Oatsmiller Grow Blog 2025

[oatsmiller]

I'm off to a very late start, planting on 4/21/25. I have about another month before our last frost date in WI, but with an emphasis on shorter season plants hopefully I'll see some success come the end of the season.

Seeds were sprinkled on top of the moist seed starting soil, around 10 seeds per egg pocket. Egg cartons are sitting in a layer of water and the seed tray is covered. Currently sitting in indirect lighting (if anyone wants to suggest the lighting situation that worked best for germination I would be happy to hear suggestions).

Gardening isn't my area of expertise, and my wife who is a gardener is not much interested in growing tobacco, so I got a few varietals that should look very nice when flowering, particularly the Simox.

This year will be mostly an experimental testing of the waters. I want to try my hand at some whole-leaf-blending as well, but since I don't smoke much (and strictly pipe when I do), there isn't a whole lot of pressure on this project.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to chime in or criticize at your leisure.

 

[WiscoGold]

From my understanding direct light will help germination quite a bit. I’m from Wisconsin and this is my first year growing tobacco as well so will be cool to see how a fellow Wisconsinites grow turns out!

 

[GreenDragon]

Welcome to the forum! Regardless of use, I think you wife will eventually grow (pun intended!) to like the tobacco in the garden. They are stately plants with lovely leaves, beautiful flowers, and the hummingbirds love them. Have fun and best of luck on a successful grow.

 

[plantdude]

Late start, but you should get some little Dutch and Prilep. I haven't grown the other two so can't comment on those. You can grow a few little Dutch and prilep in pots (5 gallon for little Dutch, and 2-3 prilep per five gallon pot) if you think your growing season is cutting things close (which it will be) and move them to a sheltered location in fall. The trick will be coloring cureing them when they are ready. Some of the box curing methods discussed on the forum should help if you don't have a kiln for late harvests.

Collecting the lower leaves as they mature should still get you an ok harvest by fall regardless and give you something to play with. Little Dutch is pretty forgiving.

The first season (and second, and third...) is always a learning experience. Next year you might try starting the seeds in mid February and move them outdoors around May, like you would tomatoes in your area, and things should be easier. The joy is in the growing even when things don't work out perfectly.

 

[oatsmiller]

From my understanding direct light will help germination quite a bit. I’m from Wisconsin and this is my first year growing tobacco as well so will be cool to see how a fellow Wisconsinites grow turns out!

Thank you! It's nice to have a neighbor (more or less - I'm fairly central to the state, not too far from Wausau) on the adventure with me! I hope you're having a great year so far!

 

[oatsmiller]

Noticed first definite signs of germination today! All varieties have some decent numbers. Little Yellow seems to be doing the best, with Little Dutch lagging behind the others (but I planted the most cells with this one, so it actually should work out quite well). There's not much to show in photos, but hopefully I can show off some little sprouts soon!

 

[oatsmiller]

Unfortunately I haven't been on the forums much, or updating my grow blog here reliably, but long story short I harvested the green leaves right before frost hit us. Nothing was very yellow at the time of harvest (aside from a few very soggy leaves on the bottom that were basically on the ground).

I put these oriental leaves in boxes and rotate them daily. They were starting to yellow very nicely, but I've noticed a lot of disintegration when I touch certain green leaves, and then nicely yellowing leaves were starting to turn brow. I suspect the humidity was too high. They are indoors with ambient temps around 65f.

Next year I think getting started a month or two sooner would help me a lot! That and I'll make sure to have some hydrometers on hand so I have a better idea of what's going on. Would anyone suggest I try to salvage these, or should I cut my losses and try again next year?

Thanks!

The blends in question are Simox and Prilep.

 

[Knucklehead]

The only time I tried yellowing in a box I ended up with rot. Probably my fault. What is the ambient humidity outside the box? I would use the box to start the leaves toward yellowing and then finish off with a more conventional air cure if the humidity will allow it or if you can curtain off a smaller area with plastic sheeting that you can control.