Acceptable overnight temps growing tobacco in cooler climates?

[MountainWard]

From what I have read the plants do best in the 70's and 80's temp wise, I assume this is primarily referring to daytime growing temps. What are acceptable overnight temps that the plants can easily handle? We can be 85F during the day and be back down to 43F at night during our hottest month of August. This plays havoc with my growing tomatoes, how sensitive are tobacco plants to the overnight low temps?

I intend to mostly grow in the house as we can still have overnight temps in the 20's the first week of July of some years but this seems to be a warmer year coming up and I would love to try and grow some tobacco outside provided they can handle overnight lows in the low 40's anyways.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Soil temperature should be between 60, and 80 for growth.

Air temperature needs to be above 30 for survival.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

how sensitive are tobacco plants to the overnight low temps?

If daytime highs and soil temperature are above 60, and nighttime lows are above 30, your tobacco will grow. If soil temperature is below 60, you will get minimal growth, but plants will survive and still mature, ripen, and produce seed. If soil and air temperatures are between 30 and 50, not much is going to happen at all except for very slow ripening of what's already grown.

 

[Havok]

They’ll probably need to be out for 60-90 days as well (depending on the varieties you’re growing). Not sure you’ll have that long of a span between first and last frost dates.

 

[MountainWard]

My average last frost is May 27 and average first frost is Sept 15, so on a good year I could pull it off between frosts, though on some years we can be in the low 20's overnight the beginning of July so on those years no, but then again I can't even grow a garden on those years. Okay well I grow my garden just everything dies... lol...

I am working toward trying to grow my gardens on some of my ponds this year in hopes that the water temp will extend my growing season a bit and protect rafted plants from frost better. It should also improve water conditions for my catfish and bass.

I would love to experiment with some tobacco on floating rafts as well, though with the height it would have to be a more substantial setup than just the floating plastic panels for small soil pots.

I found and article done by a university that stated as long as daytime temps were at least 60's to 70's that night time temps of low 50's had no negative effect upon growth rates.

 

[Knucklehead]

My average last frost is May 27 and average first frost is Sept 15, so on a good year I could pull it off between frosts, though on some years we can be in the low 20's overnight the beginning of July so on those years no, but then again I can't even grow a garden on those years. Okay well I grow my garden just everything dies... lol...

I am working toward trying to grow my gardens on some of my ponds this year in hopes that the water temp will extend my growing season a bit and protect rafted plants from frost better. It should also improve water conditions for my catfish and bass.

I would love to experiment with some tobacco on floating rafts as well, though with the height it would have to be a more substantial setup than just the floating plastic panels for small soil pots.

I found and article done by a university that stated as long as daytime temps were at least 60's to 70's that night time temps of low 50's had no negative effect upon growth rates.

You could use row covers for the cold snaps.

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[MountainWard]

So given this info it is realistic to think that I could grow tobacco outdoors here. Very cool... I know of a few places in Oregon growing tobacco but they are in a much warmer climate than I am. One of them can't remember which had I believe a more cold tolerant variety as well if memory serves correct.

 

[GreenDragon]

If you can grow tomatoes you can grow tobacco. If you were not successful with tomatoes you are going to struggle with tobacco. It’s a sub-tropical plant that likes warmth, humidity, and strong sun to thrive. I’m not trying to be a Debbie-Downer here but to set realistic expectations.

 

[Alpine]

If he can grow tomato plants he can grow tobacco. We have members from Sweden and Finland that successfully grow their own baccy… if not N. tabacum, at least N. rustica can give our new friend some satisfaction growing it outdoors.

pier

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I want to highlight the fact that often the day before first frost is not necessarily the last day to harvest. If it doesn't get below 30, I have had tobacco survive weeks past first frost. If it were a mid-season one night event, I wouldn't even think of picking early.

Edit:
I consider daytime highs just as much as nighttime lows. Its often a question of risk vs reward. Later on, with daytime highs around 50, with no sun, and lows around 30, it's worth picking, but highs around 60 with sun, and lows around 30, it's totally worth leaving in the garden.

If every night is around 34, I'll leave it. If one night is 30, I'll leave it. If every night is around 30, I'll pick it. If one night is 29, I'll pick it.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Also, Bob always points out that you can't rely on your forecast.

I disagreed with him on that for years because I lived on the plain, but now that I live in the river valley, only tens of feet below the plain, I have changed my mind. There is more risk in micro climates vs your forecast.

 

[Havok]

If the plan is to grow some indoors, and to also grow some outside as an experiment… may as well go for it. You’ll still have the indoor plants. The outdoor plants can always be grown in pots and brought in when the weather is less ideal.

 

[deluxestogie]

grown in pots and brought in when the weather is less ideal

• Fully grown burley: ~10 pounds (4-6 feet above the soil surface)
• Weight of pot: ?
• Weight of soil: ?
• Weight of moisture in soil: ?

Could be a challenge, with more that a few plants.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

If you have a shed or garage you could drag the pools out of the weather. I'm a paraplegic and can move 11 3-gal. grow bags a short distance at a time, or rotate the pools around so all plants get sunshine. I have to wait until the soil is dry. You can definitely slide them if you have a four wheeler, lawn mower, or some help. Slide the pools onto a tarp and drag with a rope.

Knucklehead's 2023 Grow Blog

I plan to start seed 1 Feb for a planting date of 1st week of April. I will have 48 cells of Reams 158 flue cure variety. Four will be backups. My seedling mix is several years old and dry so I went down earlier and dumped a gallon of water in the bag to help premoisten the soil. I struggled...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[Havok]

Plastic pot 2lbs
Soil 8lbs of (5gal) pro-mix
Moisture 5lbs (2L water)
Tobacco plant 10lbs

I’m not suggesting he does this with 40 plants. But experimenting with 2 or 3 to see how it goes.

…and I’m not trying to be an ass here, this is the plan for my Prilep this year (as half of it didn’t ripen last year). So if I’m missing something I would like to know before I get to attached to the idea.

 

[deluxestogie]

If you are young and healthy, it should not be a problem. Please don't be deterred by my codger-think.

Bob

 

[Havok]

If you are young and healthy, it should not be a problem. Please don't be deterred by my codger-think.

Bob

The most valuable codger-think we have here. Don’t ever stop, or think that it’s not appreciated.

 

[MountainWard]

If you have a shed or garage you could drag the pools out of the weather. I'm a paraplegic and can move 11 3-gal. grow bags a short distance at a time, or rotate the pools around so all plants get sunshine. I have to wait until the soil is dry. You can definitely slide them if you have a four wheeler, lawn mower, or some help. Slide the pools onto a tarp and drag with a rope.

Knucklehead's 2023 Grow Blog

I plan to start seed 1 Feb for a planting date of 1st week of April. I will have 48 cells of Reams 158 flue cure variety. Four will be backups. My seedling mix is several years old and dry so I went down earlier and dumped a gallon of water in the bag to help premoisten the soil. I struggled...

fairtradetobacco.com

My wife is paraplegic from an auto accident in 2000. While I have two forms of muscular dystrophy I am still reasonably capable though in my mid 50's I am definitely not what I used to be.

Moving a few dozen large plants in from outside would be a bit much for me and here there is no reliable forecast as the nearest town where weather is forecast is always different out here ie temp is usually lower here by a few degrees, more snow etc. I can also find 5 different forecasts on five different sites, seldom do any two forecasts line up all that well so the weather is generally anyone's guess beyond the basics of what is going to happen.

I have an old 20ft X 60ft greenhouse that was here on the farm when we bought it that had been crushed by snow. I have taken it apart and moved the parts to here by the house. I haven't had the time, money or physical capacity to rebuild it yet but when I can get that up and get the plastic on it I could extend the growing period by a bit here.

 

[MountainWard]

As with all plants there must be some varieties of tobacco that do better in cooler climates than others, does anyone know of any strains of tobacco that are more cold tolerant?

P.S

lol... I keep doing Google searches on things like this question and it always leads me back to a post on this site.. I am definitely on the right forum to get answers on growing tobacco.. I found a post on Black Mammoth for dark color tobacco good for chewing tobacco with a short growing season.

 

[MountainWard]

Well that post was old but informative..

black mammoth
adonis
ahus.. alida
black samsun

Izmir/Lebanese strain 50 days
Kumanovo 50 days
Bitlis 30-40 days
Izmir-Ozbas 50 days

Baffra Basma
Tik Konlak (Tikolak, Tikolac, Tik KulaK?

I have a bit of a list of shorter growing season plants to start from now.