000K). The higher # is for plant growth and the lower numbers are used for promoting blooming.

Hope some of this helps.
 

OldDinosaurWesH

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Jason91:

Greetings from the frozen north!

First. A small bit if Botany. Tobacco is a member of the nightshade family. The Latin name for the nightshades is Solanacea. There are many important crop plants that belong to the solanaceas. The Tomato, Tomatillo, Bell Pepper, Chili Pepper, Eggplant, and the really big one at least in terms of acreage and tonnage, the Potato. If you can grow tomatoes successfully, you can grow tobacco. The ancestor of tobacco originated in the tropics of modern day Venezuela. Since the Post-Columbian era, tobacco has spread all over the world and is grown anywhere that has a growing season over 90 days. They even grow it in Russia.

Second. Size of your garden. You need to determine how much space that you have available to dedicate to tobacco growing. The general rule is to plant on two or two and 1/2 foot centers. The reason that space is so important is how much tobacco are you going to need? The general rule of thumb is that a well grown tobacco plant will yield 4 ounces of cured leaf. Some more and some less. If you are supporting a two-pack a day habit, you are going to need 60-75 plants in a season. That works out to between 400 and 600 square feet. Per year.

Third. Types of tobacco and seed availability. There are many types of tobacco. Cigarette, Cigar, Pipe, Chew, Snuff, etc. Each type has its own varieties of tobacco. Cigarette types are generally much lower in nicotine content than cigar or pipe types. Cigarette types usually are somewhere in the 1.2% to 2.2% nicotine content range. Most Cigar and pipe types are in the 3% to 4% nicotine range. For example: Tennessee 90, and its predecessor Tennessee 86, are the most widely grown tobacco varieties in the world. This is because these two types are resistant to many types of tobacco related disease. TN 90, is a very high nicotine type of about 4% strength. Way too stiff for cigarettes. You should consult with northwoodseeds.com regarding types to grow for cigarettes. I have traveled to their place of business and met them, and they are experienced in international business transactions. Additionally, their seed catalog has over two hundred different varieties to choose from.

Fourth. You need to get on this. I start my seeds indoors in late February / early March for outdoor transplantation in mid to late May. That's late August / September, transplantation Mid to late November for the land down-under. Australia is a tropical /sub tropical climate, so you can get away with more flexible dates than I can in the frozen north.

Sorry for using "English" units of measure. One foot = 12 inches. One meter = 39.4 inches to convert. There are 16 ounces in a pound which equals 454 grams. One Kg. = 2.204 #'s. Even the English don't use them any longer.

Otherwise, there is a lot of good advice posted above. You have a lot of reading to do!

Wes H.
 
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