How to Grow Organic Tobacco

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Growing organic tobacco has been likened to growing a tomato plant. If you can grow one, you can grow the other. Being in the right climate is also a key factor in its proper growth. Deciding to grow organic tobacco for personal consumption or for commercial use will involve the steps outlined here.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Step1

Plant a cover crop of corn, cotton or any small grain crop in the early spring. This produces better quality fertilization for your tobacco seeds.

Step2

Seed your tobacco into the sloping beds after clearing tobacco beds of any weeds or trash.

Step3

Transplant the beds to the field once they have grown 6 or 7 inches. The rows should be 3 or 4 feet wide and plants spaced 3 feet apart.

Step4

Remove weeds by hoeing at regular intervals to minimize pest infestation. This also breaks up the soil, allowing air filtration and produces better quality organic tobacco leaves.

Step5

Cut off all flower heads to stop seed growth. You want your plant to focus on the leaves not the flowers. This can be done manually or with a machine. Repeat this step in your field multiple times to ensure you have gotten them all.

Step6

Pick your leaves once they have matured. Repeat this step once a week until all leaves are harvested.

Step7

Dry your leaves. This should take one or two months if air drying.