Tobacco plant: Tips for planting, caring for & Overwintering

Many only know the exotic from cigarettes. Hardly anyone knows that you can also grow tobacco in your own garden. We'll tell you how.

Tobacco plants (Nicotiana) are native to subtropical and tropical areas of our planet, but the herbaceous plant can also be grown in our temperate latitudes. However, this requires a certain amount of prior knowledge and a certain amount of time, after all, the tobacco needs to be looked after and cared for so that you can later get a rich tobacco harvest. The sensitive plants must be protected from wind and weather and supplied with sufficient water and warmth. You should also pay attention to the right nutrient composition when fertilizing.

Tobacco Plant: Origin & Origin

Tobacco calls its home the subtropical and tropical areas on the American continent and Australia - most species come from South America. In the New World, tobacco was being cultivated and used by indigenous tribes long before it was “discovered” by Europeans. Through this, the "white man" came into contact with the smokable herb for the first time. Tobacco leaves were given to Columbus by the locals after his arduous journey into the unknown. Since then, tobacco has quickly found its way into Western society. At the end of the 16th / beginning of the 17th century, attempts were made to control the increasing consumption of tobacco with an immense increase in tariffs, thereby effectively enforcing a ban. However, this failed due to the increase in illegal tobacco smuggling and the losses suffered by the British royal family. The high customs duties were finally reduced again. For the same reasons, the ban that initially existed in most other countries was quickly replaced by tax measures.

Tobacco plant species and varieties

Tobacco (Nicotiana) is a genus of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). This also includes other cultivated plants such as the potato (Solanum tuberosum) or the tomato(Solanum lycopersicum). The annual or perennial herbaceous plants of the genus Nicotiana are divided into over 60 different species.

Of these, two are mainly grown for the production of tobacco. Still other species or hybrids are cultivated as ornamental plants in the garden because of their bright, sometimes intensely fragrant flowers.

Tobacco Plant Varieties: Smoking Tobacco

Smoking tobacco varieties are cultivated worldwide because of the nicotine content of the leaves. The most commonly cultivated type of smoking tobacco is the Virginian tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), with varieties of this type in turn being divided into Virginia tobacco, Burley tobacco and Oriental tobacco, depending on the properties of the processed tobacco. Another important species is the peasant tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). However, this has such a high nicotine content that it cannot be sold in Germany. If you are a hardened smoker and need a little kick again, you should consider simply growing the tobacco yourself. For this unique smoking experience, the rather complex cultivation in your own garden is also worthwhile.

Tobacco Plant Varieties: Ornamental Tobacco

As an ornamental plant, Nicotiana x sanderae is usually offered. Most varieties of this ornamental tobacco are descendants of crosses between the wild species Nicotiana alata and Nicotiana forgetiana. This is how varieties with flowers in the most diverse and dazzling colors were created, which not only open in the evening hours, but sometimes even all day long. There are always scented and night-scented varieties as well as those without a scent. With their quite small final size of 30 to 150 cm, they are ideal for pot culture, balcony boxes or - depending on their size - as a front or background plant in the bed. Wild species such as scented/forest tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris) or tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) are real eye-catchers in the home garden.

You can find more about the many different types of tobacco here in our special article.

Buy tobacco plant

A tobacco plant does not necessarily belong to the standard repertoire of a hardware store, garden center or gardener. Although you can occasionally get young plants or seeds of some types of ornamental or smoking tobacco here, you can usually only find a large selection on the Internet.

There you have the opportunity to discover many small shops that offer tobacco as young plants or seeds. As a little orientation, we present some of these sources of supply for tobacco plants:

TOBACCO seeds and plants: The online shop offers various types of smoking tobacco as plants or seeds, as well as gift sets and mint.

Magic Garden Seeds: This dealer offers, among other things, seeds for various types of smoking tobacco. You can also get seed kits. These contain different varieties for the cultivation of tobacco mixtures especially for snuff, Indian or shisha tobacco.

Pflanzen-Traum.de: Tobacco plants of different types of smoking tobacco are offered here. You will also find a wide range of herbs and other plants such as lady's mantle, St. John's wort or lavender on the site. The tobacco is delivered seasonally around the end of April.

Rühlemann's: This page of a nursery offers aromatic herbs, aromatic plants and medicinal herbs such as tobacco, whereby the seeds of smoking, scented, farmer's and tree tobacco can be found.

You will quickly find what you are looking for on Amazon, eBay and eBay classifieds. Here you can get seeds, plants, propagation and gift sets or even dried tobacco leaves.

Growing Tobacco Plant: Location and Requirements

Growing tobacco is a bit of a challenge for any hobby botanist. The plant comes from the sunny, warm areas of America and Australia. The choice of location in your garden should also be made accordingly. If you don't respect the needs of the rather demanding plants, you will unfortunately not get a rich tobacco harvest either. Therefore, the following applies when growing tobacco:

• Location: Sun to partial shade, warm and sheltered
• Soil: loose and humic with a pH between 5.6 and 6.8

A location that is protected from wind and weather is particularly important, as the tobacco leaves tear quickly. This will cost you dearly during further processing.

So that you can start the "tobacco in your own garden" experiment, we have put together everything you need to know about growing tobacco.

Propagate Tobacco Plant

Tobacco can be propagated very well by sowing. You can buy the seeds commercially or harvest them yourself. When harvesting yourself, not all of the blossoms on your tobacco plants are torn off - you should leave a few.After flowering, capsules about two centimeters in size are formed, which contain the seeds. These capsules are dried, the seeds separated out, dried and stored in a dry and dark place until sowing next spring. The seeds can then be sown from March. Since tobacco is very sensitive to frost and requires a high level of humidity, the plants are usually sown and raised indoors in a seed pot with a cover. It is best to use a special growing substrate such as our Plantura organic herb and seed soil. From a size of about eight centimeters and when there is no longer any danger of frost, the small plants can finally be planted out.

Care for Tobacco Plant

Tobacco is a root crop. With these crops, the surface of the soil is loosened at regular intervals with a hoe or a similar tool. The weeds are removed and compaction of the soil is avoided. Plants that have to be isolated after sowing as young plants are also called this. Both the chopping and the pricking out of the young plants apply to the tobacco. You should therefore pick up a hoe after a week of growing time so that the roots are sufficiently aerated. You should repeat this every two weeks until the young plants have grown about 30 centimeters high. Watering cans and fertilizers are also often used, because the care required when growing tobacco is anything but low. However, you are spared the pruning of the mostly annual plants.

Water the tobacco plant

However, the tobacco is far from satisfied with the regular hoeing of the ground. Sufficient water must also be provided - especially during the warm summer months - because the plants are sensitive to drought. Even superficial drying out of the substrate puts considerable stress on the tobacco. Especially when cultivating in a pot, you should ensure a good water supply, because young tobacco plants tend to wilt quickly.

Fortunately, they recover from these just as quickly. However, to prevent wilting in the first place, the soil should always be kept moist. In warm, dry weather, it may even be necessary to water twice a day. However, the floor should not be soaked. Otherwise the roots will not get enough oxygen. In addition, your tobacco prefers calcareous water.Hard tap water is therefore ideal for supplying the plants. How much water your tobacco needs is not only dependent on the weather and the water storage capacity of the soil. Large-leaved varieties such as 'Pergeu' use more water than those with small leaves such as oriental tobacco, as these have a smaller leaf surface over which the valuable moisture can evaporate. In addition, the sunnier the location, the higher the water consumption. Also note that tobacco should never be poured from above. After all, damp leaves are the ideal breeding ground for disease.

Fertilize tobacco plant

Tobacco quickly grows to a height of two meters in one gardening season. If you build up so much biomass, you need a lot of nutrients accordingly. Tobacco has a particularly high demand for lime and potash. Potash is abundant in wood ash. Therefore, work charcoal into the soil about two months before planting or use a potassium-rich complete fertilizer. On the other hand, you should avoid chlorine, at least with smoking tobacco, as it is stored in the leaves. The ideal choice is therefore a chlorine-free potassium fertilizer. Of course, there are also special fertilizers for tobacco. Such is perfectly adapted to the needs of your tobacco in terms of mineral and nutrient content and is used according to the manufacturer's instructions. Fertilization with weakly concentrated nettle liquid manure is also possible. Alternatively, you can also use our Plantura organic universal fertilizer for your tobacco plants.

From planting in May until the end of the flowering period in October, you should water the irrigation water with an appropriate fertilizer every four to eight weeks. In the case of granules, the fertilizer is worked into the surface and then washed with plenty of water. Especially with tobacco, the use of an organic fertilizer that releases its nutrients gently and slowly into the surrounding soil has many advantages, because mineral fertilizers are not well tolerated by subtropical plants.

In pot culture, you should use a long-term fertilizer such as our organic universal fertilizer or fertilizer sticks. If the fertilization is right, the quality of the harvested tobacco leaves is also right and you don't have to pay attention to a sensible crop rotation. You can grow tobacco again every year on optimally fertilized areas.

Note: For an optimal start to growth, you can plant the bed in autumn before theMix in mature manure when planting. However, you should then be sparing when fertilizing with nitrogen.

Summary: Tobacco Care

• Chop every 2 weeks from the time of planting to a height of 30 cm
• Watering: High water requirement, high sensitivity to drought, always keep substrate moist
• Fertilize: From planting to the end of flowering every 4 - 8 weeks with chlorine-free potassium fertilizer in the irrigation water

Harvesting and storing tobacco plants

The right harvest and storage are crucial for the quality and taste of the smoked goods you produce yourself. So it pays to be extra careful. The leaves are harvested in late summer or autumn. They change color from dark green to light green from bottom to top during this ripening period.

During this time, the nicotine migrates from the roots to the leaves. The leaves then turn yellow, then brown, and finally fall off. It is therefore important to determine the correct harvest time for each leaf individually.

• The small, lowest leaves ("Grumpen") are not harvested.
• Remove the "grumps" when they have turned yellow.
• Thick, medium-sized leaves are harvested, light green in color with yellowish stripes.
• The leaves are ready for harvest when they can easily be twisted off the stem.
• Check the plant for mature leaves every 2-3 days.

Depending on the position of the leaf on the stem, the leaves are later suitable for different purposes to varying degrees, because the nicotine content varies. For example, the leaves that ripen above the "Grumpen" have a fairly low nicotine content and contain many essential oils and resins. These so-called "sand leaves" are ideal as a binder for cigars. The middle crop then matures from the bottom up, followed by the top crop and the night tobacco. These contain more nicotine, fragrances and flavorings. You should harvest in the early morning. This is when the starch content in the leaves is at its lowest. The harvest period can extend over six weeks. But when it comes to tobacco, the following applies: after the harvest is only before drying. This step then takes several more months.

• Let the leaves wilt for a few hours to avoid leaf damage during further processing
• Leaves are threaded onto strong yarn with a needle
• Through the middle rib or thePrick the stem of the leaf - this is where the leaf is most stable
• Hang the twine with the leaves in a dark, airy place, such as between two joists in a darkened shed
• Drying time: 2 - 3 months

A distance of about ten centimeters is maintained between the leaves. The leaves should not touch each other. This ensures optimal air circulation and minimizes the risk of mold. You should also check the tobacco regularly while it is drying. Nevertheless, the humidity should be around 75%. If the air is still too dry, you can simply hang a damp cloth over the tobacco.

The slower and longer the tobacco dries, the higher the quality. However, even here there is a fast way to the goal. In a hot drying shed you can also dry your tobacco in a period of less than a week. This is mainly done in the large-scale production of Virginia tobacco. After drying, the leaves have turned brown. Finally, the dried tobacco leaves can be hung in bundles and stored in an airy place. The humidity should be so high that the leaves do not start to become crumbly. Humidity that is too low leads to a loss of aroma, while humidity that is too high causes mold. It is therefore important to strike the golden mean.

ferment tobacco

Although you can already process your dried tobacco leaves into smoking goods, smoking these leaves will unfortunately not be a pleasure. In order not to have the smell of burned hair in the nose when smoking, the leaves have to be fermented. During this fermentation process, the leaves continue to ripen and the proteins they contain are broken down. This process usually starts by itself if you pile up the tobacco in large stacks. A first sign of a successfully starting fermentation is a slight rise in temperature in the stack of leaves. This sets in after just a few days and quickly increases to around 40 °C. Therefore, check the temperature in the stack daily. Depending on the intended use, the stack is turned over three to six times. The inner leaves are shifted outwards and the outer ones inwards.

The fermentation process can take months again. This is followed by a cooling phase, inwhich the tobacco releases moisture. After this post-ripening, the tobacco leaves should have a moisture content of around 18%. Well-fermented tobacco is dry, elastic, and smolders slowly when lit.

Alternatively, you can also sort the dried tobacco leaves. The leaves are sprayed with or dipped in a brew of water and sugar. Flavorings such as eucalyptus or vanilla can also be added during this step. The leaves then move into an open container for a few days and are then dried a second time.

Winter Tobacco Plant

Unfortunately, the herb from the subtropics cannot cope with the frosty temperatures in our latitudes. Growth stops at temperatures below 15 °C. From the zero point, the leaves are then affected. Cold death follows quite quickly at -3 °C. The plants sometimes get problems with us in the fall. With annual tobacco plants, the frost sensitivity of the tobacco is not a problem. The plants are simply pulled out of the ground in autumn. Perennial tobacco plants should be overwintered in a frost-free place. The plants are cut back to the ground in autumn and brought through the cold season in pots or as dug up roots. It is better not to overwinter your tobacco indoors at room temperature, as it is very susceptible to spider mites. From mid-May the plants will be outside again.

Tobacco Plant: Pests and Diseases

If you find signs of wilting on older tobacco plants, these may not have been caused by insufficient watering, but by pests. Infestations with grubs (Melolontha melolontha), wireworms (Agriotes spp.), snails (Deroceras sp .), stem necrotic (Ditylenchus dipsaci) or migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) occur. There are also a few pests and diseases that specialize in tobacco. However, tobacco is not particularly susceptible to disease.

Mothworm Caterpillar

The tobacco hawkmoth lays its eggs on the leaves of the tobacco plant. The larvae that hatch from the eggs then feed on the leaves. They can store the nicotine they contain in their bodies and become inedible to predators. But not only the larvae show the great ingenuity of nature with this strategy. In the event of an infestation by the tobacco hornworm, the plants have developed their very own defense strategy: the tobaccoreleases a mixture of scents when attacked by the caterpillars, which attract parasitic wasps, which in turn lay their eggs in the caterpillars.

Tobacco Beetle

The tobacco beetle belongs to the species of beetles and frightens tobacco producers all over the world. The brownish beetles are just a few millimeters long and lay their eggs on the leaves of the plants. If tobacco products are infested with the beetle, they must be disposed of due to the contamination with faeces.

• Symptoms: Feeding damage by adult animals and especially by the larvae or storage pests
• Measures: Check for infestation during storage and clean storage area thoroughly; the beetle is very sensitive to cold; therefore store the tobacco in a cool place

Tobacco Mosaic Virus

This phytopathogenic virus is transmitted by aphids or mechanically all over the world and affects not only tobacco but also tomatoes and peppers.

• Symptoms: Deformed, inelastic leaves, growth retardation, light green mosaic pattern on leaves
• Measure: Sort out infested plants to prevent virus spread

Tobacco blue mold (Peronospora tabacina)

Particularly due to the high water consumption and the soil that has to be kept constantly moist, fungi have an easy time with tobacco. In addition to tobacco blue mold, root blight (Thielaviopsis basicola) and sclerotinia disease (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) infections can occur.

• Symptoms: Grey-blue coating on the underside of the leaves, holes in the leaves
• Countermeasures: fungicide treatment, stop growing tobacco on the area for at least 3 years after infestation

Using and utilizing the tobacco plant

The roots of the tobacco plant produce nicotine and other alkaloids, which are deposited in the leaves. Actually, the substances serve to deter predators. But over time, humans have discovered certain benefits of the nightshade plant, which is why tobacco has been cultivated for over 400 years.

India and China grow more than half of the world's tobacco. Small amounts of tobacco are also grown in Germany. Here, the cultivation areas are mainly limited to milder areas in the south of the country. The harvested tobacco is not only used as a smoking agent, but was also used as a healing and spiritual substance in the pastCeremonial plant and used as an insecticide. In addition, tobacco has a firm place in research as a model plant and in biotechnology as a plant production system, for example for antibodies.

Tobacco as a medicinal plant

Tobacco doesn't necessarily come to mind as a plant with healing properties. But around the middle of the 17th century, tobacco was only available as a medicine in pharmacies in Germany, among other places. It was and is attributed medicinal effects against the following complaints:

• Respiratory Diseases
• Bladder Problems
• Fever
• Skin diseases
• nervousness
• Earache
• Snake Bites
• cuts and burns

Tobacco as a luxury food

Tobacco, on the other hand, is still known to almost everyone today as a stimulant. It is used to make cigar tobacco, pipe tobacco, cigar wrappers, chewing tobacco and snuff.

It is also used as a fragrance in cosmetics. What we use every day as a stimulant was in its original form only smoked, chewed, sniffed, eaten or used superficially as juice by indigenous peoples as part of ritual ceremonies.

If you now feel like growing tobacco yourself, you will find a selection of the most popular types and varieties of tobacco here.