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How I grow Shade Leaf Tobacco

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Jitterbugdude

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First, A little explanation. I did not intend to grow any shade leaf this year but I had a few plants left over so I decided to throw something together and take some pics along the way.

Materials I use are: 1. Rebar -short for reinforcing bar, found in the concrete section of most big box Home Depot type stores.
2. 10 ft lengths of metal conduit-you need both 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch, these are found in the electrical section of Home Depot type stores
3. Shade cloth
4. Shade Cloth Clips- I get these from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, get the 1/2 inch for 1/2 inch conduit and 3/4 for 3/4 conduit.. you should get some of each.
5. Tobacco Plants
Most rebar comes in 10 ft lengths but Home Depot also sells it in 1, 2 and 4 ft lengths. If you do not have a way to cut a 10 footer then buy the 2 or 4 ft length.

Here are some 3 ft lengths I cut. 2ft will work but tends to make your poles (the conduit) a little wobbly.

Rebar.jpg

I then pound them into the ground. I like to put 1 about every 6 to 8 feet. I usually make the width about 6 feet wide. I don't check the diagonals or do any other type of "carpentry work"
Just use a tape measure and pound the rebar in about 1ft minimum (2 ft is better). I leave at least 1ft of rebar sticking out of the ground


rebarandplants.jpg


I then use a conduit bender and put a 90 degree bend at about 8 feet. If you plant to top your plants you can make this a lot shorter, 6ft would be fine in that case. If you do not have a conduit bender you can buy short pieces of already bent "90 degree radius" from the same place you bought your conduit. I take each piece and slip it over the rebar that is sticking out of the ground.


DSCN0935.jpg

Notice the two pieces do not meet in the middle. This is where you take your 3/4 inch piece of conduit and slip over both ends of your 1/2 pieces. I use 5 ft lengths of 3/4 inch because it's easy to cut a 10ft piece in half. This will also give me a 6-8 ft width.


DSCN0944.jpg

Once you have everything connected, slide your shade cloth over and attach with clips. I like 40% shade cloth. I tried 70% once and it made the leaf way too thin and devoid of any oils that would help with elasticity.

DSCN0947.jpg

This is a little experimental for me this year. Usually I use a piece of shade cloth that drapes down both sides because the sun is not always directly overhead. These plants you see under the cloth are Florida Sumatra and Vuelto Abajo. The others are just left over Big Gems.

After you made this the first time (cutting the rebar, bending conduit etc) it should only take you about 20 minutes to put up every spring. You can make this as long and wide as you want .
 

indianjoe

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Looks good. I just plant shade plants between rows of corn, which seems to shade them enough as long as the orientation is not east-west.
 

Doogie

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I know it's and old post but how did it turn out.

Rise dead post!
 

DonH

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Or, if you have woods around your property you can grow it somewhere where there's only 6 hours or so of direct sunlight.
 

webmost

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It's my understanding that growing along a woods line will not give the same result as growing under shade

You wouldn't think that it would. For one thing, Big Bonner believes tree roots pull something from the soil. You can see in his fields where baccer in full sun is shorter near the trees than farther from them. For another thing, shade grown doesn't really mean grown in the shade, does it? It's more like grown in softened sunshine. 12 hours of sun thru muslin is not the same as say 7 hours of direct sun followed by 5 hours of shade.

But what do I know. I am the original black thumb.
 

deluxestogie

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There is no question that nearby tree roots reduce the growth of tobacco, corn, and most other crops.

CT Shade leaf is grown beneath 40% shade. Some home growers have achieved satisfactory results (i.e. thinner, larger leaf) by planting in an area that experiences tree shade for part of the day. But to work, the tree shade must be from "distant," tall trees. That is to say, the tobacco must be planted well beyond the root zone of the trees.

The root zone of large deciduous trees extends as much as 20 or 30 feet farther than the canopy. The root zone of tall conifers is difficult to predict, since some very tall and narrow-crowned conifers may have massive root zones.

Ideally, for using trees as shade, a tobacco patch that is long and narrow, oriented north-south, and sandwiched between two "distant" north-south oriented tree lines that shade the morning and evening sun may work. The tobacco will need about 1/2 day of direct sun.

Bob
 

deluxestogie

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anatomy-fan-palm.png

http://http://idtools.org/id/palms/palmid/

Using palm trees for tobacco shade is an interesting case. Many varieties of palm trees develop a root system that spreads only as wide as the canopy (which isn't very expansive). [http://homeguides.sfgate.com/palm-tree-roots-grow-big-palm-tree-69679.html]

One exception that I could find was the oil palm, which seems to put out an extensive and complex root system.

oilPalmRootSystem.jpg

http://www.jstor.org/stable/42947948?seq=1#fndtn-page_scan_tab_contents

So if you're growing in a subtropical area, then the historical Cuban method, illustrated in Don's link, may be worth a try. The difference between palms and true trees is that palms are more closely related to grass.

Bob
 

Smokin Harley

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hmmm, beautiful picture of a field of shaded tobacco. Where would one source 40% shade muslin ?? Asking for a friend... ;)
 

Chicken

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www.greenhousemegastore.com
also, google 40% shade cloth and all kind of places pull up for comparison

one day ill order me some of that good weed barrier mat.... weeds are my worst enemy... i could use chemicals.. lord knows i got acess to every chemical known to man.... but i dont want to go that route,
 

ProfessorPangloss

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one day ill order me some of that good weed barrier mat.... weeds are my worst enemy... i could use chemicals.. lord knows i got acess to every chemical known to man.... but i dont want to go that route,

I just read a book about cultivating burley in central KY, and before there were pre-emergent herbicides, they used cultivator plows on the tractor, pretty frequently through the season. That's why a lot of old-timers around here owned hi-boy tractors, because they could run until the tobacco was almost chest-high. They'd be plowing at least every other week during the first half of the season, and less as the plants got big. Just a thought, because you have a lawn tractor, right? Could probably rig something up.
 

Gavroche

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You know: Wood split up raméal (bois raméal fragmenté )

It is the falls of the sizes of trees that passed in a crusher and which we re-hang on the ground, the technique of culture invented in Canada
 

Smokin Buffalo

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it looks like I have a spot that will get morning light until around noon or so. Would this be a good place for some Florida Sumatra shade or do I need more shade than that?
 

Gavroche

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What is the length of the root system of plants of in-depth tobacco ?...

quel est la longueur du système racinaire d'un plant de tabac en profondeur ?...
 
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