Tobacco Cultivation

[Teotzlcoatl]

If you have any problems with Tobacco Budworms later on, consider using the Bacillus thuringiensis caterpillar killer stuff. It's a bacterial toxin that is lethal to caterpillars, but breaks down quickly so you don't need to worry about the leaves having nasties on them.

Hmm... I might already have those... I don't think I'll do anything tho... Not yet... it's not really doing any damage.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Teotz'

[Teotzlcoatl]

The only type of tobacco I would ever smoke is 100% additive free, organic through a filter (be it water or cotton).

The above comment, got me thinkin...

What about organic papers and filters? If I grew my own patch of cotton, picked it, de-seeded it and cleaned it, would it make a decent filter?

Edited September 19, 2008 by Teotz'

[Garbage]

In dem ol' cotton fields back home..

[Teotzlcoatl]

Ya, I'm from the South you wanker, tosser, jack-rabbit-down-under-dingo-fucker. I love hangin' out with you guys! I pick up such wonderful linguistics!

But seriously, does anybody know if this will work? I assume regular commerical filters are just made of simple cotton? Or is it some sort of treated material? I don't wanna ruin my organic tobacco with inorganic filters!

Cheers mates!

Edited September 20, 2008 by Teotz'

[Garbage]

Gone are the days of asbestos filters,cellulose was mentioned as a modern filter material.

I was down in Louisiana just a mile from Texacana.

Apparently you can't mess around,you gotta jumpd down,turn around,pick a bail o' cotton.

Also when dem cotton bolls get rotten you aint pickin' very much cotton.

I was reading that there is some kinda Boll Weevil museum,one of the few buildings dedicated to an insect,the other being Cactoblastis Cactorum.

[mac]

i did not read every post in the thread & seethe last post was September so forgive me if this has been mentioned

a good organic fertilizer is one you know what went in to it so id suggest a standard worm farm then you know what's put in & that its truley100% organic

worm castings & the fluid in the bottom is one of the best organic fertilizer i can n think of

Edited January 8, 2009 by mac

[Inyan]

My grandpa used to cure tobacco by hanging it up to dry in the barn and burning some sulfur in it. Never actually seen him do it as it was years after he stopped farming tobacco that I heard that story, but I did some research and came up with this....

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4362170.html

Apparently, there was a method to his madness.

Edited January 8, 2009 by Inyan

[Teotzlcoatl]

I've really got to get to writing a full report... my tobacco is almost done!

[haze1205]

Cultivation-

Sucker alot

Remove flower buds

Add fruits, milk and sugars to the soil.

Curing-

Allow the leafs to die on the stalk.

Harvest, wash, shake.

Lay them in a pile on the rocks to ferment for 3 days.

Place the leafs in the cedar rack for 33 more days of fermenting and air drying, rearrange the sticks every 7 days.

Sort the leafs- Green, Yellow/Gold, and brown or other color. Discard the green leaves.

Place the Yellow/Gold leafs back into the cedar rack. The brown or other colored leaves are removed of their veins and place in the compressor along with vanilla pods, dates, and figs(dried).

After 77 days, remove both leafs from their containers, remove any veins or other imperfects then blend.

Place in the cedar chest to age. Rolling and smoking may began after 33 days.

Things I need-

Gloves

Hemp twine

Sticks to hold the plants up

Cedar stick rack

Cedar Chest

Compressor

its probably not the best idea to lay down how to do something when you obviously have no idea what you are talking about

Could somebody explain "Topping" and "Suckering"?

[Teotzlcoatl]

Well I just did dude!

Wanna see some pics of my finished tobacco?

The pics of my plants should be in this thread.

Thanks for bumping this thread tho!

Just because I didn't know what "Suckering" was almost a year ago doesn't mean I don't know now! I spend the whole summer suckerin' my plants!

Edited February 12, 2009 by Teotz'

[haze1205]

thats cool im just pointing out you are telling people to sucker and turning around and asking what suckering is

yeah id like to see a finished product, last year i grew tobacco but cured it wrong half of the leaves were green

[Teotzlcoatl]

Thankfully I only had a few leafs that remained green that I had to throw out...

I'll get pics when it's completely finished... I'm still working on it right now.

[Teotzlcoatl]

My baccy turned out pretty damn good!

Tobacco Cultivation-

Before planting prepare the field- Till the field, add manure, sand and compost.

Burn a fire on the field a week or two before planting.

Build rows (or mounds) 1ft heigh and 3 feet apart.

1st - 10th day ~ When the seedling arrive place 3 seedlings into large pots and the other 9 into the field. Dig 9 holes in the field and fill each with some sand at the bottom and some good black soil. Surround the seedlings with straw.

10th - 20th days ~ Mist the plants, keep them pest free and watered, but not soaked.

20th - 30th days ~ Add wood ash around the plants.

30th - 40th days ~ Add organic fertilizers like- Manure, compost, etc.

40th - 50th days ~ Check the plant for pests and other problems.

50th - 60th days ~ Top the developing flower heads as soon as the are present and begin suckerin’.

60th - 70th days ~ Remove any straw or debris from around the base of the stalks, spray the leafs and stalks with water in order to clean them.

70th - 80th days ~ Add honey and milk. Reduce water. irrigate the plants with milk and honey (or other sugars. Continue spraying the plants to remove dirt, but try to reduce water intake.

=0 A

90th + days ~ Harvest each leaf as it turns yellow. Greatly reduce water intake. Give the plant huge amounts of sugars, fats, fruit juices and anything else you can think of that will make it taste good! Allow at least a few days of dry weather before harvesting, make sure the forecast for the week of harvest is sunny, hot and dry for proper fermentation.

Curing Tobacco-

After a few days of dry weather, on the 7th hour of the morning, harvest the leafs beginning at the bottom of the stalk and moving up as they begin to yellow. There should be 3 -7 "pulls" or harvests of leafs. Each harvested "pull" is lay down in the grass of the field to ferment for 7-13 hours. The lowest leafs ("sand-lugs") can be discarded if they are dirty or damaged.

That evening the leafs are removed from the field and placed into the hardwood rack for 33 -77 hours of fermentation.

After each "pull" completes its initial fermentation it is "Hand-tied" and hung.

When the final "pull" of leafs is harvested, it is not fermented in the field. Untie all the leafs from previous "pulls" and place them in the hardwood rack for the final 77 hour fermentation.

Once all the leafs have been fermented "Hand-tie" the leafs and air-cure them for 7 weeks. Complete the drying of leafs too small to "Hand-tie" by sun-curing for a few days, then returning them to the hardwood rack.

=0 D

When the initial air-curing is complete leafs are lightly steamed and then washed in cool water. Leafs are then moved next to a small hardwood fire to be smoke-cured for 13 - 33 hours.

When the smoke curing process is complete hang the leafs up to air-cure for 7 more weeks.

After the final air-curing, untie the leafs and remove the central vein from all the leafs. Roll every 7 leaf halves into a tight bundle.

Place half the bundles into wood-press with freshly chopped vanilla beans, pitted dates, the small tobacco leafs and flowers. Age the tobacco under pressure for 7 months, opening and mixing the tobacco every 33 days.

The other half is aged for 7 months in a cedar box.

Finally, the pressure is removed, the pieces of dates and vanillas beans are removed, the tobacco from pressure-curing and the tobacco in the cedar box are both cut into long strings and blended.

The cured tobacco is kept in the cedar box in the fridge for 7 months of ageing. It is then rolled into cigarettes.

Flower Harvest and Small Leaf Curing-

Allow the 3 plants in pots to flowers (One of each strain) Preform suckerin’ as normal.

Collect flowers as they wilt.

Dry the flowers in a small pile in a dark room for 7 days.

Place the flowers and the small tobacco leafs in pressure-curer.

Notes- Wear gloves and a mask during the entire process.

Tools and other things I’ll need- River rocks to act as weights so the tobacco does not blow away on windy days.

Hardwood (Cedar poles 4-6ft long)

A rough box to contain the poles.

Screws in the ceiling, some place to hang the tobacco for air-curing, maybe the barn on the land.

A large, sturdy, unfinished hardwood box and a screw-press for pressure-curing.

A rack to hold the tobacco next to the fire.

Natural twine or string. Thin but not too thin.

I’ll need a knife!

Suckerin’- Suckerin' involves removing the small tender sprouts at each junction of leaf and stalk; Removing side shoots and immature leafs.

Stoneville’s Ole #77

Pressure Cured with whole Dates and Vanilla pods

A blend of Organic Ole Time Tobaccos- American Gold-Leaf, Southern Burley and Turkish.

_____________ _______________________________________________________________

Burley- Kelly Burley ~ Three (3) seedling plants

Flue-Cured- Bonanza ~ Six (6) seedling plants

Turkish/Oriental- Samsun ~ Three (3) seedling plants

Next year grow many kinds, of "Gold Leaf Ciggerette" tobacco, The finest "Turkish" tobacco, and the finest "Burley" tobacco.

_____________________

Plants are topped by removing the developing flower head at approximately 60 days from transplanting and treated to prevent the growth of side shoots called suckers. Topping allows energy that would have produced a bloom to promote leaf expansion.

At approximately four weeks after topping the tobacco is stalk cut using a knife that is shaped like a tomahawk. Each plant is speared, spiked or spudded (the terminology depending on the geographic location) onto a stick topped by a metal spear, spike or spud that fits over the stick. Each stick will contain five or six stalks. Sticks of green cut tobacco are most often allowed to field wilt for three or four days prior to hanging in a barn. Tobacco is allowed to air cure for eight or more weeks turning from the normal pale green to yellow and then to brown. Burley that cures too quickly will retain some of the yello w pigments as well as chemicals that normally break down with a slower cure. The quality achieved by U.S. burley producers is primarily due to natural curing conditions. Once fully cured burley is taken down, sticks are removed and leaves are stripped from the plant into grades by stalk position.

The tobacco plants are manually kept suckerless and pruned to exactly 12 leaves through their early growth. In late June, when the leaves are a dark, rich green and the plants are 24-30 inches (600 to 750 mm) tall, the whole plant is harvested in the late evening and hung to dry in a sideless curing barn. Once the leaves have partially dried but while still supple (usually less than 2 weeks in the barn), any remaining dirt is removed and the leaves are moistened with water and stemmed by hand. The leaves are then rolled into "torquettes" of approximately 1 pound (450 g) and packed into hickory whiskey barrels. The tobacco is then kept under pressure using oak blocks and massive screw jacks, forcing nearly all the air out of the still-moist leaves. Approximately once a month the pressure is released, and each of the torquettes is worked by hand to permit a little air back into the tobacco. After a year of this treatment, the perique is ready for consumption, although it may be kept fresh under pressure for many years. Extended exposure to air degrades the particular character of perique. The finished tobacco is dark brown, nearly black, very moist with a fruity, slightly vinegary aroma.

Growing Tobacco- Allow half the plants to flower. Cut off the other half of the plants buds as they appear for bigger leafs.

Curing Tobacco-

As the leafs turn yellow pick them off, staring at the bottom and working your way up, until all the leafs are picked.

After picking each leaf, place it into a well ventilated outdoor hardwood chest, full of freshly cut cedar sticks. After the last leafs are harvested remove the leafs from the chest and lay them in a large pile with the freshly harvested leafs, allow them to sit for seven days.

After seven days sitting in the pile, place all the leafs into the wooden chest and wait seven weeks.

Once Seven weeks have passed, remove the leafs from the box and "Hand-tie" them, with natural rope. Spray the "Hand-tied" leafs with water and gently shake them out. Steam them over boiling water and then rinse them again.

After the leafs are washed, hang the "Hand-tied" leafs next to small, smoky hardwood fire, to smoke for Seven hours.

Hang the leafs outdoors in an Area sheltered from the rain, for Seven days.

Cut the large central vein out of each leaf. Roll every Seven leaf halves into a bundle. Place the bundle20into a wooden box with freshly chopped Vanilla pods.

Place the box into a bag, seal the bag and bury it for Seven weeks.

After Seven weeks dig the bags and box back up. Remove and discard the chopped Vanilla pods. The tobacco is now ready to smoke. Store in an air-tight glass jar.

Steam the leafs at some point.

Place the leafs in pile to ferment.

Add honey, maple syrup, vanilla extract and whiskey.

Growing Tobacco-

Tobacco Cultivation- When the seedling arrive place 3 seedlings into pots and the other 9 into the field. Dig 9 holes in the field and fill each with a litte sand at the bottom and some good black soil. Surround the seedlings with straw or leaves.

Clip flower buds and remove secondary shoots and leafs ("suckerin’") Allow 3 plants to flower.

As the tobacco plants reach maturity (after about 50 days) add the following organic fertilizer- Cow manure, Urine, Shells, Compost.

When the first leaves begin to yellow (after about 80 days), rack away all dirt and debris from around the bottom of the stalk, irrigate the plants with milk and honey (or other sugars), spray the leafs with water in order to clean them.

Curing Tobacco-

Harvest the leafs from stalk beginning at the bottom and moving up as they begin to yellow. There should be 3-7 "pulls" or harvests of leafs.

Once harvested place the leafs in a large pile to ferment. The first pull should be fermented for 77 hours, the next pull 33 hours and the final pull 13 hours.

Once all the leafs have been harvested and fermentation is complete place the leafs into a natural wood box with the hardwood poles separating each leaf and allow it to air-cure for 7 weeks.

Once 7 weeks have passed, remove the leafs from the natural wood box and "Hand-tie" the leafs at the base stalk, with natural rope. Spray the "Hand-tied" leafs with water and gently shake them out. Steam the "Hand-tied" leafs over boiling water and then dip them under cool water.

After the leafs are washed, hang the "Hand-tied" leafs next to small, smoky hardwood fire, to smoke for 13 hours, 3-7 times.

When the smoke curing process is complete hang the leafs up to air-cure for 7 more weeks.

Once the tobacco is dried, untie the leafs and remove the central vein.

Roll every 7 leaf halves into a tight bundle, and place the bundles into a wooden box with freshly chopped vanilla beans and the flower/tobacco/vanilla mix.

Age the tobacco for 77 days under intense pressure, then remove the vanilla beans and cut the tobacco into long strips and blend. Place the blended tobacco into an air-tight jar. Keep the air-tight jar in the fridge and age it for 7 years. After 7 years of ageing the tobacco is ready to smoke.

Flowering Harvest and Curing-

Allow the 3 plants in pots to flowers (One of each strain)

Collect flowers as they wilt.

Dry the flowers in a small pile in a dark room for 7 days.

Place the flowers and some of the finest tobacco into a jar and add vanilla extract, seal it and allow it to sit for 7 hours, then remove from the jar and dry on the rack.

Age for 77 days.

Blend the flower/tobacco/vanilla mix with the tobacco before pressure ageing the tobacco.

Notes- Wear gloves and a mask during the entire process.

Tools and other things I’ll need- River rocks to act as weights so the tobacco does not blow away on windy days.

Natural twine or string. Thin but not too thin.

[Garbage]

You going to use organic fertilizer or radioactive industrial waste from phosphatic rock processing?

[Teotzlcoatl]

What'd ya mean?

[Garbage]

I was reading US tobacco traditionally has the radioactive secret ingredient!

The Phostrogen that i had been using for my houseplants is relatively quite hot.

I now notice the name of that fertilizer combines Phosphate and Roentgen!

Edited April 5, 2009 by Garbage

[Teotzlcoatl]

Wow... well I'm going organic! So no nukes in my soil!