It starts! 2013 tobacco growing season!

[Skell18]

Haha

That was my thinking .... Bank Holiday Monday = rain

Its been forecast, wouldn't be a bank holiday here without rain!

[lxskllr]

How does this crop size compare with last year?

[squeezyjohn]

About twice as much Rustica (was supposed to be 5 times but it was a bit of a disaster. And 4 times as much regular tobacco.

If everything had gone to plan it would have been about enough for self-sufficiency plus a bit in reserve - but it's still on track.

I might try and start some late Rustica to see if I can up the amounts of twist I get this year.

[lxskllr]

Sweet. I forget what the conclusion was on the mold. How are you handling that this year?

[squeezyjohn]

Well - the mould happens from late October and November here in the UK as that's generally when the temperature drops.

The plan is to try and get to harvest time as early as possible in late August or early September - then colour cure it in the greenhouse while temperatures are still nice and hot/humid. Make twists out of everything (much smaller for storage) - then bring indoors to age/process as necessary.

Apparently it used to be normal to make pigtail twists and then layer them up while still pliable and press them all together for storage and ageing - they get a bit squashed that way - but the individual twists are still intact afterwards and it takes up minimal space and is resistant to moulding.

x Squeezy

[Faylool]

My horse was gone for refers her training She's been back a week. She got to my tobacco and Russian kale. How selective. She did not eat the tomatoes and my carrots. I'm kind of relieved. Now I just have two to take care of. I'm surprised about the carrots. I only scored 7 tobacco plants for my efforts that were looking stable. Usually she won't eat a thing that is poison to horses. I don't know if it is actually. You'd think. Although nicotine will help kill parasites in goats I have heard but that might be an old wives tale.
anybody know how Tattooer is or where he's gone?

[squeezyjohn]

That's bad luck Fay ... I have had bad luck with my Rusticas this year too. I started them too early and they've bolted to flower without making any decent sized leaf ... really annoying ... apparently if the roots get too close to the pot they're growing in then they will tend to bolt when transplanted out.

I am trying to still get some kind of rustica crop this year by sowing some more seed directly outside between the existing plants - and also by waiting until the existing plants create a sucker at the joint between the first leaves and hoping that those suckers will become a new main stem to give me a crop. It's still only June so I hope that will work OK.

Cheers

Squeezy

[squeezyjohn]

UPDATE - JULY 2013

All in all it's been a mixed bag of luck. But the Rustica plants have recovered by giving me a sucker crop which looks almost as good as the ones last year did!

Rustica sucker crop

R

I've found some seedlings that started themselves off in the greenhouse (must have dropped out while I was experimenting with whole stalk curing last year) So I've seen if they can make a bit more rustica for me in the gaps.

Some of the other tobacco I'm growing is doing really well:

Yellow Twist Bud

Black Stalk Mammoth

Sadly - it's not all good news though - I've got a real mole problem and they seem to love tunnelling under my tobacco patch. They don't eat the plants or anything weird like that - but they build little underground motorways and if it goes under a plant then the roots are dangling down in nothing and the plant dies in a day or two. If I catch it early enough then I can rescue the plant by stamping the earth back around the roots and watering it to get the roots back established ... but it's getting REALLY annoying!

Then there's the varieties that just didn't work at all ... Alida & Del Gold are just plain write-offs - a shame as JustinTempler used Del Gold and recommended it - and Alida is a Swedish Variety - used for snus and should do well in our climate. Anyhow - I think the Alida seeds were off and that Del Gold simply needs warmer conditions to grow well.

Then I have the barren patch where everything just died ... I don't know what has caused this - whether it's moles, voles or something in the soil - a lot of the Black Mammoth and Dark Virginias just didn't get going at all:

The Barren Patch

Anyhow - this year I will have some kind of tobacco harvest unless there is another hidden peril round the corner! Last year the plants had only just gone in the ground so at least I am ahead of where I was last year!

[squeezyjohn]

I've just uploaded a short film taking the potential UK snus grower through the stages from seedling to ripening plant.

[Skell18]

Looking good squeezy, how is our spate or good weather doing for the crop?

[squeezyjohn]

It loves it Skell ... this is tobacco growing weather we're having at the moment! I don't know how it keeps on going without any added water - but it must find the moisture from deeper down and it's thriving. Only where the moles are digging and up-ending my plants do they seem to suffer - I'm going to try one of those ultra-sonic mole repellers as they're doing my head in!

[Skell18]

Should be a good crop this year, hopefully the products made will be even better than last years! Can't help with the mole problem though, wouldn't know where to start! They are probably addicted to the vitamin N

[Faylool]

Good luck with the ultra sonic. Hope it's not too expensive! Around here they have ads out by people who say they can get rid of them. Barn cats. But the bugger has to surface and you have to feed and vet the cats. I happen to love cats and so they do get moles. Mostly babies. I rentedmy place out for two years and when I got back there were one holes all in the pasture. I Veblen back 4 years and there aren't any so I believe in it. But you'd need several.....hopefully this will help take the sting out of buying ultra sonic stuff. Be sure they are reputable and not selling you something dumb
Oh and I watched half the video. My iPad made it load very slowly. Love your accent!

[trebli]

A fine job on the videos, Squeezy. I watched both parts. I've been meaning to ask, is tobacco a traditional cash crop in England, like it is here? If you were driving through the countryside would you be likely to see tobacco fields under cultivation?

[squeezyjohn]

No way! Most people in the UK believe it's an exotic that cannot be grown here. And I'm sure the tax people want to keep it that way.

There are historic references that suggest that tobacco growing was piloted by the House of Lords about 400 years ago in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire - but it was quickly halted when more anti-smoking puritan admistrations took over. However the locals kept on growing their own around the town of Winchcombe for many years after that and were routinely raided by the king's soldiers - growing tobacco in England was banned in 1619.

You can read more about it here