How to grow tobacco: the subtleties of sowing and care

Please tell us how to grow tobacco? The prices for cigarettes today are such that I decided to try to provide myself with "poison", as my wife says, on my own. I remember how as a child I often helped my grandfather to collect fragrant leaves and string them on a string to dry. My grandfather always smoked only his own rolls made from homemade tobacco. Only because of my small age, I did not remember anything about growing it. How should you sow seeds - directly into the ground or for seedlings?

Sometimes in the front gardens among roses, asters and black-shaved ones, you can find powerful bushes with large wide leaves. It grows tobacco, a close relative of peppers and potatoes, as it also belongs to the nightshade family. Some plant it for medicinal purposes, because tobacco has a good diuretic effect. But the majority still have a completely opposite task - to replace expensive and "unclean" cigarettes with homemade and natural tobacco. Whatever the reason for getting a good harvest, it is important to know how to grow tobacco. Although he is not particularly whimsical, there are some nuances of planting and leaving, but let's talk about everything in order.

Features of planting tobacco

Before you start sowing seeds, it is worth considering three main features of growing a crop:

1. Tobacco has a long growing season. From the moment of planting to harvesting, at least 100, or even all 130 days pass. In order for the leaves to mature, the tobacco should be planted in seedlings.
2. The plant is demanding on heat: you can get juicy and the desired color of leaves only if it is at least 30 ° C outside.
3. The highest quality and most fragrant tobacco grows on moist, loose soil.

The texture and taste of tobacco leaves can vary depending on the composition and structure of the soil where the plant is planted. On greasy, damp ground, the leaves will be coarser. But if there is little moisture and fertilizer in the soil, then the leaves will grow tender and more fragrant.

They start sowing seeds in early March, after soaking them. This will speed up the emergence of seedlings and the further development of seedlings. Sprouted seeds are dried and planted in separate small pots, 2-3 seeds each. The soil should be nutritious, with the addition of humus and mineral fertilizers.

Seedlings are grown in good, but diffused lighting and warmth. Until the emergence of shoots, the temperature is maintained up to 25 ° C warm, and then it can be reduced by 5 ° C. A transplant into open ground is carried out not earlier than a stable above-zero temperature is established outside. Leave at least 30 cm between the bushes with a row spacing of up to 70 cm.

Seedlings are ready for planting when up to 6 leaves are formed on each bush. In this case, the height of the plants should be about 15 cm.

How to grow tobacco: plant care basics

Caring for tobacco in the beds is simple and includes simple procedures:

1. Remove weeds in time.
2. Water regularly, but not water the plantings - tobacco does not like this.
3. Feed the plants in a timely manner to build deciduous mass. The first time (a week after planting the seedlings) tobacco is watered with a urea solution. In the future, three more fertilizing with the mineral complex is carried out: at the beginning of foliage ripening, 2 weeks after the introduction of minerals, and another week.
4. Remove the emerging inflorescences in time so that they do not take away strength.
5. Periodically pinch the bushes - so the leaves will be larger.
6. If necessary, carry out pest control.

Tobacco leaves ripen not at the same time, but starting from the bottom, therefore they are plucked gradually when yellowing begins. Then the tobacco crop is dried by hanging in the shade.

Everything you need to know about growing tobacco - video