Is Growing Tobacco Legal In UK

Tobacco is definitely one of men’s pleasures that have been around for thousands of years. There is nothing that can match the pleasure of smoking fine cigars in the afternoon while watching the sunset. With sensual indulgence, cigar never fails to create more soothing mood. The fact that tobacco seeds have been growing worldwide is the reason why tobacco is also common growing in the UK. Some of you may question is growing tobacco legal in UK. Well, we're about to find the answer in this post so you may want to read it first before start growing your own tobacco.

Legal Note on Growing Tobacco in UK

Tobacco is one of considerably high number of active smokers. According to the regulations set by government, those who are 16 years old or older can smoke cigars. So, anyone who is younger than 16 years old cannot smoke cigars because it's considered illegal. What about the regulations for growing tobacco plants by individuals in the UK? Well, this where the main topic of this post is. Before 1992, the British government freed tobacco plants for personal use from any duty. However, starting from 1992, there has been some change in the regulation. Today, individuals growing tobacco plants for personal use are objects of duty.

It's what the regulation is all about. British government doesn't put duty for anyone growing tobacco plants or purchasing tobacco seeds in Britain area. However, if the person uses any part of the plants for smoking, then the duty becomes liable. In this case, it's a must for the individuals to inform the government particularly Majesty Revenue and Custom regarding the quantity of harvested tobacco to calculate the amount of duty the individuals have to pay annually. In other words, British government gives freedom to everyone who wants to grow tobacco plants in the yard but once the harvested tobacco is used for smoking, the government will have to force the growers to pay for the duty.

In case you don't know what duty is, it basically refers to type of tax that is imposed by government on good stuff wanted by many people including tobacco, alcohol, petrol and perfume. The amount of duty can be varying depending on the amount of harvested tobacco. The more tobacco, the higher duty is.

Climate Concern in UK for Growing Tobacco

So, now that you have been informed with the law and regulation set by British government regarding tobacco growing across Britain area, you may want to be more aware of the existing climate in the area. Like growing other plants, growing tobacco plants also require concern regarding climate. The best scenario involves ideal climate so the plants can grow optimally and provide more crops.

So, what about the climate in UK? In general, climate in this country is considered ideal for growing tobacco only if you can avoid frosts because cold will kill the plants. In the recent years, tobacco plants are being more popular that now as popular as the potatoes plants. With this climate, growing tobacco in UK won't be difficult. It's usually planted in early summer and it'll be ready for harvest in the late spring. So, it takes only a few months for the plant to be mature.

Tobacco plants itself are included in Solanaceae family. There are several things that make this plant unique including its seeds. This plant has very small seeds. Finding the seeds is very easy because there are so many people selling it online. Remember that there are many kinds of tobacco plants available so you need to find the right tobacco plant according to the existing climate in the place you reside. It's necessary to avoid too cold temperature for growing tobacco because it can kill the plants. As it's a tropical plant, the tropical climate is actually the most ideal environment.

Growing Tobacco in UK from Seeds

Here is the easier way to grow tobacco in UK once you have informed the government regarding your gardening activity. Instead of producing the seeds by yourself, purchasing seeds from online and offline sellers shouldn't be a difficult task. Now that you have the seeds ready, you should start the seeds germination process. What you need to do is soaking the seeds in water overnight. Once you have soaked them, continue by removing them to a place with 1cm depth filled with general compost. Compost is an important part to make sure the seeds can grow well. While you're waiting for the seeds to germinate, make sure to check whether the compost is still moist. If lack of water, watering the germination pots at least once a day.

The germination process has completed and what you need to do next is translating the tobacco plants. In case you own greenhouse in your backyard, handle the transfer inside the greenhouse. While removing or transplanting, it's necessary to separate out all the shoots and place them into several individual pots. What recommended is growing the plants in greenhouse before transferring plants to outside plot. It's important for the plants to receive lots of sun every day so locating the plants outside is always a better idea for optimal plants growth.

The next process of growing tobacco in UK is planting the starter plants. Before you plant the starter plants or shoots in the garden, make sure to prepare the soil and add fertilizer. Then, start transplanting the starters into the garden. For every 1 meter by 8 meter garden area, you can plant 50 plants. From the 50 mature tobacco plants, you can actually make up to 1000 cigars and more if you make the size smaller than average. Remember that every tobacco plant loves loose and sandy soils instead of hard soils. The plants need to be in the sun every day from the morning to the afternoon with enough water. Therefore, pay attention to the soil every day.

After two to four months, the plants start to become mature. This is exactly when you have to do the harvesting. Even though you're only harvesting the leaves, you should do it very carefully and not ruin the plants. To do this, you have to never break central stem or vein running down the leave’s centre while harvesting. Ask for professional helps to assist you during the beginning of harvesting period to minimize any mistakes.

Having the leaves ready is not enough. It still doesn’t complete the overall tobacco process until it finally becomes cigars. Although it's possible for you smoke the freshly harvested tobacco leaves, you'll only be given with awful cigar taste. The leaves need to go through other process to produce heavenly smell cigars. Drying the leaves is one of the processes. Many people haven’t realized yet that 90% part of the tobacco leaves is actually water. So the drying will remove most of the weight. Depend on the sun for the drying. In this case, you simply have to leave all the leaves spread out under the sun for one to few days until the leaves change into very dry leaves. The freshly harvested green leaves will become brown.

From the drying process, move on to curing process. To do this process, you need to use curing chamber. The purpose of this process is to sweat all the chemicals and toxins out of the leaves so the leaves will become harmless. You can make the curing chamber by yourself actually if you don't have one. This is a long process as it takes around three to four weeks. You can stop the process if you notice the leaves no longer have the bad smell. This indicates that the leaves no longer have any chemicals or toxins.

While the curing process is taking place, you may want to make some formers. The formers itself are flat wood pieces with wood nailed strips on in order to leave the gaps at same height and width. In other words, it aims to keep everything in its place. The former’s width is slightly smaller compared to the average leaves’ size. And, it should also be in the size that can fit into the oven.

Now that you have completed most of the processes, your next task is rolling your own cigars. Yes, it's just about time to finally taste your homemade cigars freshly made from tobacco plants growing in your backyard. It definitely sounds like a great thing to enjoy because you can actually put your personal touch to the cigars so that the cigars’ taste and smell reflects your personality and style. And, it definitely is a smart way to do some saving while smoking your own cigars.

After 4 weeks, it's time to remove the tobacco from the curing chamber. You notice that the tobacco leaves are quite moist. However, if the leaves are a bit too dry, spray them with water. The bigger leaves are used for the outside part of the cigars so just leave them be. The smaller leaves on the hard are used for the inside part of the cigars. Therefore, you need to shred these leaves using scissors instead of bare hand. Right before you use them as filler, a small water spray is necessary.

To correctly do the rolling process, follow the instructions. First of all, you have to prepare the binder leaf. To do this, cut the leaves’ central stem. Then, the leaves should be moist enough for the rolling without cracking. The leaf shiny should be positioned side down. Use egg white as glue. Along the leaf, the filler should lay evenly distributed mound in lengthways position. If you still find some errors during the rolling, it's very normal because the practices will make it prefect. If you pack too much tobacco, you'll have cigars that are hard to smoke. But if you use too little filler, you'll make the cigars too quickly and unevenly burn. So, everything has to be in the right proportion.

Roll the tobacco leaves so you can have cylinder, a smooth one. To make sure the leaves are fixed, use the glue on the edges. Put your cigar back into former and then trim its ends. If you notice that formers are full, continue by stacking and putting them into the oven. Set the oven at low temperature for only 45 minutes. The temperature cannot be too high. It should be warm like when you warm the meal. Suppose 45 minutes have passed, you can continue by taking the cigars out of formers. Now, they are ready to get final wrappings. To do the wrappings, you should use the largest leaves and continue by taking out its central stem. Then, give the leaves quick iron to have clean finish. Repeat what you have done before by using the egg white as glue to trim off the ends.

Now that you have done all the processes, it's not the time yet to smoke your cigars. The freshly processed cigars are usually still too dry. Therefore, you have to use some kind of humidor to store the cigars. You need at least two weeks to store the cigars. In case you don't own humidor, you can simply store the cigars in relatively humid room for a few weeks.

So, how do you think about growing tobacco in UK? It does seem easier than you have thought before, right? Well, you're simply right. Not only is it easier but also much cheaper. You can save hundreds of dollars every month by smoking your own cigars. And, you also get the chance to smoke your personal taste cigars. British government doesn’t make it hard for you to grow and smoke your own cigars as long as you follow the rules and regulations. Once you have reported to the related department, you'll have duty applied on your cigars before smoking it.