6 FLUE-CURED TOBACCO IN FLORIDA

 Although the acreage of tobacco has not increased appreciably,
it is necessary that good farm practices be used in caring for
tobacco soils if satisfactory production is to be obtained. Plant-
ing of flue-cured tobacco has been mainly on soil that is newly
cleared, or on soil that the individual grower knows has pro-
duced other crops without damage by root-knot. Another crop-
ping system has been the use of "layout" land or weed land,
which has proved best for tobacco production. This practice
is not always practical as many growers are reluctant to set
aside weed land for tobacco in their farm program. The number
of general farm crops is limited for good rotational plantings
with tobacco. Corn, peanuts and oats are crops generally grown
preceding tobacco, while watermelons may be grown, when
planted on newly cleared soils.
 Leguminous cover crops are not recommended to precede
tobacco. Several crops that are highly susceptible to root-knot
and which tend to increase the nematode population are cow-
peas, okra, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, lupines and sweet
potatoes. Growers should not use these crops in rotation with
tobacco. In addition to the preceding crops, Florida Pulsey',
Richardia brasilinsis (Moq.) Gomez, a native weed, is one
of the more common host plants for root-knot in Florida soils.


 Fig. 1: A Tobacco plant field in South Florida.
1Press bulletin 629 Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.