I enjoy an occassional cigar (2 or 3 a month) and have wondered about the feasibility and legality of growing my own in my garden and hand rolling cigars. I know its legal to grow a few peanut plants, not to grow cotton. Which catagory does tobacco fall in. Also, if legal, where can seeds be purchased?

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 29, 2000

Answers

this maybe a dumb ? but why cant you grow cotton? i have seen seeds for sale.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), October 29, 2000.

Jay i ordered mine from a seed cataloge i think shumway if you dont find eny let me know and ill look it up for you. pretty white flowers that smell really good. Bob in s.e.ks.

-- Bob Condry (bobco@hit.net), October 29, 2000.

Thanks, Bob.

Renee, It's my understanding that growing cotton is federally regulated due to the boll weavil plague that stuck the south during the "king cotton era" when it was the cash crop of Alabama and Miss. Enterprise Al has a monument to this pest, because the result of the plague was not only a 90% loss of "king cotton", agricultural researchers developed other cash crops, such as soybeans and peanuts for the region.

I read of a woman in the Huntsville area that was fined for using cotton plants as decorative landscape gardening on her sidewalk because she was not registered to grow it.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 29, 2000.

Jay, my uncle used to grow tobacco for personal use in Maryland when I was a child. I've seen tobacco seeds for sale in Gurneys catalog, most of us get that one in the early spring months for free. I ve never ordered from them, but have gotten their catalog for many years. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), October 29, 2000.

A while back I saw an article in Countryside about this subject.So check your back issues.It was this year, if I remember correctly.

Not on the legality of it, but if your not in a Tobacco growing state, who would regulate you? Even then, it must be like wine where you can have so much for your own use.I have tobacco base, but we don't grow it, but I expect one of my neighbors would know about growing for own use.They know their tobacco!

I'll ask if noone else answers you.I'd also try to find heirloom seed. Todays tobacco has been bred, with the help of our agriculture college here in KY, to be high in nicotine,so you get hooked to it quicker.Didn't know whether non tobacco state people get to hear about this sort of thing, or if it just makes the news here.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), October 30, 2000.

grow all you want to. it's legal but never try to sell it. that's illegal. joel grows both personal and commercial.

-- becky (Joel681@webtv.net), October 30, 2000.

Jay, Being from a state that grows tobacco(Ky). We have picked up a few plants, from beside the road, in a foam "float" (what they grow the transplants in) and planted them in the garden. They grew good, we harvested them and dried them out. My husband (a reformed smoker) "rolled one up" and nearly dropped while smoking it! It isn't like any cigarette he ever smoked! My advice, have a chair ready when trying it out!

-- Emily (bellyacresfarm@kyk.net), November 02, 2000.