Tobacco seems to be very low in nicotine

[Wang]

I've grown tobacco a few times, but everytime I seem to end up with a product that has very little, if any, nicotine. Smoking it in a cigarette gives no nicotine hit and the smoke itself is incredibly light (essentially feels like smoking air). This is from air-dried, unfermented tobacco, which should have reasonably high nicotine levels. I have grown multiple varieties, including rustica, and the results seem to be the same. I have even tried picking some fresh leaves off rustica plants and chewing them; there was a slight peppery sensation on the tongue (like you get with chewing tobacco or snus), but it was very weak and again, no nicotine hit. I'm stumped and have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I plan to grow some tobacco this year, and would like to know what I can do to end up with a product with high levels of nicotine. Any ideas?

 

[Knucklehead]

How are you fertilising? That can be a factor.

At what level of maturity are you picking the leaves? If you wait until the leaves are thick, rugose, and clear signs of yellowing on the plant, the more flavor and strength. I prime cigar leaf when mature. I prime cigarette leaf when ripe. Mostly yellow.

This is a mature leaf. I prime mild cigars at this level of maturity.


Mature to ripe leaf. Stronger in flavor and nicotine than mature.



Ripe Virginia leaf. For cigarettes.



90% yellow or more. Ripe ripe. Strong cigarettes.



A ripe leaf is much easier to cure.

 

[Wang]

I've tried a few different fertilizers. The last time I grew, I used a generic miracle grow fertilizer, which was quite strong and had lots of nitrogen (because I thought that that's what would promote nicotine) and I picked the bottom halves of the plants when they were ripe/mature-to-ripe. The top halves of the plants were picked when the were mature, but not ripe; the leaves were very green and took a long time to ripen, but it was getting towards the end of the season, so I had no choice but the pick them before they were ready. I used the towel method to stimulate yellowing, before drying for those ones. Before that I had tried generic tomato fertilizer and seaweed extract fertilizer, both of which had much lower NPK values than the miracle grow; but the results didn't seem that much better with miracle grow, which makes me think that it could be something else.

 

[GreenDragon]

What were/are your growing conditions? Soil, irrigation, etc? When/where did you plant and harvest? Pictures are very helpful.

Nicotine is produced in response to stress on the plants. If they are in perfect growing conditions (lots of food - Nitrogen, water, no bugs) they will not produce a lot of nicotine. That’s why it is important to not over fertilize etc.

 

[deluxestogie]

What Nicotiana tabacum varieties have you grown?

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Try a dark air-cured variety. See Northwood Seeds. For growing tobacco in Israel, start and plant (and fertilize) like tomatoes, using a low-chlorine fertilizer (at tomato recommended dosing). Be sire to plant in full sun, with no nearby tree root intrusion. Top the bud heads once the bud stalk begins to elongate (prior to blossoming), to induce greater nicotine production. Allow the leaves to ripen as fully as possible, prior to harvest.

For Israel:

"Start these indoors around November 23. Then, around January 28 you should start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, go ahead and transplant those into the ground."​

https://garden.org/apps/calendar/?q=israel

Bob

 

[Wang]

What were/are your growing conditions? Soil, irrigation, etc? When/where did you plant and harvest? Pictures are very helpful.

Nicotine is produced in response to stress on the plants. If they are in perfect growing conditions (lots of food - Nitrogen, water, no bugs) they will not produce a lot of nicotine. That’s why it is important to not over fertilize etc.

Last time I planted outside in rows. The soil was fairly dense and clay like, and the area used to be an old vegetable garden. There was direct sunlight for probably 5-6 hours (perhaps more) per day, but there's a lot of tree cover. I have also used pots in the past.

I was not aware of that, but that makes sense; I was under the impression that the opposite was the case. What are some techniques to increase nicotine?

What Nicotiana tabacum varieties have you grown?

Bob

I have grown virginias, burleys, and as previously mentioned, a rustica.