ornamental tobacco

[Stillman]

so anyone got any hints and tips or links on growing ornamental tobacco. I am keen at having a go, am trying a late crop but have some hot houses to put them in so I think they should do fine. I have heard the pests smash them? what is an effective treatment someone told m eto make a tobacco spray? But in my head if they are eating it already how would a nicotine spray stop them? Anyway just a curiosity I have ha d alook at commercial and smokable tobacco websites so am assuming it s a similar gig.

[Halcyon Daze]

I wouldn't grow them in a hothouse because of the pest problem alone. You could end up with whitefly all through your hothouse and the plants might not flower until spring anyway, so consider waiting a few more months and keep 'em outside. Tobacco spray definitely kills bugs on your tobacco plants, but only if you make it strong/concentrated.

Tobacco spray could potentially transfer viruses onto your most beloved plants (althogh I hear this is not common) so be careful where you use it.

What species do you have? Some actual Petunia species are just as interesting, very closely related and can be substituted for tobacco as they cotain nicotine. The name Petunia is French and means 'little tobacco'.

Love the ornamental solonacae!

Edited April 26, 2012 by Halcyon Daze

[Stillman]

Nicotina alata and a a couple other more commercial cultivars, thanks for the heads up with the green house. I will look into Petunias do you recommend any species.

[2Deep2Handle]

Listen to Halcyon Daze...really knows what there talking about ......I simply planted a bunch of of em (rusticia) , and within a couple of months,several species of my beloved chillis, and brugmansias fell victim to the dreaded Mossaic Tobacco Virus.

If you have beloved solonacae family plants growing, dont grow shitter solonacae plants in their vicinity, and be sure to crop rotate (ie no solonacae planting where solonacae already were)

Edited May 2, 2012 by 2Deep2Handle

[Stillman]

I have a small area far away from solancae's like eggplant and chilli. I have had mosaic before its shit. I think I got it from weedy cherry tomatoes that came up. How hard did the mosaic hit the tobacco and chillis. I find it seems to smash little plants but if you work clean and dispose of the effected leaves and plants they seem to come back. At least chillis do. This year I intend to really keep the pest plants and weeds down to a minimum and see where I land as far as disease. I don't like spraying but I will be using Pyrethrum this summer, its the only way to beet the bugs and pest spreading insects.

Out of curiosity how big did your rusticas get? And what season did you grow them in. The summer months I pretty much give up growing veg these days with the rain and bugs its too depressing.

[2Deep2Handle]

ive done rusticia and tobacum through all seasons....its all about pot size ive found....if you keep a rusticia root bound it will flower and seed (profusiously) when it is like 40cm no matter the time in season(ive got some seeding right now on little 30cm plants if anyone wants some free seed?). tobacum, will stay small (like 50cm-1m) if kept in small pots, but will take subtancially longer to seed in colder and shorter day season. Will grow quite large (2-3m) if given plenty of room to grow.

Be careful with all Nicotiana(most species i suspect). I grew several species 2 seasons ago, and have been pulling out new babies continuously from my gardens ever since lol (bit like Datura strammonium)

all my chillis also came back from mosaic tobacco virus, which i suspect also came from a bunch of wild trussed tommy toe tomatoes that popped up near my chilli crop, which i stupidly and inquisitivly let grow. .

I have never actually seen my tobaccos (all Nicotiana) get MTV, which is wierd, although i have had phitophoric blight(post emergent 'damping off') wipe out several tobacums (go all yellow and mushy and immediatly severly wilt and die), when they were quite established (but rootbound need i add)

EDIT: Avoid foilar spraying of solonacae family plants, and try to avoid soil flicking up onto stems and leaves when watering pots/beds with them. bottom-feed if possible (i keep all my little Nicotiana's in little 170mm pots in trays with about 2 inches of water at all times) Nicotiana loves to drink!

Edited May 20, 2012 by 2Deep2Handle

[Halcyon Daze]

Here's a pic I took especially 4 you Stillman. I got seeds if you want some. I got them sent from US. Nice perfume and very large flowers. It's a naturally occurring hybrid between 2 tobacco species.

[Stillman]

So I am interested in day period and plant growth of Nicotiana species. Are they photoperiod sensitive or just cold sensitive. I imagine some species are inherently more than others. I started some N rustica (for ornamental reasons only) under 18 hour day period and they had grown quite quickly then I put them outside in a little mini greenhouse of there own and the leaf has bolted. From digging around online alot of rustica sp or cultivars are very small plants and can flower within 35 days of transplanting, man that is quick. But there are a few varieties that can get up to about 1.2 metres apparently. I found a a tobacco site os that has a guy who grows 25 different varieties of N rustica. They are a nice looking little plant apparently smoking the flower is quite nice.