Hi folks it’s been a very busy year for me in the UK, more plants to deal with than you can shake a stick at and as for blossom bagging and sorting seed well I am just not going to go there but its all done and up to date and it’s time to get back to the Blog.
So last time I was chatting away we where talking about seedlings so we will follow on from there.
As your seedlings start to increase in size you will need to also increase the size of there pot therefore allowing there root structure to become more established and in turn boost the energy to your Tobacco plants, this process will continue for some time and moving your plants from indoors to a cold greenhouse should follow in turn.
Its always a good idea to take care when moving the plants outside as cold nights can do damage, aim to move the plants to a cold greenhouse after the fear of the last frost has passed and move your plants outside during the day and bring them back in at night.
So we have got past the hardening of stage and our Tobacco plants are ready to go in to the soil or are they, you see the thing about Tobacco plants is they are a very greedy crop and they grow at a fantastic rate, so what can we do to help them well to start with we can put lots of well rotted manure in the ground along with blood, fish and bone and the like I also cover the well dug ground with black weed suppressing sheet, this black weed control sheet not only prevents weed growth but also heats the soil and keeps the moisture in the ground all things that our tobacco plants need and love.
May, well its around mid May in our little world (check your last frost times) and the plants are going in the ground, few about time, at this point its all a bit new for our small plants of only 5-6 inches tall and don’t worry to much as they are likely to just sit there for a couple of weeks until they get there roots established, but from then on it’s a race and I kid you not these chaps can give a race horse a run for its money, there is more than one reason they call them the weed as they grow as fast and if not faster than the a four mentioned plant, most strains get very large to, Rustica’s are the smallest at around 3-4 feet moving on to Burley’s and Virginias of around 5-6 feet and on to some Russian strains reaching over 8 feet in height.
Growing for seed.
If you are growing for seed there are a few simple rules that we can use, the more plants the better as they are more likely to fight for light space and food which will in turn force them to want to reproduce and flower faster, think about it a little if you don’t over water don’t over feed and allow the plant to do its thing you are likely to obtain seed sooner.
Remember Tobacco plants are self fertile so you will need to ether put blossom bags on the flower heads if you are growing more than one strain or grow them more than a mile apart as they will cross pollinate, if you are growing one strain your good to go and just harvest the seed at the end of the growing season.
Growing for leaf.
This is completely different from growing for seed, to start the Tobacco plants will need a lot more room about 2-4 feet square dependent on the strain per plant this allows the leafs to extend fully have a good air flow around the plant and also allows that lovely sunshine which is what you will need to start the curing process of the leaf,
You will also need to remove any flower stalks that try to appear from the plant this works along the same lines as removing side shoots from a tomato plant which incidentally Tobacco plants are a member of the same family along with nightshade, it will encourage much faster and stronger growth of the leafs as the plant will put more energy into this because you keep snapping all the flowers off lol.
Feed the plants 3-4 times in the growing season with a liquid fertilizer any feed that is used on tomatoes is fine.
We it looks like I have run out of puff again so to speak and it will shortly be time for a nice cup of tea and a home grown ciggy and a little bit of TV before bed, i would like to thank you for reading this article, stay tuned for more info and tips, until my next blog i wish you happy growing and hope to see you back soon.
So last time I was chatting away we where talking about seedlings so we will follow on from there.
As your seedlings start to increase in size you will need to also increase the size of there pot therefore allowing there root structure to become more established and in turn boost the energy to your Tobacco plants, this process will continue for some time and moving your plants from indoors to a cold greenhouse should follow in turn.
Its always a good idea to take care when moving the plants outside as cold nights can do damage, aim to move the plants to a cold greenhouse after the fear of the last frost has passed and move your plants outside during the day and bring them back in at night.
So we have got past the hardening of stage and our Tobacco plants are ready to go in to the soil or are they, you see the thing about Tobacco plants is they are a very greedy crop and they grow at a fantastic rate, so what can we do to help them well to start with we can put lots of well rotted manure in the ground along with blood, fish and bone and the like I also cover the well dug ground with black weed suppressing sheet, this black weed control sheet not only prevents weed growth but also heats the soil and keeps the moisture in the ground all things that our tobacco plants need and love.
May, well its around mid May in our little world (check your last frost times) and the plants are going in the ground, few about time, at this point its all a bit new for our small plants of only 5-6 inches tall and don’t worry to much as they are likely to just sit there for a couple of weeks until they get there roots established, but from then on it’s a race and I kid you not these chaps can give a race horse a run for its money, there is more than one reason they call them the weed as they grow as fast and if not faster than the a four mentioned plant, most strains get very large to, Rustica’s are the smallest at around 3-4 feet moving on to Burley’s and Virginias of around 5-6 feet and on to some Russian strains reaching over 8 feet in height.
Growing for seed.
If you are growing for seed there are a few simple rules that we can use, the more plants the better as they are more likely to fight for light space and food which will in turn force them to want to reproduce and flower faster, think about it a little if you don’t over water don’t over feed and allow the plant to do its thing you are likely to obtain seed sooner.
Remember Tobacco plants are self fertile so you will need to ether put blossom bags on the flower heads if you are growing more than one strain or grow them more than a mile apart as they will cross pollinate, if you are growing one strain your good to go and just harvest the seed at the end of the growing season.
Growing for leaf.
This is completely different from growing for seed, to start the Tobacco plants will need a lot more room about 2-4 feet square dependent on the strain per plant this allows the leafs to extend fully have a good air flow around the plant and also allows that lovely sunshine which is what you will need to start the curing process of the leaf,
You will also need to remove any flower stalks that try to appear from the plant this works along the same lines as removing side shoots from a tomato plant which incidentally Tobacco plants are a member of the same family along with nightshade, it will encourage much faster and stronger growth of the leafs as the plant will put more energy into this because you keep snapping all the flowers off lol.
Feed the plants 3-4 times in the growing season with a liquid fertilizer any feed that is used on tomatoes is fine.
We it looks like I have run out of puff again so to speak and it will shortly be time for a nice cup of tea and a home grown ciggy and a little bit of TV before bed, i would like to thank you for reading this article, stay tuned for more info and tips, until my next blog i wish you happy growing and hope to see you back soon.
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