How Tall Can Nicotiana Tabacum Grow?

Origin

• Tobacco has been a medicinal narcotic cultivated for centuries. Nicotiana rustica is the wild form that Native Americans used. Nicotiana tabacum is known as common tobacco and was brought into cultivation in the 1400s in northern South America. Tobacco is now solely a cultivated species and is the lone source of the drug. Tobacco became a common herb grown in early colonial gardens and eventually a source of commerce. Nicotiana tabacum is hardy in United States Department of Agriculture zones 5 to 11 and is generally considered frost-tender. The plant is becoming common again in home gardens and is an excellent towering backdrop for other herbs or for perennials.

Uses

• Tobacco is associated with the deadly habit of smoking, but it has other more traditional uses. The oil from the plant is a useful insecticide and particularly helpful in repelling slugs. All parts of tobacco are moderately poisonous and can be absorbed into the body by smoking or by tactile contact. Wet Nicotiana leaves are used to relive pain in scorpion or wasp stings. The plant once held a high status as a ceremonial herb for Native Americans. Poultices made of the herb are used for sedatives, rheumatic swelling, sores and skin diseases in some countries such as the Philippines. Modern medicine does not regard it as a curative but rather as a poison.

Description

• Nicotiana tabacum is a warm season herb that can grow to be 10 feet tall but is usually pinched back to force the formation of side leaves and suckers. It is a vigorous plant that grows quickly and is content in well-drained moist soils with full sun exposure. The leaves are thin and a dull green with an elliptical shape and a 6-inch length. The leaves have a thick mid-rib and obvious peripheral veining. The rose-colored flowers are carried in clusters and have white throats. The blooms have a mild pleasant fragrance. A seed pod is produced after flowering and bears many tiny black seeds. Be sure you have a good location for this tall plant before installing it in your garden.

Growing Nicotiana Tabacum

• Nicotiana tabacum seeds are sown on the surface of the soil and then pressed in for good soil contact. Sowing should be done 10 weeks before the last expected frost. Mist the soil to keep the top 2 to 3 inches moist and expect germination in 10 to 20 days. Transplant the seedlings outside when they are 6 to 8 inches tall. Space the plants 24 inches apart and water them in. Nicotiana tabacum that is grown for smoking is topped where the terminal bud is pinched off. In tobacco fields, the plants are bushy and never achieve their maximum height. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in three even spacings during the season. Tobacco plants have numerous pests and require constant vigilance to monitor and defend the plants.