Growing your own cigar tobacco

[Habanos2000]

Perhaps as a solution to any cigar supply issues, we can follow this chap's lead...

[El Niño]

I'm doing this exactly right now. Tiling up a big part of my yard soon. This year's goal is to at least have something and figure out with varietals I want to keep growing. (The plants that don't look the same in the back are various peppers.)

If anyone has any advice on fermenting a small batch of cigar leaf, I'd sure love to hear it. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Very cool. Keep us posted.

[El Niño]

Progress report:

Potted everything up. They're coming along nicely. I plan to plant them in ground in another week or two at this rate. Time will tell!

[El Presidente]

Excellent 

I look forward to following the journey 

[El Presidente]

[El Niño]

Fantastic!! Thanks for sharing! This is the most concise video I've ever seen on fermenting/composting in pilons. I had no idea that John Rolfe had a hand in perfecting the process...oh the things they don't teach you in grade school, lol.

I think I'll have enough tobacco to build a pile to 2 square feet. Hopefully, it'll be closer to a square meter, but I have no idea. It'll keep me busy every morning haha. We'll see! I also just started composting, so I hope that'll give me a feel for appropriate moisture content.

If pilones don't work for my small batch, I'm sure something will. There's always a way. 

[HDGSN]

This year’s crop:

Wrapper (7)

Havana 608 (8)

Criollo 98 (7)

Havana 263 (4)

Everything went well last until fermentation, but last year was the test year.

[HDGSN]

3-4 weeks later…

[El Niño]

May 16th, God bless my friend Carl for the help. 

Today (June 2nd)

I have 6 plants each of...

• Havana 608
• Criollo 98
• Corojo 99
• Broadleaf
• Black (Negro Cubano, I guess)
• Olor Domincano
• Piloto Cubano.

[BrightonCorgi]

Exciting!  

[Capn_Jackson]

This is so awesome! I can't wait to hear how your product turns out!

[El Presidente]

...I find myself cheering them on as if they are my own children 

[Ford2112]

18 hours ago, El Niño said:

May 16th, God bless my friend Carl for the help. 

Today (June 2nd)

I have 6 plants each of...

• Havana 608
• Criollo 98
• Corojo 99
• Broadleaf
• Black (Negro Cubano, I guess)
• Olor Domincano
• Piloto Cubano.

This is amazing! 

[Nevrknow]

This is amazing to me. Growing up in Winston-Salem NC, as in RJR, Winston and Salem cigarettes, there used to be heavy penalties (as in lose all your s**t) for  growing tobacco without a license. Good 'ole boys network. It was and is a real thing. How times have changed.

[Christophe]

Trying the same this year, but unfortunately a the weather has varied between weeks of 25° and weeks of 10° C in May. I think the Virginia is the only varietal I had remote success in germinating, and they all look extremely small. I got a new batch of seeds from a different source yesterday, and a varietal that should stand a better chance in North-Western European weather : z992 habano.

I don't really intend any serious production, it's mostly a project to do with my 6-year old daughter, who is very interested in the fact I smoke cigars, where they come from etc.