My First Tobacco Flower.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by tzaddi

Next come the seeds, each of those pods have the potential to produce thousands of plants… and so goes the cycle of life

Each year I have tobacco plants appear in planters all on their own. Once a friend always a friend.

Good show Scott.

I've told you, but the guys don't know...
That flower is the culmination of a 20+ year desire to grow tobacco.
I've grown tons of different plants that are relatives of tobacco, because I love the habit of the plant, and I love the flowers. It's kinda like "you know what kind of women you like", but with plants.
Richard shared the seed with me this past year, and I've finally gotten to witness just how beautiful and complex the plants are.
I really screwed them up this year, so I actually have dwarf, prematurely finishing plants, but the flowers were what I was after and I was truly blessed to get such an early showing.
I still have no idea what I'll do with it (the tobacco), but I may see how to cure it for chewing tobacco (my first love).
That has to be far easier than curing it for cigars. I hope.

[kydsid]

Originally Posted by shilala

I still have no idea what I'll do with it (the tobacco), but I may see how to cure it for chewing tobacco (my first love).
That has to be far easier than curing it for cigars. I hope.

Well really old school, say pre 1700's, snuff wasn't even cured tobacco. It was just ground up leaf that was pressed into the gums. As for curing cigar vs chewing I don't think there is much of a difference, don't really know though. Just hang the stuff somewhere you can control the temp. Hell a clothes line in the garage would work if the temp didn't swing much. The commercial boys just use oversized open air barns. Maybe I can get more info from one of my peeps that worked at the USDA Tobacco lab before they closed it down in 02.

[jcruse64]

Originally Posted by shilala

I still have no idea what I'll do with it (the tobacco), but I may see how to cure it for chewing tobacco (my first love).
That has to be far easier than curing it for cigars. I hope.

A barn, sawdust, oak or hickory strips, molasses, and a lighter will get you on the way .

It would be interesting to see how this plant would do with the fire-cured process, but these leaves are not as thick as the dark-fired variety plant, and probably would not hold up to the process. At least not on the scale of an entire barn.

The smell of the smoke from the curing barn is just fantastic. One of my favorite things in the autumn/fall season.