Growing tobacco at home is much easier than you think, and can save you thousands of dollars every year! Another advantage to homegrown tobacco is that you can avoid the additives and chemicals that manufacturers add to cigarettes and other tobacco products. Commercially grown tobacco also contains residues from chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Many health researchers believe these residues and chemical additives exponentially increase the health risks associated with smoking.
When you grow your own tobacco at home, you can eliminate the chemical additions added by the manufacturers. If you grow tobacco organically, you can also do away with the residues. It doesn't take much more effort to grow organic tobacco, than gardening with the usual methods.
Fortunately, not too many insect pests want to bother with tobacco—and who said, "People are smarter than bugs?"
The most common insect pest of tobacco plants is a scary looking green caterpillar called the "Tobacco Hornworm." Hornworms are the offspring of the Sphinx Moth, who lays her eggs on or near tobacco, tomato, pepper and eggplant in the garden. As soon as the caterpillars emerge from the eggs, they start chowing-down—on your beautiful plants! And what a feast they have. The evil green worms grow rapidly, and will molt several times before cocooning. They can decimate your crops in no time at all.
If you see these creepy little guys on your tobacco plants, don't go running for the bug poison. The insecticide gets on the leaves, and the residue never goes away. A product called ‘bacillus thuringiensis,' commonly called ‘BT' is organic, and totally safe to use on tobacco as well as vegetable crops. It's effective against the hornworm and several other garden pests. Most likely, BT will be available at your local garden center, or it can be purchased from many online retailers.
In your home tobacco garden, you may find it's just as easy to handpick them from your plants. I know, they're icky looking, but they don't bite or anything. If the thought of touching them gives you the creeps, use pliers or tongs to pick them up, or wear gloves. Drop them into a jar of rubbing alcohol and they'll die instantly. You can also drop them on the ground and stomp them to death, while you get out some of your repressed anger at the same time! If you really can't bear to do any those things, then go to the store and buy a bottle of BT. They will stop feeding from your plants within a day, and will die off on their own in a few days.
Now go to Growing Tobacco Organically and find more great information about how to grow tobacco organically, including organic fertilizers, organic weed control, and organic nematode control.
When you grow your own tobacco at home, you can eliminate the chemical additions added by the manufacturers. If you grow tobacco organically, you can also do away with the residues. It doesn't take much more effort to grow organic tobacco, than gardening with the usual methods.
Fortunately, not too many insect pests want to bother with tobacco—and who said, "People are smarter than bugs?"
The most common insect pest of tobacco plants is a scary looking green caterpillar called the "Tobacco Hornworm." Hornworms are the offspring of the Sphinx Moth, who lays her eggs on or near tobacco, tomato, pepper and eggplant in the garden. As soon as the caterpillars emerge from the eggs, they start chowing-down—on your beautiful plants! And what a feast they have. The evil green worms grow rapidly, and will molt several times before cocooning. They can decimate your crops in no time at all.
If you see these creepy little guys on your tobacco plants, don't go running for the bug poison. The insecticide gets on the leaves, and the residue never goes away. A product called ‘bacillus thuringiensis,' commonly called ‘BT' is organic, and totally safe to use on tobacco as well as vegetable crops. It's effective against the hornworm and several other garden pests. Most likely, BT will be available at your local garden center, or it can be purchased from many online retailers.
In your home tobacco garden, you may find it's just as easy to handpick them from your plants. I know, they're icky looking, but they don't bite or anything. If the thought of touching them gives you the creeps, use pliers or tongs to pick them up, or wear gloves. Drop them into a jar of rubbing alcohol and they'll die instantly. You can also drop them on the ground and stomp them to death, while you get out some of your repressed anger at the same time! If you really can't bear to do any those things, then go to the store and buy a bottle of BT. They will stop feeding from your plants within a day, and will die off on their own in a few days.
Now go to Growing Tobacco Organically and find more great information about how to grow tobacco organically, including organic fertilizers, organic weed control, and organic nematode control.
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