Growing Tobacco
By C. Beamish
Polk County Master Gardener
Disclaimer: Although I don't smoke; somebody at IFAS obviously does, because there's a bulletin about
growing tobacco at home. Read this article before you try it on your own.
Nicotiana is the Latin name for tobacco (smoking tobacco is Nicotiana tabacum). Besides the kind that
people smoke there are a number of ornamental tobaccos that can be grown in your garden. Tobacco is
one of the many crops, like blueberries, sunflowers, corn and squash, that are native to the Americas.
Tobacco is a member of the nightshade family, and is related to tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and bell
peppers. That means (in general) that they're all susceptible to the same pests and diseases, so if you do
want to try tobacco, plant it somewhere that those crops haven't been. You'll also need to rotate your
crop if you want to grow it more than one year in a row.
Tobacco plants can be grown strictly for ornamental use, and they're not any more difficult than any
other flowering plant. The flowers are trumpet shaped and usually grow in pale colors – the pollinators
are moths and the flowers are often fragrant at night. You sometimes see the shorter, bedding tobaccos
(which have been bred in brighter colors) in the spring at nurseries. There's one variety, Nicotiana
sylvestris (sometimes called Woodland Tobacco or South American Tobacco) that gets six feet tall! I have
never grown it, but it's supposed to like a bit of shade, and come back from the roots if it gets frosted.
Sounds cool, huh?
Tobacco prefers sunny, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter and no nematodes. If your veggie
beds have been around for a while, it might be a good idea to solarize the soil in the summer, and try
and give the inevitable nematodes some grief. Maybe this fall a person could plant a non-related plant,
say a legume, in the bed and use the green manure system to beef up the soil in preparation for next
year’s tobacco crop: just a thought. Solarizing the soil will also kill insect eggs. Thinking of bugs,
yesterday I saw a couple of aphid-eating larvae on an aphid-infested cucumber leaf, AND some tiny
parasitic wasps. Mother Nature is at work!
Apparently the real challenge in producing smokable tobacco is the curing. However, even though I've
only lived here a few years, I am positive that somebody in Polk County is doing this at home. There are
always a few adventurous souls, and for those folks, there are mail-order companies that sell seeds,
even some that sell organic seeds. For your information, Nicotiana seeds are tiny.
Tobacco is toxic: we all know this. Nicotine extracted from the leaves used to be made into a very potent
pesticide. Even people who just handle the leaves can get sick, so treat the plant with respect. Several
years ago I grew Nicotiana glauca, the tree tobacco, and even in a pot where the roots were constricted
and the plant was under stress, get this – not a single aphid bothered it. It really is dangerous, all
lectures about smoking aside, and you need to be sure the kids don't mess with the plant.
IFAS has an article on tobacco: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa260
It also has one on nematodes vs. flowers: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in470