Page 1 of 2

Planting Tobacco

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:44 pm
by Dean3
Hi,I am contemplating planting tobacco along the south side of My metal skirting to shade it,if I can reduce heat build-up under there then less should rise up into here. This would add to the underbelly and vent functions.

As an equal benefit I can dry/process/smoke the tobacco,today's FSC cigarrettes are expensive and the paper they use tastes like smoldering old rags. By the way,I am guessing that the bad taste is a wonderful thing to anti-smoking groups.

Anybody have personal experience/advice growing tobacco? I see that some folks grow it as decoration so thought this might be a good place to ask.

Also any recommendations for buying seeds online would be great,only bizs that You have used personally please.

TY much.

Dean

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 3:00 pm
by Yanita
Hi Dean,

Although we have hundreds of acres of commercial grown tobacco planted behind our home I don't think I would want it next to my home. Not sure of all the chemicals involved but know there are several or at least these fields get sprayed several times during the growing season.

The flower (decoration) that you are referring to could well be a plant called nicotina. It's a pretty plant, but I think it is an annual, something that would have to be replaced every year.

Personally I would go with some small dwarf type shrubs. I currently have large manicured boxwoods surrounding the front and 2 ends of my home. They are great at reducing the wind against the bottom of my home and do help regulate the temp underneath.

If I can be of further help please let me know.

Happy Valentines Day,

Yanita

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:27 pm
by Dean3
Well I am interested in dual purpose tho,shading and smoking. If successful growing then I would learn to dry and process(shred) for personal use. I suppose to shade the skirting I would need more than I could ever smoke. I have also considered grapes for shade and making wine but might go with tobacco due to the shallower roots,,sounds easier to remove so I'm less commited to a plant or to the bed.

The idea is in the curiousity stage at present.

Dean

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:33 pm
by Yanita
Well going with grapes sounds delightful...BTDT also.Had very few grapes, thanks to the birds, although I did get alot of grape stains and rotted fruit on the roof in the gutters and of course the mess the birds left behind...every purple grape they ate came out the other end on my white Monte Carlo.

Grapes can be high maintenance as well.

Guess I am lost at your wanting "shade" thought you were looking to shade your skirting...

Yanita

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:06 pm
by Dean3
Shading the skirting is original/primary aim.Grape vines could be kept low and thick enough on a 3' tall trellis to help I think.

Birds crappin purple doesn't sound like a good thing at all! High maintenance doesn't work either. Plant,fertilize,water,harvest,shred,smoke sounds good to Me. :)

Dean

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:13 pm
by Harry
Hi

Around where I live plants around the MH can lead to moisture and rot.

Sorry can't help it......here's the Tobacco Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRHvZazd4IM

Harry

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:58 pm
by Dean3
Yeah,I spent a few months in FL in the early 90s,humidity and rain can be bad here but it seemed much worse in Fort Lauderdale.

My skirting is among the best steel sheeting available,it sat out in the long grass/weeds,shaded by trees and bushes,in the rain/snow for 10 years and shows no rust,heck Harry,the factory paint is still good!,,butt-ugly yellowish on one side but the tan side is ok.

I could paint it white to defeat the summer sun but then I would lose what winter sun's heat there is underneath. Plants that shade in summer would be an attempt to secure something of the best of both worlds. It would make the home less accessible to ladders and such tho,,if it works as intended the daily benefits would outweigh that occasional inconvenience. Thats the theory anyhow. :) I have been told more than once "Dean,You think too much".

Dean

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:45 pm
by Yanita
Hey Harry,

You are correct to a point. IF your plant material is not touching the home, drainage is good/excellent you should not have a problem.

We have very high humidity in the summer, even the winter months. My boxwoods are about 3 1/2 feet high and wide. We keep them trimmed to come just below the height of the windows and they are trimmed in the back at least one foot away from the side of the home. We also created "breaks" between every bush. These breaks are about 4 inches wide. basically every boxwood looks like a cube. We have found by keeping them manicured this way we get great air movement and no rotting.

We have been under the home numerous times and there is no moisture under the home or the inside of the brick underpinning from these very large shrubs.

These boxwoods were here when we bought the home, after very careful inspection of them we realized that whom ever planted them made sure the earth was graded away from home. I am sure our gutter down spout and the extensions on those help greatly as well.

Anyways, just my thoughts,

Yanita

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:28 pm
by Harry
Yo

Sounds neat. Can you post of photo?

Harry

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:40 am
by Teresa73
Hi Dean,

While planting your own smoke sounds good and easy, it isn't.
Pests are highly attracted to the leaves, so you would need to fight off the pests with some kind of natural remedy - no chemicals because you would then smoke the chemicals you treated the leaves with.

Natural remedies for garden pest control rarely work as good as man made chemical pesticides. So, most natural gardeners end up either picking pests off by hand, or introducing another insect or pest that is a natural predator to the original pest you wish gone >.<

Also one major factor that I didn't know if you knew about is that the big `backy companies spray their leaves with sugar and other compounds to *naturally* increase the nicotien in the leaves by sometimes over 3X - 8X it's natural strength. Which means your home grown `backy might leave you sorely frustrated if you're craving the cigarette for it's nicotien content.

For cheaper smokes, you could try 'Smokers Choice' which is a brand of cigarette sized 'cigars' that are actually cigarette `backy just wrapped in a cigar paper so that the company can call it a cigar instead of a cigarette, hence charging a lot less for the product.

There is also the e-cigarette, otherwise called an Electronic Cigarette. They cost more initially to buy the electronic cigarette, but the refill cartridges are two - three times cheaper than cigarettes themselves. You inhale a vapor off what looks like a real cigarette, you get the draw of a cigarette, plus the feel of smoking with the vapor you inhale, and you get a hit of nicotien with each hit off the electric cigarette.

It's a European invention which is growing more popular with no smoking bans placed in almost every diner or pub now a days. Plus you don't inhale tar or the other 4,000+ chemicals from a normal `backy cigarette. That means no stinky smoker smell, no yellow teeth, no coughing up 'smokers gunk', less risk for lung and other cancers, and you can smoke were backy cigarettes are not allowed.

(Good lord, can't tell I'm a hard core smoker can ya?)

Anyway, I'm going to try the electronic cigarette if Chantix doesn't help me quit smoking.. once I build up the nerve to try the Chantix (a drug that helps ya quit). Has a nasty side effect of nausea but then again so does chemo treatments for lung cancer >.< That's what I keep telling myself to build up to the Chantix anyway.

As for your own home made wine, same thing with the pest control as the `backy leaves. You could grow lighter (more green hued) grapes for less of a beautiful splotch of bird doo-purple on your house and everything within a 1 mile radius of it LoL

None of the grapes or `backy leaves would make a good wind break though. At least not a very good one compared to what you could plant there instead. The grape vines and `backy leaves will leave a big void actually once harvest time is over. You coul dtry just making a little garden of what you wish to try and grow, or try growing a small patch first to see what it actually turns out like.

You could then understand better how easy is it to keep pest free, tended to, how harvesting goes, and if you will actually follow through with making the cigs or wine once you do all of that other hard work.

I'm winded just typing all of this lol so I sure wouldn't want to do all that actual work to get a few bottles of wine or a few packs of cigs (which will not have a very high nicotien level at all).

*crawls back into bed*

That was my .35 cents worth on all of that... hope it helped some.

~ Teresa ~

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:50 pm
by Yanita
Hi,

Well I do not know anything about the sugar spray on tobacco, but can say that my well is contaminated from the chemicals used on tobacco plants and other crops grown.

I sorely resent my water bill when I have a good well...

Yanita

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:20 pm
by Dean3
Hi Teresa,TY for the info.

Hi Yanita,don't take this as gospel by any stretch,but,I think there are water filters that work to 1 micron,if I remember right that filters out nearly everything. I have 000 recent research on it. If it would be safe to use it might be cheaper than the water bill in the long run.

Dean

RE: Planting Tobacco

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:18 pm
by Yanita
Hi Dean,

Thanks for the info. At this point the health dept has "tagged" the well. We have since paid to have municipal water. Our county has decided that should we or anyone want to get there wells running again you are required to get a permit...for the mere sum of $350.00 that's just the permit fee.

We do use the well to water plants, wash the car etc...BUT, I do not use it to top off the swimming pool or the koi pond.

Thankfully our water bill is only $22.00 or less monthly, and no sewage charge as we have a septic tank. But if or when I need to completely fill the pool that's a whole different situation... :roll:

Yanita

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:32 pm
by Dean3
That figgers. $22 isn't a bad average I guess.

My lot rent went up about 12% recently,it's still cheap but danged if money ain't gettin more & more scarce these days! On that note; Wall street snuffed it's nose at the stimulus plan today and dropped anyhow. No fun,,no fun at all.

Dean

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:56 pm
by Dean3
Rustic Girls webpage(posted link below)claims that soaking tobacco leaves then using the water to mist other plants helps to deter insects as the tobacco has natural defenses in it or some such thing. I don't grow anything but grass and a few existing trees at the moment but thought the tobacco water tip might be of help to some folks.

http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/gr ... bacco.html

Yanita,didn't You say there is a tobacco field right off Your backyard? Maybe snag a few leaves and give the tip a tryout. That way You at least get something for the headaches of the contaminated well water! Crafty devil ain't I.:)

At any rate the afformentioned page is a good read,,Yer friendly neighborhood dumb@$$ drywaller recommends it highly. :D

Dean

PS;;I will copy/paste this post to Audie's thread in off topic as I feel it pertains to both this and that..Please pardon the crosspost if You read MHR through email. Sorry.