SBE Seed Co., founder of the
SBE Home Tobacco Kit is proud to introduce the Tobacco Chat
on-line monthly newsletter devoted to tobacco growing, harvesting and curing.
Tobacco Chat is hosted by Alan Daly, an authority on raising, harvesting and
curing tobacco products. Mr. Daly processes his own tobacco for personal use and has
an insight to problems that face the average gardener trying to grow and process tobacco
for the first time.
As time permits, Mr. Daly will post new articles on this page centered on tobacco discussion. If you have a tobacco question, or would like to submit useful information for use in this newsletter, send them to Alan at tobacco@ntlworld.com and he will respond via E-mail.
This newsletter is intended for the personal use and enjoyment of tobacco lovers worldwide. No parts of this newsletter is to be reproduced without the consent of Alan Daly and SBE Seed Co.
New! Check out Alan's Tobacco Chat Bulletin Board where you can post questions and read what other tobacco growers have posted. If you have a tip, resource or suggestion, please post it here.
Some growers may do better than i did and
some may not, just do a trial growing and see what you are capable of
getting from your growing area. The 1/2LB is not a guaranteed weight but
a weight that can be achieved. It stands to reason that if you are in
areas of low rainfall then you must be prepared to supply more water
than would normally be the case. I suggest that you give this variety a
try if you are undecided as to which one is best for you. I have sent
photos of my plants and maybe Jim will have the time and space to show
some here.
I also took delivery of the STAINLESS STEEL KILN from SBE. After my
initial inspection I noted 3 points that I was not very happy with. I
phoned Jim at SBE and told him about these 3 points and as it turned out
he had already noted them himself but was in a hurry to get the KILN to
me in UK. My one drawback here is that I have to use a transformer to
get my 110v but being a radio ham with junk all over the place this was
not a problem. I kept my KILN at a temp of 110-120f for the duration of
the fermenting. Each load of tobacco leaves was taking 14-21days to
ferment. I was putting 6LB at a time in the kiln. The results were
excellent and were just the same as from the wooden kiln I had been
using. I must say though that the STAINLESS STEEL KILN will last me for
the rest of my life and my son too if he ever takes to smoking,
which I do not want him to. The wooden ones I used tended to warp and some
how they did absorb moisture.
Don't forget that seeds must be started in sunlight on top of the
soil and moved out of direct sunlight once they have germinated, also
water them from below and not above during the first few weeks. Do not
force them with excessive heat and light (the cause of more failures
than anything else) and remember to add a liquid (tomato) fertilizer to
the water once the plants are established.
Once again i want to thank everybody who is taking the time to answer
the questions and queries that are being posted on our Bulletin Board. I
am often too busy to take much time with it at the moment but i do
notice that there are still some get rich quick IDIOTS out there who
post their rubbish where ever they can find a space. My answer is to
send them an unstamped reply and let them pay surcharge hoping there is
cash in the envelope.
All the best for the coming growing season and to the growers in the
southern hemisphere I hope you had a good one.
Its that time of year now for starting the seeds. I cringe when I hear of the amount of light and heat that is being used. Please, do not try to force the seedlings with the use of excessive heat by using lamps and mats. Its very nice to see seedlings appear after only 5 days but this is not normal and when the lamp and mats are removed the chances of failure are very high as the seedlings have to try and survive a very big drop in temperature.
So take your time and be patient. Do not forget
that seed compost has not got enough ingredients to sustain the
seedlings for long and you do need to use a fertilizer after a short
while. Liquid tomato fertilizer is what i always use.
Jim has managed to obtain seeds that have not previously been listed
on the seed list. Some are for very dark tobacco's and others are for a
nice golden tobacco. Further there are seeds for plants that have a lot
more leaves and bigger leaves. These will be very handy for growers with
limited space. Some are resistant to various diseases. THEY MAY BE
AVAILABLE FOR THIS SEASON, Jim will keep us posted on this matter. I
have sent some photo's that Jim may include with this article if the
postal service permits.
There have over the last 4 years been a couple of very disgruntled
growers who have blamed the seeds they have purchased and the booklet (
TOBACCO. EASIER THAN YOU THOUGHT) when they have failed to get any
success, they even go as far as to say that they are being ripped off by
Jim and myself and post their messages on the BULLETIN BOARD or even
send me E-mails to that effect.
I assume that if people start of with a
nasty attitude when they complain its the same one they had when they
started the growing process. I even told one guy he had so much crap at
his end that his plants should have been 10 feet tall. That was after i
asked for his phone number (which he didn't want to give, he just wanted
to carry on being abusive) so that i could call and talk over his
problems. This only made me believe that he had made a lot of mistakes
and didn't want them pointing out.
We can remove the articles if they appear to be abusive or of no
interest to the general users of the board. Anyone can contact Jim if
its a complaint about purchases of seeds and/or equipment, problems
about growing can come to me or go on the BULLETIN BOARD where there are
now quite a few very experienced growers who are willing to help anyone
in need. We do after all want people to be successful or else we have
failed. I think that the booklet is good value and it is the information
that is being purchased, the seed list etc comes free. There are some
outlets that are charging $3.00 for just a couple of sheets of paper
with very little information, there is nothing at the moment covering as
much as my booklet does. Once you have had one successful season then
the booklet has paid for itself a few times over. It would be good to
hear your comments on this.
I would like to express my thanks to all the regulars who have been
answering questions etc on the BULLETIN BOARD, some of them are very
busy people in their own jobs.
I have noticed that there is a lot of interest in an automatic cigarette making machine. I doubt if this would be possible at an affordable price. Many years ago I did electrical/electronic work on cigarette machines for a company here in England and have talked over such a machine with them. They told me that very old machines were sent out to developing countries as they became obsolete here, these machines were quite small requiring a couple of table tops (whatever that means) but with the automatic gumming section alone costing about $6000.00 is it worth it? So there is a chance for someone to have a go if they want to. Remember the cigarette paper comes in a very long roll which is gradually wrapped around the continuous supply of tobacco, once full and gummed it is then chopped into required lengths and filters added in 3 different stages. And remember that there is a very little known law in the states about the number of cigarettes that you can have in your possession at any one time, do not worry as it is in the 10's of 1000's. All the best for the coming season. Alan Daly.
We still have THE TILTY TOBACCO AND CURING CO-OPERATIVE here in the UK, it has a large membership with members from all over world. If you wish to become a member the address is,
The FALL season is the time when leaves are changing color from green to yellow to brown and then they drop to the ground. This transformation is not just for us to enjoy or for artists to paint, a chemical change is taking place in the leaves. Once the leaves have died and dropped to the ground they rot down to become fertilizer for the next generations of plants. If the leaves were full of the stuff that is in commercial tobacco then i guess that the species would die off.
The tobacco kilns can be used to fix a color for the tobacco by using low temperatures after the green leaves have been placed inside.
The tobacco sweats (sometimes with the aid of steam) and the color changes. You then carry on to the rest of the process at increased temperatures, the whole process will be given in my second book. The booklet "Tobacco, Easier than you thought" was never meant to be an in depth booklet but more of an introduction without any blinding information that would put people off from growing their own tobacco.
Have you ever bought a book on computers for a complete novice only to find that the book always starts with the assumption that you already know a lot?
Over the last three years the varieties of tobacco seeds at SBE has increased, there are still some other varieties that SBE would like to add to the list so if you live in parts of the world where they grow tobacco that is not on JIM'S list could you please contact via e-mail with any relevant information, thank you.
When i used my tobacco shredder i had a problem with the unit twisting and slipping on the bench surface that it was clamped to. This was a bit annoying and the unit then had to be re-positioned and clamped again. I found a way to overcome this, first i got a 1" square length (6") of wood and fastened it under the work surface it was 3/4" from the front edge of the bench and the clamp rubber ends were placed right up against this piece of wood. The clamps will not reach right up to the edge of the bench and if you place the shredder level with the bench edge you may find that the handle strikes them, if this happens you will need to pull the shredder onto the clamps as far as you can and it will stick out over the bench edge a little.
We have a prototype and development engineer who is looking at the feasibility of an electrically operated tobacco shredder as that is a piece of equipment that has generated a few enquiries. If there is anything that you think would be of help to the home tobacco grower then please put forward your suggestions and we can then evaluate the idea and get either a source of supply or have the idea looked into if there is nothing available on the market. All the best till next time.
Alan N Daly.
A MESSAGE TO ANYONE THAT MAY BE INCLINED TO POST ADVERTISING ON THE BULLETIN BOARD.
THIS BOARD IS FOR THE USE OF HOME TOBACCO GROWERS AND IF YOU WISH TO SELL SOMETHING HERE PLEASE HAVE THE DECENCY TO ASK FIRST. ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU WISH TO SELL WE WILL CONSIDER YOUR REQUEST.
As time goes by it gets a lot harder to write articles for this page. I am not a salesman trying to sell you anything, rather I am trying to get people interested in making a lot better tobacco for their own use by growing and processing it themselves. Also to save money on the astronomical tax burden that is being placed on smokers.
Over the last few months I have been in touch with many people by phone. Some have had a few seasons now at growing their own tobacco and all have said one important thing to me, that is: since I have been doing my own tobacco I have not had a bad cough.
Some have also said: I no longer have chest pains like I used to have. It was nice to hear these remarks and I am glad that people are now gaining from the experience of home tobacco growing. A letter or article received by me can often say a lot
more just for the simple fact that it has come from a third party, so with that in mind thanks to Scott Camac for sending us his Homemade Kiln Design ( Scott has been awarded the $25.00 prize for the article ).
At last I have been contacted by a gentleman in the scientific field and he is looking at the kiln and cigar roller that we have been waiting for so long. The main thing with getting a better tobacco is that it must be FERMENTED.
Since starting these articles for tobacco growing at home, many
people are joining the large numbers, they are saving on taxes and they
are also getting a better tobacco than the commercial firms are
offering.
One of the most important things that has to be considered is
a KILN for fermenting tobacco in. Despite much effort we have found it
impossible to get anyone to develop a unit that would be suitable for
home use. We also have the same problem with a cigar rolling machine.
Somewhere in the big wide expanse is a person with the knowledge to
design and possibly manufacture a kiln, or supply the detailed drawing
with components that are needed along with the sources for the
materials.
With the numbers of people making enquiries it is has been
decided to put up a prize of $100.00 in cash for the design of a
KILN. Maybe the designer will want to produce the KILN himself. That can
be sorted out later.
There are photos under ALANS TECHNIQUES of the
cigar roller that i made in about 30minutes.. It is 8" long. Have a look
and see if you could manufacture it, or you may know someone who would
be interested in doing so. This could be a nice little earner for you. If
you are interested you can send me an E-mail with your phone number and
i will call you back to give you more details.
We have had many E-mails about flavoring tobacco. We have
therefore been searching around various countries for suppliers of
flavorings. At last we can announce that the same flavorings as are used
by commercial cigarette firms will soon be available from JIM at SBE.
Remember that you will still have your own home grown tobacco free from
any sprayed on fungicides, pest controllers and other things that are
used in the commercial growing of tobacco.
One big advantage of these flavorings is that the top coat will contain
the ingredients that will keep your tobacco moist and prevent mould.
Another thing worth a mention here is for pest control. There are various laboratories that produce cultures for all manner of pests. One is for slugs, at the right time of the season you release the contents of a small packet onto the ground and millions of nematodes are released. These will attack and kill the slugs. Jim is currently looking for sources that produce such cultures in the United States for various pests. Unfortunately these cultures cannot be exported as the Customs laws would be enough to drive one mad.
I have just had a thought. If the cigarette manufacturers had to
display a list of all the contents and additives used in tobacco
production how big would a cigarette packet have to be? Too big to fit
in our pockets I would say.
Talking of cigarettes, Jim now has available
a machine that can roll 8" long cigarettes, ( Click here to see machine )
with or without filter tips.
After rolling, the cigarette is cut in half (by the machine) giving two
superking size smokes, which drop into a drawer at the front of the
machine. There is a rack at the top of the machine with 5 slots to
accept the tobacco from a measuring cup and spaces at the sides in which
to place the filter tips if required. As you move the rack forward
tobacco and tips drop into the rolling belt. A roller under the belt is
drawn towards you. At the halfway stop position the paper is inserted
and the edge moistened, then you continue drawing the roller and turning
it until the cycle is complete and the cigarette drops into the open
draw. Closing the draw will cut the cigarette in half as there is a
small razor blade fitted in this section. So, please be careful with
your fingers if inserting to find your cig.
Happy growing. A.N.Daly.
A.N. Daly at his home in Gotham Village, just North of London.
I have replied to them all, even though they never purchased their seeds, etc. from
SBE SEEDS as I did not like to see them waste their money.
Here I would like to state once more that if you just dry your leaves
and smoke them then you will get a very bad smell and this won't
encourage anyone to grow their own tobacco.
One person who E-mailed me
was Brian Marks from Hawaii.
He had thrown a lot of tobacco away prior
to contacting me, I got him to send me his phone number and have talked
him through the procedure of fermenting. After telling him about making
a KILN to ferment the tobacco and how to make one he sent me the
following E-mail:-
I was driving home from the airport and saw an old fridge which
someone dumped on the side of the road , shame on them.
I turned around
and put in the back of my truck and brought it home. I saw it and said
to my self, that would make a good Kiln.
I took out all the pumps &
motors put in some vents it came with 2 light bulbs which worked and a
fan, I just tore it apart rewired it and it should work great.
The total
cost for materials was $ 60.00 which included wet & dry thermometers,
wire, weather proof fixtures and boxes, Vents et. So far 2 - 40 watt
light bulbs only heat it up to about 90* , looks like I'll have to use
60 watt bulbs or more.
Once I figure it out I will try to re-cure the
tobacco which I still have left.
I took a photo of the inside but it did not come out, if you would
like to see it let me know I will try again.
You will notice that
there are pad locks on the fridge, there are allot of small children
in this neighborhood, I wanted to make sure that there wasn't going to
be any child thinking that it was a good hiding place when they play
tag or hidden & go seek.
Aloha,
Bryan
So there we are, give me a phone number and i may ring you and talk
over your problems or even just have a chinwag as we call it here in
England.
We would still like to hear about your growing, curing and
processing of tobacco, and how it compared to the shop bought variety.
Also how you are doing it.
And now we would like to wish everyone the best for CHRISTMAS and the NEW YEAR.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS ALL
Too many of the E-mails that i get are asking for information that is contained in the booklet that I wrote, (TOBACCO: EASIER THAN YOU THOUGHT.) It is impossible to answer them all individually as I have many other things to do. So get the booklet please, the information covers all aspects of the manufacture of tobacco products. It will pay for itself in a week once you start smoking your finished tobacco, and anyway I am only a poor pensioner and need the money.
We are still awaiting the CIGAR rolling machine that is being developed. From the same source Plans are under way to get a supply of ready cured tobacco leaf that will be suitable for cigar rolling. This should be available if the demand is high enough as the tobacco has to be purchased in 3 different types, FILLER, BINDER AND WRAPPER in bulk then broken down into smaller amounts as required. When this is setup you can purchase direct from this source who will have a webpage of his own with a link from this page. SBE SEEDS does not intend getting involved with tobacco products, only accessories for use in the manufacture of tobacco.
There may be some additional flavorings available for the raw tobacco later as we are trying some other recipes. We would still like to hear what success you have had with your experiments on flavorings etc.
The tobacco shredder from cuthoff that is on offer is a really good piece of equipment and will give a very good shredded tobacco (as can be seen in my video) equal to the commercial brands that you buy. The shredder kit contains a press for using with your tobacco leaf. I myself do not use the press in the same way as described in the literature that comes with it. I line the press with a polythene sheet and then lay my tobacco in it, cutting off any overhang and putting it back in the shredder, this is then pressed down and more leaf added until the press is full. The whole lot is then removed and sealed up in the polythene.
Then with the aid of a hypodermic syringe I add the flavoring and leave the whole lot to stand and absorb the liquid for 24 hours. The tobacco in the press weighs about 8 ounces before the addition of the flavoring. I do recommend that you get one of these shredders to give a professional look to your finished tobacco, also the quality of the shred is ideal for hand rolling cigarettes as well as for pipe tobacco.
One point to mention here,(which also brings in lots of E-mails) is the right type of tobacco for a particular use. All the seeds listed have a writeup as to their suitability for a particular application, pipe cigar etc. and remember the choice of variety is growing all the time.
Lastly, I am not an expert in all things to do with tobacco. I cannot tell you which varieties of tobacco you will need to imitate a certain brand. The secret is most likely to be in the additives of which there are over 600. One firm even adds ammonia to its tobacco and this is one of the additives that will be found naturally in the tobacco so we assume that the addition of more is to make it more addictive, which it will. Fermenting the tobacco gets rid of a lot of the toxic elements that are still in the leaf when it is flue cured and sun dried. The idea of growing our own tobacco is to save money but at the same time we can also make it less harmful by fermenting it and not using the additives that are used. I cannot tell you which brands are equivalent to another that has been withdrawn from the markets by certain tobacco companies.
Another article later but please let us know your success or failures and remember there is the $25.00 for best TIP of the month.
It is now 18 months since the first Tobacco Chat Item appeared here on
the SBE SEED site. In the following months many things have happened to
help and encourage the home tobacco grower, not least the further tax
increases that respective governments have seen fit to impose on
smokers.
There are now very many varieties of tobacco seed available and
many of these are the same varieties that are being used by tobacco
growers that are supplying the commercial cigarette manufactures. New
tobacco flavorings and a shredder are now on offer and the one sticking
point is the manufacture of the cigar roller to help the cigar smoker,
we are now hopeful that this will soon be available.
My book is now on offer from
SBE SEEDS. It has sections on snuff, cigar and
chewing tobacco as well as the pipe and cigarette sections. The video
that I made last year is also available.
I have had dozens of emails saying: "Hello , I am going to grow tobacco for the first time and hope you can tell me what to do".
I have not the time to reply to these letters because the information that they are asking for is already appearing on this page. Another point is that some none smokers are
wanting to grow tobacco and then give it to their smoking friends once
it is dried. A nice gesture, but their friends will be liable for taxes
and duties as once the leaf which is a raw material and duty free is
manufactured into a smoking tobacco then all taxes become payable. The
concession to grow and manufacture our own tobacco is given to us for
our own personal use only.
Some people are wanting to grow and manufacture large amounts for sale via other outlets, believe me it will be just as expensive, or maybe even more so as commercial cigarette firms are turning out 7000 cigarettes a minute and you also have to pay the taxes at the manufacturing stage, that is before the tobacco even goes on sale. Lets play fair and remember the governments can either tax us or abolish the concession altogether if abuse becomes widespread.
One of the interesting things about our tobacco processing is that we will be trying to find a particular flavor for our own taste, it would be of help to others if the recipe's that we make up can be sent in so that they can be shared with other fellow growers. A good basic one for pipe smokers is to use RUM and BLACK TREACLE with a touch of LIQUORICE FLAVOUR.
Earlier in the series I asked if anyone would be interested in being put in touch with other growers in their area, I got a few replies but never more than one from any state, so that one never really got started. It would be interesting to find out If any of the STATES would allow TOBACCO CURING ESTABLISHMENTS to be set up. The idea with these is that when your tobacco leaves have been dried they are then sent in for CURING and then returned to you, a process that takes a few weeks, very useful for large amounts of tobacco and for people who cannot make or get a kiln of their own.
There are many opportunities for the future. It will be our job to help all those that come over and join us in the years to come. It was with this in mind that I decided to put the articles on this site and since starting them I have made many new friends all around the world. Some are even HAM RADIO operators like myself. One in particular is STEVEN DOVER whose email address I have lost, so please let me have it again STEVEN.
I am linked up with video cam and on CUSEEME so that may be of help in
the future.
Click here for photos of "Alan's Tools & Techniques".
Got questions?, then E-mail A.N. Daly and he will respond via E-mail if he can help.
New! Tobacco Videos.We now offer 2 informative videos on growing tobacco at home and cigar production. The Tobacco: Getting Started video was produced by Mr. Daly to teach home gardeners how to grow and process their own tobacco at home and The Art and Science of Making Cigars was produced by cigar rolling expert Efrain Ruiz