growing tobacco plants at home

[captain duff]

I just wondered if anyone has tried doing this? I have a conservatory where most houseplants do really well, and I know that there are a number of places selling tobacco seeds so I thought they might make an interesting leafy houseplant - or would they grow too big? I've had a quick check on the legal side of things and according to EU/UK excise laws it is perfectly legal to 'grow your own' here and buy/sell seeds etc so long as you don't cure/smoke the end result (in which case excise duty becomes liable).

[eggopp]

Nic Wing was looking into getting some seeds for folks to try this...

Nic did you ever manage to get some?

Ive considered this myself, but there are regulations from customs and Excise regarding the tobacco once its ready to make your cigars, i.e. you have to pay taxes. And you have to declare your growing tobacco plants to them.

[Simon-JG-hr]

I looked into this a little while ago. (I like making/growing/hunting my own stuff - it's more interesting than just picking it up off the shelf).

I can't remember any of the websites specifically, but there were a fair few. It is most certainly plausible to grow the plants in this country. Indeed, by the looks of it, people have a great deal of success growing plants outside (provided they are they right strain for our temperate climate). As for the size, they might be a little on the large side, unless you've got a very large conservatory...

If you give it a go, then definitely let us know the results (please).

[captain duff]

Well this seems to be a comprehensive overview of the legal position (the key to paying duty seems to be when the leaves are actually shredded) - http://www.freesmoking.co.uk/moreinfoUK.html

This has an interesting garden variety (not commercial) that is suitable for uk weather conditions - http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plant...ages/572.shtml

And this site has a very interesting list of different cigar varieties of seeds for sale - http://www.tobaccoseed.co.uk/Cigar_Tobacco.html

[Deano]

I've got a bunch of plants growing now...

I was taking a pic each week to show how they've grown but unfortunately a recent sync with my iPhone lost the pics. Damn thing.

Here's the latest though.

[eggopp]

Oh nice one Deano

[Lee Nub]

Nice one Deano. Are you feeding a high Nitro feed while its the summer? High N will produce better leaves, but cut it out about 3 weeks before you intend to harvest them or it will taint the leaves with a chemical aftertaste.

24 years of Bonsai cultivation has left me with decent green fingers lol

[EugeneSax]

24 years of Bonsai cultivation has left me with decent green fingers
lol

Perhaps you could grow your own minis?

Driving back up the A22 (I think) from a trip out the other weekend, I passed a brown leisure road sing saying: "Bonsai Nursery". Very disappointing - it was just someone's allotment.

[Lee Nub]

Not many around these days. I know most of the better ones, Harry Tomlinson at GreenWood gardens at Sherwood Forest, and Peter Chan at Herons Nursery, they were great Nurseries,but i havent dealt with them for a while.

They used to come to our society on a regular basis giving talks etc, both nice guys.

Just dont forget, a Bonsai isnt a special tree, any tree can be trained. I have had sycamore leaves reduce the leave size to the size of a 10p, it just takes time. My favourite way of obtaining material was collection. We used to get permission to remove trees from various places, the "yamadori" or wild collected were fantastic raw material. Had some stunning trees from cliff sides, and even old footpaths that deer had continually chewed the tops off, keeping them naturally small.

Its a case then of finding the style in the tree, and starting to develop it over the next 10 years. I also bought a lot of hedging trees from local nurseries, beech, oak, buxus, all great trees to start with.

Then its a case of learning the techniques, were and when to trim, how to wire, brace or weight the branches, soil mixtures, feeds, water cycles, carving of dead wood or "jinning", tree to pot selection, styles etc etc

It can be as cheap or as expensive as you want, i once spent nearly 6 months salary on a set of tools , the same make as the Emperor of Japan uses lol

If you ever want any advice on Bonsai, or soils and feeds, send me a pm

[Simon-JG-hr]

Very nice Deano. They look very healthy.

Are you planning on some home made stogies? It could certainly be an interesting experience. In one of my flights of fancy moments (all too regular), when looking at growing tobacco, I even hunted down all the bits and pieces for fermentation, chavetta and other cigar making tools, presses etc. etc. I guess it could be quite addictive to make your own. Like growing tomatoes... (Mmmmm... home grown tomatoes... yummy)

[Habana-Habanos]

That's awesome Deano! Great job, was it hard to get them to grow or rather easy?

[Deano]

Just using normal soil at the mo, with just a tad of fertilizer. From seed to sapling to plant in ground.

They've just shot up massively in a few weeks, even larger than that pic now. All very, very easy - just water every day.

[Lee Nub]

We have had good weather for them. When are you planning on the harvest? You can either stop feeding a couple of weeks in advance, or go onto an organic, low Nitrogen feed. Im looking forward to watching these grow.

[Deano]

I have no idea when to harvest them tbh - my Dad knows, so hopefully he'll point me in the right direction!

[Boss Hog]

I've got a bunch of plants growing now...

I was taking a pic each week to show how they've grown but unfortunately a recent sync with my iPhone lost the pics. Damn thing.

Here's the latest though.

Is that it?
I was expecting your spare bedroom window to be blacked out and hydroponic lights wired up to the outside street lamps.