It's not hard to grow. Tobacco hornworms love it, so I squish them twice a day to keep from using pesticides.
I overplant everything to ensure I get what I need. If I have a good year, great. If I have a crappy year, at least I get something. Except last year, when tomatoes bombed on me.
/johnny
Have you tried dusting with dipel? Dipel is about the only thing I can use on my garden (I’m a beekeeper). It’s a bacteria that kills all sorts of caterpillars. Non-toxic to humans and bees. It washes off just fine.
Wow on the tobacco crop. Is curing it all that difficult?