Growing tobacco seems like it should be illegal doesn’t it?
Well, can you grow tobacco in Florida? Yes, Florida’s climate is well suited for growing tobacco and it’s in no way illegal for you to grow your own tobacco. There are many different varieties of tobacco that will succesfully grow in Florida.
The northwestern part of the state, Madison, and Gadsen county is the capital of growing tobacco in Florida. It has been grown as far back as the civil war and continues to prove itself to be a great plant to grow in Florida with 5,000 acres dedicated to growing tobacco and generating $3,000,000 in
There are many different varieties and ways to care for it that will
Which one do you want?
What Varieties Of Tobacco Grow In Florida?
There are many different varieties of tobacco that you can grow in Florida. There are some that are stirckly good for an ornamental purpose because their tobacco doesn’t taste great when smoked. This kind of tobacco is commonly reffered to as flowering tobacco.
Most commercially grown tobacco also flowers, but its leaves have a more appealing taste. These are the kind of tobacco plants that we will cover in this article.
- Virginia
- Burley
- Connecticut Broadleaf
- Kentucky
- Havana 263
- Little Yellow
- Cuban Criollo
- Catterton
- Samsun
This is by no means a complete list. There are tons of different tobacco varieties out there. All tobacco used for smoking or chewing will go by the botanical name Nicotiana tabacum.
Each one is supposed to have a rather distinct difference in taste when smoked.
Some varieties like the Connecticut Broadleaf are well suited for cigar rolling because of their large leaves but can also be enjoyed in a pipe or cigarette.
The Samsun variety is known for it’s rich flavor and aroma, being best used for cigarette and pipe smoking.
Starting Tobacco Seeds
You will have more success if you start your tobacco seeds outside of your garden and transplant them in when they get a little taller.
Tobacco seeds are hard to start in your garden because they are so tiny. The seeds are very small and they must stay constantly moist in order to germinate.
This makes your garden a less than ideal spot to start your seeds. You will have much better luck starting your seeds in little starter trays. ensuring the soil is constantly moist is much easier on this scale.
Some seed trays come with a plastic cover that you can simply set over them, others may not but you can easily use some plastic wrap from the kitchen and it will do a pretty good job.
Thanks to Dave the Good for that tip!
I found a much cheaper version of this seed starter tray at my local home depot and I really like it.
It has a tray underneath that holds water and removable plastic cells for your plants to sprout. It has a simple plastic lid that you put over it and this creates a great atmosphere for seeds to germinate.
Another challenge that the tiny tobacco seed gives us is that it is really hard to see where you are putting the seeds.
how do you know that you are evenly distributing them? You don’t want 20 plants to pop up in one corner.
I saw a trick on YouTube that some commercial farmers used.
The farmers took an old can and poked holes in the bottom of it. They then mixed a handful of wood ash with their seeds, inside of the can.
Then just gave their can a light shaking over their planting area. Wherever they saw ash,
But more on fertilizing later.
Move your tobacco plants to bigger pots when they are a few inches tall and have a couple of leaves. It’s good to give your plant a little bit more time to grow before planting out to the garden at this point.
Continue to let your plant grow until it’s at least 6″ before planting it where you would like it. This usually takes about a month.
When transplanting be sure to give your tobacco plants about 3 feet of space all the way around.
Full Sun Or Shade Grown
When tobacco is grown in the sun it produces a thicker, greener leaf. This makes an ok wrapper for cigars.
More sun leads to more flavorful tobacco. Full sun is how almost all filler tobacco is grown.
There are also some very specific areas that tobacco plants are grown in the shade. In Connecticut along the connecticut, river tobacco is grown in the shade.
Shade grown tobacco makes leaves that are much larger and thinner. These are ideal leaves for rolling cigars.
Full sun grown tobacco will also produce more flowers when compared to shade grown tobacco.
Best Soil For Tobacco
Tobacco is like most other plants when it comes to soil preferences. They don’t like it to be too wet or too dry.
Well drained soil with plenty of oganic matter will do just fine. You perk up your Florida soil by adding bags of compost and adding a thick layer of mulch.
I’m a really really big fan of mulch and if you don’t do anything else at all to improve your dirt, at the very least you should lay down mulch.
But, if you’re not planting into the ground and instead planting into a raised bed I’ve always had really good luck with this soil mix:
- 40% Peat moss (Check price on Amazon)
- 40% Compost (You can get it on Amazon but I’ve found it way cheaper at local stores)
- 20% perlite (Check price on Amazon)
- Worm castings (Check price on Amazon)
- Mykos (Check price on Amazon)
How To Fertilize Tobacco
If you are growning tobacco in order to produce leaves you should fertilze with something that is high in nitrogen.
Nitrogen is responsible for helping the plant grow green leafy growth.
Each nutrient does something different for the plant. Phosphours helps the plant produce flowers and fruits. and Potassium is a good overall health booster.
My favorite nitrogen-heavy fertilizer is fish fertilizer(Check price on Amazon)
It’s a 5-1-1 and is water soluable. It’s easy to add to a watering can and apply to your plants. It can be absorbed through the leaves of plants as well as through the root system.
You can apply this weekly and your tobacco plant will love it.
However, if you are growing your tobacco for ornamental purposes you can use a more well-balanced fertilizer to help produce more flowers. Something like Jobe’s 2-5-3 fertilizer(Check price on Amazon) would work perfectly to help produce a flower heavy tobacco.
Pest Problems With Tobacco
- Nematodes
- Aphids
- Hornworms
Tobacco is suseptiable to nematode damage. If youre planting directly into your Florida soil it’s important to know that you might have nematodes.
Florida soil has been known to be full of the things and theres not much you can do that will create a long lasting change.
Other common pests that may bug your tobacco plant are the hornworm and aphids.
These are both easily controlled. Hornworms can be hand picked and aphids can be sprayed off with a heavy stream of water.
Attracting beneficial insects is the best way to handle pests in your garden. Wasps and ladybugs will help you with hornworms and aphids.
Harvesting Tobacco
If you are growing your plant in order to harvest the leaves from it you should regularly “top” your plants.
This means snipping the flowers off as soon as you see them. This allows the upper leaves of the tobacco plant to grow larger than they would if you had left the flowers on there to form.
Generally your tobacco plant will be ready for harvest about 3 months after planting.
The lower leaves will most likely be more yellow than the upper leaves but you can harvest from the bottom up, snipping the leaves at the stalk.
Or you can cut the plant from the ground.
How To Dry Tobacco
Drying and curing tobacco is a lengthy process that stops many home growers from growing tobacco in order to smoke. There are a few different ways to process your tobacco.
Some tobaccos are dried and then aged for up to 5 years.
There are some sites that say you must have a specialized facility in order to dry your tobacco while others say that they think it’s a bunch of rubbish and that you shouldn’t have a problem drying your leaves in a garage or anywhere that you have extra headspace.
The ideal conditions to dry tobacco in are a moderately warm temperature of between 65-95°F and a humidity of around 70%.
You want your tobacco to have good airflow but you don’t want it to dry too fast. but you also don’t want it to be too moist and cause mold to grow.
An easy way to hang your tobacco for drying would be to take each leaf off of the stalk and hang them with a string or wire, leaving a few inches of space at the top of each leaf in order to make sure they don’t rip.
It’s also important to leave a few inches of space between each leave to allow for adequate airflow.
A common problem with drying and aging tobacco leaves at home seems to be humidity levels and keeping them consistent. If it’s too dry for an extended period of time your tobacco leaves will become brittle. If it’s too wet your tobacco leaves will most likely grow mold, especially if you don’t have good airflow.
At the very least you should let your tobacco dry for about 3 weeks, Any time after that will only add to the quality of your tobacco as long as the environmental conditions remain constant.
I’ve read in some tobacco forums that you may be able to use an oven to speed the drying process but I’ve never tried it.
Grow Tobacco In Florida
- Tobacco can easily be grown at home in Florida.
- Florida friendly varieties of tobacco are:
Virginia, Burley, Connecticut Broadleaf, Kentucky, Havana 263, Little Yellow, Cuban Criollo, Catterton, Samsun - Tobacco can be grown in order to smoke but it is also a beautiful ornamental plant.
- Starting tobacco seeds is the trickiest part of the whole thing. They are tiny and must be kept constantly moist. Starting them in seed trays will increase your germination rate.
- Tobacco can be grown in full sun or in a shady area.
- Ensure that the soil is well drained has organic matter added to it with a thick layer of mulch.
- Fertilize with a nitrogen-heavy fertilizer for a larger harvest of leaves. For ornamental purposes use a more well-balanced fertilizer.
- Time from planting to harvesting is usually around 3 months.
- Drying and aging tobacco is the hardest part for home growers.
