Tobacco is a plant with many varieties. They all differ from each other in color, aroma, design, size. Tobacco bushes are grown for different purposes. For example, ordinary tobacco is cultivated in industrial quantities, and its dried leaves are used for the production of tobacco products. The flowers of fragrant tobacco will decorate the site and fill with a delicious aroma. What decorative tobacco is, and why it is often found in almost every area, can be found in this article.
The origin and appearance of the plant
The history of the origin of tobacco began with one of the voyages of the explorer Christopher Columbus. On uncharted lands that later became America, he and his companions met with natives. They exhaled dark smoke from dark sticks in their mouths. At first glance, this seemed very strange, but with proper inhalation and exhalation, such smoking causes a state of peace, relaxation and vigor in the body. A person could feel like under hypnosis.
Flowering tobacco
Travelers with pleasure began to smoke strange sticks, or cigars, as the locals called them. Subsequently, they were presented as honorable gifts for the royal court, and the first known smoking woman in Europe was the Queen of Spain by the name of Isabella.
The Spaniards were the first to create tobacco plantations, for their cultivation they chose the islands of Cuba and Haiti. Since 1540, sea transportations of fragrant, processed tobacco leaves to European countries have been carried out.
Interesting! The most successful seller of tobacco seeds was Frenchman Joan Nicot, distributing them in France and England. In honor of his name, this plant was named Nicotiana.
Russia began to use tobacco leaves during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Smoking was allowed only to persons who were part of the Russian nobility. But soon, by decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the use of tobacco was banned. Subsequently, only Tsar Peter I allowed smoking.
Tobacco is an annual, sometimes perennial, plant in the nightshade family. Its growth reaches two meters in length, in nature exists since 6000 BC. It is decorated with large leaves and flowers of pink, red or white in the form of a funnel, five to six centimeters long.
Homeland of tobacco
Tobacco originally grew in Peru and Bolivia, it ended up in Europe thanks to Christopher Columbus. Currently, it is grown in China, North America, Asia Minor, India. The countries of the former Soviet Union, namely, Transcaucasia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory are no exception.
How tobacco grows
Sweet tobacco is a rather thermophilic plant, which is usually planted in the soil in the form of seedlings. Its seeds are sown in late February or early March.
What does tobacco look like?
This ornamental plant is a medium-sized bushes with a thick and durable stalk, decorated with large leaves with slightly pointed ends. The length of the root system is usually not more than two meters. Flowering is accompanied by panicle inflorescences. The fruits of tobacco bushes are seed capsules that can crack when ripe.
How Tobacco Blossoms
Tobacco, whose flowers are stars, looks very beautiful. The diameter of the inflorescences is not more than five centimeters. The inflorescence has a long flower tube and five petals of white, pink, raspberry, red, lilac, yellow, burgundy color.
Sweet tobacco only blooms in good light for fourteen hours a day. Tobacco grows well on a balcony or window lit by the sun. This plant will also have enough four hours of sunshine daily for flowering.
Interesting! The flower is odorous enough with a pleasant smell, intensifying in the evening. Pollination of its inflorescences is carried out at night by night moths.
Popular types of tobacco for growing in the garden
There are several types of plants that can be grown on the site or in the garden.
Forest Tobacco
It sometimes reaches 150 cm in height, has straight stems decorated with fragrant snow-white buds. The birthplace of this type of tobacco is Brazil. Its colors are usually decorated with mixborders and placed on the back of a large flower bed.
Flowering tobacco
Tobacco Langsdorf
An annual plant, from 1 to 1.2 meters tall, with a bright green hue with buds that look like a bell with an attractive fragrance. Brazil and Chile are countries where it grows independently.
Flowering tobacco langsdorf
Winged tobacco
This is a perennial plant, sometimes annual species are found. It has a straight stem, about 60 or 70 centimeters in length, and also foliage, medium in size and slightly elongated. The buds of a plant are tubular in shape, about 7 or 7.5 centimeters long, connecting into one large loose broom.
Basically, tobacco of this species blooms at night, but varieties that bloom in the daytime were artificially bred. For example, Red Devil, Lime Green, Evening Breeze, White Beder, Domino Samer-Pink, Krimson Rock.
Tobacco Sander
It is a hybrid cultivar crossed with winged tobacco and wild Forget species. It exists since 1903, when breeders bred this species. The buds are quite large in shape and lack aroma. Their inflorescences can be red-scarlet and snow-white.
Flowering tobacco sander
Tobacco Care Rules
Caring for different types of this plant is about the same.
Long-term fragrant tobacco: the nuances of care
The stems of this plant are decorated with very large leaves that love a large amount of water. Therefore, the gardener needs to regularly moisten the soil.
Good to know! If you often loosen the soil, more brightly colored stars will blossom on the tobacco stems, and colorful buds will delight you with their beauty for a long time and smell good.
Flavored tobacco - a description of the plant and the rules for its care
To obtain fragrant strong seedlings of tobacco bushes, appropriate lighting and temperature conditions will be required, it is important to water them and provide additional light. If you fully and regularly take care of the plant, you can grow healthy and beautiful tobacco bushes.
Proper care of seedlings is as follows:
- Compliance with a temperature regime of 22 or 23 ° C above zero until sprouts appear. As soon as they appear, the temperature must be reduced to 18 or 20 ° C above zero.
- Regular watering of seeds. It should be done very carefully using a pan or spray gun with a small pressure.
- Airing a mini-greenhouse in the morning and evening. It is also necessary to open seedlings, if they are not in the greenhouse, but under a film or a lid. Keep open for at least 20 minutes. All moisture drops covering the film or the cover are removed before covering the crops.
Important! As soon as the first shoots appear, it is recommended that you no longer cover them with anything and move them to the sunny side: south or southwest.
Many competent gardeners add lighting to decorative tobacco using phytolamps or LED lamps. Lamps are placed at a distance from seedlings equal to at least five and not more than ten centimeters. If the plant does not have enough light, its stem will stretch out a lot.
Sweet tobacco: growing conditions
Tobacco is usually grown from seeds. This is a time-consuming process, but the result with due effort will please.
Sweet Tobacco: Seed Growing
Sowing tobacco seeds is carried out in specially prepared soil with peat, humus and garden soil, the ratio of which is: 1: 1: 1. Plant should be in a not very deep container. Before placing the seeds in the ground, it is recommended to hold them in a wrapped, damp cloth for several days, but without waiting for their germination.
The size of the seeds is very small, therefore, when planting, they must be carefully distributed throughout the soil. Then, the crops are moistened with a sprayer. Next, the containers with seeds are covered with a film or glass. After that, they must be stored indoors at a temperature of at least 20 and not more than 22 ° C.
Important! After about two weeks, sprouts should appear that continue to grow well on a well-lit window sill without open shelter.
When to plant annuals on seedlings
The seeds of annual fragrant tobacco are best planted in open ground in the form of seedlings, as this is a very thermophilic plant. Typically, tobacco seeds are planted in late February or early March.
Seedling Care
Seedlings should be sprayed with water, then covered with glass or film material. Keep crops recommended in a warm, but not hot place. Sprouted seeds are placed on the windowsill, where there is enough sunlight.
Seedling Care
Seedlings should be systematically moderately watered, and periodically loosening the soil surface, only very carefully. As soon as the seeds appear two real leaf plates, they are planted in individual containers.
When and how to plant fragrant tobacco in open ground
To plant sprouts of a fragrant handsome man in the open land, the gardener should clearly decide when it is best to do this. An important condition is a sufficiently heated ground. First of all, you need to decide when to plant fragrant tobacco. Garden handsome seedlings can be planted in open ground, provided that the earth has managed to warm up well. The recommended period for landing is May.
Important! It is best to plant seedlings at a distance of approximately 20-30 centimeters between the bushes to ensure their full development.
Watering mode
Another prerequisite for the growth of tobacco bushes is regular watering. This plant is used to growing in places with high humidity. In the hot season and dry weather, you need to water it every day.
Top dressing
Sweet tobacco does not require frequent top dressing, it can be produced only twice in one season. The first time they are fed when buds are formed, and again - before they begin to bloom. As fertilizers, it is recommended to use phosphate. The high nitrogen content in the fertilizer affects the development of the foliage of the plant, but it will not bloom much.
Features of care during the flowering period
Decorative tobacco flower does not always look bright and multi-colored. Inflorescences of a flowering species are sometimes found. They do not cause any negative impact on the formation of new inflorescences. They can not be removed if you only care about the quality of flowering. From the side of aesthetics, of course, a flowering plant without wilted petals will look better, therefore, in this case, it is better to get rid of dry buds, especially since they are very easily removed from the stem.
Flowering winged tobacco
Many types of decorative tobacco bushes bloom, starting in June and ending in September. To extend the flowering period, it is often necessary to pick off dried flower buds. And each grower wants to enjoy a blooming bright bush as long as possible, before the onset of winter cold.
Features of care at rest
It is possible to obtain sufficiently high-quality bushes of smoking tobacco if you remove the inflorescences at the beginning of their flowering, breaking flower arrows. This procedure contributes to the active formation of stepsons that do not require removal.
Winter preparations
To extend the life of a garden pet, the following actions will be required:
- At the end of the last month of autumn, carefully dig up adult bushes.
- Transplant the plants into pots of suitable size and place them on a well-lit windowsill.
- Trim the green parts with a bush, leaving about seventy percent of the length.
- Water the flowers, in accordance with the degree of soil moisture.
- In the first spring days, transplant tobacco bushes into open soil.
It is possible to prevent the death of a favorite plant if you grow it further in a pot at home. In this case, it is at rest, and after the onset of the new year begins to bloom.
Consequently, the same bush of tobacco can be grown for several decades. The gardener is only required to remove dried flowers, keeping the plant decorative.
It's important to know! When fragrant tobacco spent the winter period at home, it should bloom much earlier, unlike other bushes obtained from seedlings. Florists need to take this phenomenon into account when making floral arrangements.
Possible pests and diseases when caring for fragrant tobacco
Tobacco bushes are highly resistant to various diseases and harmful insects. They contain many phytoncides that can repel various pests.
The unique ability of fragrant tobacco is to protect plants from the harmful insects that grow next to it. For example, many gardeners in their gardens plant it on purpose, in order to prevent the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle.
Sweet tobacco requires proper seeding and care. A healthy plant can bring joyful emotions to flower growers for a long time. Tobacco leaves can remain green for a long time during the summer and fall season, until they begin to freeze. Its flowers will also have bright colorful shades for a long time.
