Tobacco, Shirazi (Organic)
Nicotiana tabacum.
This rare, Iranian tobacco grows about 4-5′ tall and produces lovely white flowers with lavender-pink blush. Said to be a good, full-flavored smoke and also good for a homemade garden insecticide, though we haven’t tried either. We have been told that Shirazi is easy to cure out here in the West and doesn’t require a complicated fermentation process to taste good.
Geographical Origin |
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Sow shallowly in flats indoors in spring. Transplant to two-foot centers when danger of frost has passed. Remove the flower buds and auxiliary buds (suckers) for increased leaf production.
Seed Saving
Collect seeds from seedheads that are fully dry. Shell by hand, and winnow to clean. Dry seeds completely before sealing in airtight container. Some cross-pollination may occur, isolate from other tobacco by ½ mile.
John (verified owner) –
Where did you grow this variety? California
The 2 pots on the left are the Havana variety, the two pots on the right are the Shirazi variety. Very easy to grow, wanted lots of water but tolerated being dry. Hummingbirds love its light pink tubular flowers. Small birds eat the seeds, which it produces in abundance. Everyone agreed the Shirazi was very smooth for smoking when used as a wrapper (the Havana was harsh by comparison), and preferred it over the store bought wrappers they were compared to. You can pick and dry individual leaves while letting the rest of the plant grow and flower. Tobacco is an awesome plant to grow, every gardener should try it at least once. Plants in photo are in 25 gallon pots.
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