Good preparation sets you up for success. Start with a seed cell tray filled with coco coir or a sterile seed starting mix. Clean growing media is important here: garden soil and reused potting mix carry fungi and other pathogens, and young tobacco seedlings are highly susceptible to them. A humidity dome over the tray is also helpful, since it holds steady moisture at the surface where the seeds sit. Label the tray before you sow. Tobacco seed is close to dust sized and one variety looks like the next, so once it is sown there is no reliable way to tell them apart until the plants are well along.

Left: a cell tray filled with coco coir. Right: the same tray labeled with the variety before any seeds are sown.

Tobacco seeds are incredibly small. Sprinkle the seeds on the surface, do not press them into the soil. Because tobacco requires light to germinate, the seeds shouldn't be covered with soil. I use our dial seed sower to sprinkle the seeds. If you have a humidity dome, go ahead and place it over the tray. Ensure the soil stays moist. From my experience, with a humidity dome, you should never have to water them until they have sprouted.

Left: the dial seed sower. Right: a humidity dome over the tray to hold moisture until the seeds sprout.

Tiny seedlings start emerging within 7 to 10 days. As you can see in the picture below, I ended up sowing quite a few seeds per cell, and nearly every one of them sprouted. Once the seedlings are up, take the humidity dome off and make sure the room has adequate airflow. I set up a small fan pointed at the seedlings. That helps prevent them from damping off, and it also makes the plants stronger. This is also when I start thinning down to one plant per cell. I do it over several weeks, removing the smallest plants each time.

Seedlings at seven days old, with several plants coming up in each cell.

The next three weeks are the slowest part of the whole process. The plants put on very little size, so do not expect much to happen. If mold shows up on the soil surface, spray it with hydrogen peroxide to keep it in check. I also keep thinning through this stretch until one plant remains in each cell. Do not put it off: the larger the plants get, the harder they are to thin without disturbing the one you want to keep.

At this point growth takes off, and the plants gain size fast. By the time they are 5 to 6 weeks old they are ready to be potted up. Keep feeding them through this stretch if you can.

At this stage the plants are 5 to 6 weeks old, and I move them into 4 inch pots. Regular potting soil is fine now. The plants are past the fragile seedling stage, so they no longer need the sterile mix they started in.

Begin by hardening off the plants. Start with two hours outside in the shade, then gradually introduce them to sunlight until they have fully acclimated. This usually takes me about a week. Once they are acclimated, plant them in your garden.

For seed saving, flower heads are bagged before blooms open to maintain varietal purity. For leaf production, plants are topped, meaning the flower head is removed, and later suckered as needed to redirect energy into the leaves.

Flower heads bagged before opening to ensure seed purity.

In early September, leaves begin to yellow as the plant ripens. This is intentional and desirable for proper curing. Note that some "dark leaf" varieties cure from green to brown, while varieties like TN86 follow the sequence green to yellow to brown.

Plants beginning to ripen in early September. The yellowing is a sign the tobacco is ready.

Once cut and wilted, stalks are threaded onto "tobacco sticks" using a tobacco spear, also called a spud. The spear is driven into the end of the stick, the stalk is pierced and slid on, and the sticks are gathered and moved to a barn or sheltered space for curing. For small-scale personal use, tying twine around the stalks works just as well.

Left: stalks tied and ready. Right: a stick prepared for hanging in the barn.

A tobacco spear, aka spud, courtesy David Pendergrass.

The warm days and cool nights of early fall are ideal conditions for air-curing tobacco leaf. Any well-ventilated space out of direct sunlight works: a barn, carport, or garage rafters all serve nicely.

Tobacco hanging in the barn at the start of the curing process.

At one week, yellow tones begin transitioning to varying shades of brown.

At eight weeks, the air-curing process is nearly complete.

After curing for several months to several years, tobacco is fermented and processed in a wide variety of ways. Most commercial methods are closely guarded secrets of master blenders and cigar makers. These proprietary processes are precisely what gives different tobacco products their distinct aromas and flavor profiles.

For more detailed information on growing, curing, and the history of tobacco, explore our resource pages using the navigation links above.