How to Grow Tobacco

Hey there guys,

I've got a strange problem - any tobacco I am growing, curing and fermenting tastes nowhere near what it is supposed to taste like.

Over the years, I've grown seven varieties which I've fermented, those being Java, Pergeu, Sumatra, and Maryland; this year it was Havanna, Corojo, and Pereg.

Now, the first batch I'd fermented after colour-curing and the results were a bit meh (stuff got too dry), I had assumed it may have been the wood from the fermentation box that imparted some of its flavour as well as too high temperatures, so this year, I put them in mason jars, lowered the temperature (50°C/122°F), and shortened the duration in there to a week, fit for cigarette tobacco, and had varying degrees of humidity in the various jars. Yet, the flavour was still strangely sweet, the smell great but sort of the same. I'm really stunted as to what the bloody hell is going on there; additionally, the flavour isn't particularly strong, you get the impression of what it's supposed to be but it isn't really hitting you. All in all, it's a nice addition to pipe tobacco, but way too weak to smoke on its own.

This year, I'm left with only upper and top leaves since the majority was stored in another barn and caught mould, so it can't be the wrong part of the plant. Is it my soil? Plants were doing well, they got lots of sunshine and didn't show any stunting in growth or lack of nutrients. Did I pick the leaves too early? Help me out here please, I'm at a complete loss

Hi mr1992,
Even here, I do not have a good knowledge on cigar tobaccos but something I have read and your observations may be right: a cigar maker said that the soil plays a fundamental part in the success of a cigar (I think he meant to the taste);
maybe you picked up the top leaves too soon ... after how many weeks from the topping did you harvested them?
Another thing is the height of the topping: I see that the topping is done very low for heavy tobaccos (cigar tobaccos or burley fire cured)
Here is a nice article if it can be useful:
http://www.cuba-junky.com/cuba/cigar-to ... kering.htm

finally, but I think you know: after any treatment, leave the tobacco to rest a week before smoking it, it almost always improves.
Goodbye

Hey MAB,

I didn't really pay attention to how soon I've picked them after topping since here in Germany, with weather swings and all, stuff sometimes gets a little strange with leaves ripening even before the first topping, sometimes much later; I mainly went by firmness of the stem, i.e. whether they'd have a snapping sound when harvesting them and could be removed without any long fibres being removed from the plant upon plucking it.

All in all, however, I reckon it is probably the soil, though I wouldn't know what to add. Plants grow without a problem, up to 2m and more (bar any weather interferences such a sudden longer cold periods, as happened this year); I had issues with dense soil, but that affected only about 6 plants out of almost 200.

I did, however, grow them too close to each other. Yet, since growth wasn't stunted, what could've affected flavour? Tobacco has been grown commercially around here for at least two centuries, so the soil itself can't really be too much of an issue. Also, at least SOME leaves ought to have some form of deep, rich flavour.

I'll definitely check out the topping thing, though, next year. Any advice on how to treat the soil (fertiliser/other additives to enhance flavour) would also be greatly appreciated

hello mr1992 and happy 2018!
for your land ... you should do a chemical analysis of your land (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, etc.) so you know if any element is missing and maybe nothing is missing ... it would also be interesting to know the composition of the land where cigars are produced , to make a comparison ...
well, it's very demanding