subject: Growing and Processing Your Own Tobacco [print this page] Ok, so times are hard, many of us are looking for ways of cutting back on the spending. How's about growing your own tobacco!? Home brewing has been a well known money saving hobby for all of recorded history, but few realise that it is completely feasible and legal to grow your own tobacco in the U.K.
As with brewing a perfectly acceptable product can be produced very easily, and over time as your skills in curing develop you can achieve products that markedly exceed the quality of bought tobacco. You also have the option of producing completely organic tobacco.
Tobacco plants take a little patience and a very controlled environment to get them started, but now you can buy tobacco plants online that are ready to be planted out in the garden. It's then just a matter of 60 to 90 days growing before you can harvest your plants.
There is much mystery around the subject of curing tobacco but is actually very simple. As long as your plants are harvested at the right time as the leaves turn yellow and are hung in an airy, humid atmosphere they will cure just fine. An attic, a shed or a garage are perfect for this. Your leaves should be hung on canes so that they are spaced about an inch apart so that they have good air circulation around them. If they become too dry and brittle they can simply be moved to a cooler or more humid area. An acceptable time for curing can be as little as 4-5 weeks but the longer you leave tobacco to cure the better the end results, with an ideal curing period being around 1 year.
As with any gardening activity growing tobacco is a very enjoyable pass time, the plants themselves are quite striking in their architecture and have very attractive flowers. When you consider that you can now get a year's worth of smoking for the price of a packet of cigarettes growing your own tobacco at home becomes quite an appealing hobby.
