Growing Tobacco At Home

[bob_kemp]

Tobacco Pests Fungus and Weeds

Hi --

This is a very large topic and I won't try to completely cover all the pests and diseases which can affect and harm tobacco crops. Tobacco breeders have come up with resistant varieties for many of the wilts, viruses, fungi and molds. Similarly, insects which attack tobacco are of such a large number that I will not be able to mention them all here. There are beneficial insects also. I will simply try to cover the more common diseases and insect pests which are seen in tobacco crops. There are many references online by universities and trade-groups which can be found with a simple search.

Tobacco Diseases

Tobacco is subject to many diseases which are in the general categories of viruses, bacteria and fungi/molds.

Tobacco mosaic virus is often stated as a destroyer of tobacco crops. This is the virus most referenced however isn't the only one. Viruses are generally spread by leaf hopping and sucking insects but can be spread by using tools, implements and even hands which have contact with an infected plant and are then used to touch a plant which is unaffected. While there are chemicals which can reduce or minimize the damage of a virus in your field, for the home grower the best thing to do when an infected plant is identified is to remove it quickly and dispose of the plant far away from the rest of the crop.

Bacterial wilts can also damage a plant badly. In some cases, bacterial diseases can be overcome by the plant. But again, for the home grower the best solution is to remove the affected plant and destroy it.

Fungal and mold are one of the largest groups of potential crop-damaging diseases. Blue Mold, various blights and fusarium wilt are the most common of this type. There are soil treatments that commercial farmers use to reduce the soil-borne fungal diseases, but the home grower can generally only use good crop management. Good drainage in the field will reduce the incidence of many of the soil fungi. Rotating crops to different fields and removing the debris from last year's crops from the field will also help. Watering directly into the soil or only wetting the leaves in the morning when they will have all day to dry out will help reduce fungal diseases.

Insect Pests

As you might imagine, a field of luscious, leafy and succulent tobacco plants is a nice target for a bug to live in, eat and reproduce. The commonly seen bugs that harm the plants are various caterpillers, aphids, leaf hoppers and nematodes in the soil.

The most common caterpiller pest is the tobacco or tomato hornworm Manduca sexta. These caterpillers grow to a very large size, 2-3 inches long and as big around as your thumb and result from eggs laid by the hummingbird moth (also known as the hawkmoth or sphinx moth). The moth usually lays the eggs on the underside of the leaves (then can vary in color from white to green) and when they hatch, the caterpillers take off eating! A hornworm can strip a leaf in a single day! Voracious! You can pick off the hornworms by hand when you see them or the damage they cause. You can also examine the undersides of the leaves for the eggs and remove them. There are several reports that hornworms can be seen flourescing at night under a black light (long wave UV), but I have not seen those confirmed as yet.

Other common caterpillers on tobacco crops are the army worm, cutworm and sometimes the cabbage looper, among others. Since caterpiller damage directly reduces the yield of your crop, strong measures are used to control them (see insect controls below).

Aphids are very tiny insects generally found on the underside of the leaf and may vary from white, through shades of green and even tan or brown. Aphids are sucking insects. There are mobile varieties which fly and ones which only move around on the plants. Damage from aphids ranges from making spots on the leaves to nearly killing the whole plant in extreme infestations.

Leaf hoppers move from plant to plant laying eggs which hatch into larva and suck sap until they transform to adult form. These bugs are a vector which can spread diseases, viruses and fungus across a field fast.

Nematodes are an insect that lives in the soil and infests roots. "Galls" on roots are an indication that you have nematodes. The best way to control nematodes is to rotate the crop into different fields annually and to plant other crops in those fields which aren't susceptable. Commercial farmers will frequently fumigate a field with an insecticide to control them. There are tobacco varieties which have been bred to be resistant to nematode infestation.

Insect Controls

The most common control of caterpillers (and sucking insects like aphids and leaf hoppers) is the systemic insecticide called acephate, trade name Orthene. While some control of leaf-eating insects is gained by use of topical insecticides such as Sevin, the sucking insects aren't controlled nearly as well or at all.

Beneficial Insects and Other Organic Remedies

Lady bugs are the most common beneficial insects used to reduce the aphid populations. They can be bought at various stores and released in the field. The larva are very good at eating aphids. If you broadcast an insecticide on your crop, you will likely be removing the ladybugs which could reduce the aphid population, thus requiring the use of a systemic to control the aphids.

bT (Bacillus thuringiensis) is an organically qualified bacteria which, when ingested by a young caterpiller, will disrupt it's feeding and kill it. bT requires reapplication after rains and since it is only useful on young caterpillers, must be applied before you see the larger ones. bT can be expensive to use.

Insecticide Soaps (for example Safer Soap) are primarily used to control aphids and require frequent application.

Diatomacious Earth or DE is claimed to be a natural insect control and should be investigated as part of a complete organic pesticide control.

That's a general overview of the pests, diseases and other maladies that can affect your tobacco crop.

Bob

[ganjahype84]

Originally Posted by moonchild

..do you have to start from seed?..

it's best to start with seeds...try dutch cannabis! surely you will not regret to this....

[ganjahype84]

“All you need to know are a few basics. First, there are male and female plants. The substance that gives marijuana its famous psychoactive kick is concentrated in the flowers or buds of the females. So when they’re old enough to tell them apart, kill the males. Two, give your plants plenty of light and not too much water.”

[Widow Maker]

This thread is in regards to growing tobacco, not Marijuana...

ganjahype84, keep your posts on topic.

STRIKE 1

[astra007]

move it or delete it, up to you widow maker. if you dont knoe how then tic the post in the little white box and highlight it, then go to bottom of posts and see the little grey box reads 1. go from there

[bob_kemp]

Hi --

I haven't been notifed of much interest here, but I've still be writing. Here's a method for mass-producing transplants when you need a LOT of them. If anyone needs sources for 1/6th ounce of tobacco seeds to try this, private message or e-mail me. That's a LOT of plants.

Outdoor Transplant Production Beds

I just talked to someone in Kentucky who used to use this method for making seedlings and I thought I'd pass it on . I'm going to try this method this year. In Kentucky, they plant the beds around the first of March. I'm planning on planting mine around the same time here in N. Central Texas. We rarely have really bad freezes after March 1. I'm hoping that this will give me transplants ready to plant out in the field by mid to late April.

Preparing the bed -- The bed will be 100 x 9 feet = 900 square feet. This will be enough to plant an acre, will initially yield about 7000 transplants but more will come up later and can be used. I would use the highest ground you have to locate the beds on since cold air accumulates in low areas.

Till the bed at least 5 inches deep. The old way of killing the grass seed is to use methyl bromide gas, but this is likely banned now. An even older way is to pile brush up on the bed and burn it. This provides ash fertilizer for the seedlings but will also make the bed more alkaline which is good if you have acid soils, not so good if you have alkaline soils like we have here in N. Central Texas. My plan is to till the bed early and wait for a killing freeze. Then till again, wait for another freeze and till again.

Wet the bed with light sprinkling. You don't want the water to run off and you also don't want to compact the soil too much. It should just be moist.

Sowing the seed -- Mix 1/6th ounce tobacco seed with 50 lbs of 4-16-4 fertilizer. We have high phosphate soils here so I'm going to try to use about half the middle number, or 4-8-4. WARNING - DO NOTH USE HIGH NITROGEN FERTILIZER, IT WILL BURN THE SEEDLINGS. Use fertilizer that is a powder form, not granulated. Do this in 2 batches, half the seed with 25 lbs of fertilizer. Working from the sides of the bed, spread 1/2 the fertilizer/seed mixture (25 lbs of fertilizer and 1/12th ounce of seed) across the whole bed. Then repeat with the other half. Do this on a day when it isn't windy.

An alternate way of sowing the seed is to mix half of it with about 1 gallon of water and put it into a hand pump sprayer. Shaking the sprayer often, spray down the bed. Then repeat for the other half. I'm not too sure if you shouldn't also put liquid fertilizer into the sprayer at the same time at about the same strength.

I've been told to "walk the bed down" after this to press the seed into the soil. Basically, this means what it sounds like - you start at one end and step on the ground, move over a step and do it again. I'm not sure if this is needed if you spray the seed on with water.

Next, scatter 1 - 2 inches of straw on top of the bed. This straw should be weed seed free. A potential way to sterilize the straw is by steaming. The purpose of the straw is to hold moisture and protect the seedlings from the pressure of the cover cloth (next step). If you are going to put bottles around to hold up the cloth, do this before you spread the straw.

Now you spread a cloth that "breathes" over the whole bed and stake it down around the edges. The "stakes" can be 9 gauge heavy wire. This will protect the seedlings from light freezes and still allow rain water to go through rather than accumulating in heavy pockets that will crush the seedlings. I'm going to use bed sheets and snip holes in it every foot or so.

When the seedlings get 1-2 inches tall you can remove the cloth to the side of the bed and stake it down. Keep the cloth handy in case another freeze comes along. At this point you should thin the seedlings so that they are a minimum distance of 1 inch apart. This can be done by suspending a board across the bed and walking across it.

Removing the transplants -- The transplants (3-4 inches tall) are teased from the soil and should come out bare root. They can be stacked in a box and separated by moist paper for transport.

As the remaining smaller transplants come to size, you can continue pulling them out and planting fields. The initial yield should be enough for 1 acre, but if you have a high germination rate, there is enough seed there to plant even more acres when more of them get to size.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.

Bob
GYOtobacco at yahoo

[BlazeOn]

Where can you purchase tobacco seeds? And I live in alberta, canada when should I start to grow them?

[bob_kemp]

Blaze On,

Do a google search for my name and tobacco seeds and you will find contact information.

Up as far North as you are, you need to start the seeds at least 7 weeks before your last average frost date (talk to your local tomato and pepper plant suppliers for when that is) and probably 8 weeks before. You may need to transplant them again from 4 inch pots to 1 gallon pots while they are still inside or in a heated greenhouse before you put them in the field.

Bob

[BlazeOn]

Thanks for the help.

[Maadi]

(bob kemp) Thanks for the information.

(BlazeOn) I have send you a link. I search it from different resource.
coffinails.com
atobaccodirectory.com
thetobaccoseed.com