An old thread being manually exported. Cut down some of the chatter, banter, emoji replies, and just left the information.
Originally posted by The Bedroom Gardener UK 04/04/2021
Hello poppy enthusiasts, lend me your ears.
I have the intention to grow some poppies this year & have my own little deal going rather than getting into ‘trouble’ - as you do. To that end, I have purchased some seeds and planted them as per the instructions. I am currently waiting for them to germ - lights currently on 20/4 as this is my grow tent & autos.
I’ve read through the other threads, and while the information is probably good, a lot of the links etc are invalid or nearly a decade old. My intention is to learn as I grow and put that information on this thread as an updated reference.
It would be great if there were some other users out there who have or do the same thing and would like to share their tips & experiences / flowers & so forth.
Below is the link where I purchased my test poppies.
100% Somniferum, 100% Organic!
This is a very high quality mix of a variety of Papaver Somniferum strains, there are a random mix colours with everything from whites to reds to purples, in terms of size they range from medium to giant!
Organically grown by us in Suffolk, UK.
I have questions already, so I’ll start adding them in this first post, and hopefully come up with some good answers & results along the way.
* Light Schedule. This seems to be reversed to cannabis? So I veg on 12/12 & when I want the pods to grow stick it back on 18/6 or so?
* What happens if I just leave it on my current 20/4?
* Processing. How to produce tar easily?
* Germination. Should I cover the seeds with a dome when germinating, or leave it open? My instructions do not mention a dome, but I have seen people use them. This is said to produce fungi etc & not to be done, but who knows?
* Light Power. The plants are in my grow tent, 250w HPS light. Is this ok? Too little, too much? I doubt too much, but indoor poppies are said to be a lot pickier.
More to come as I get into it.
Feel free to join in with your knowledge, or questions & images if you want.
I hear you mate, but don’t panic yet. We are not doing anything that any normal gardener does not do. Poppies grow legally all over the UK in back gardens & the wild. I think the only issue would be in their preparation & we are a million miles away from that yet.
For the moment I am only growing some flowers in my tent. Think I would be in more trouble for my canna.
Reply from OregonBlackBear
You are correct on the light schedule. Poppies are the reverse of cannabis. 12/12 to vege and 18/6 to flower. If you leave your light on 20/4 you will have the smallest plants/pods possible as it will flower as soon as it can, and I have seen some tiny poppies let me tell you.
Processing is easy as long as you follow some simple steps. When slicing the pods to produce milk make sure to never slice all the way through, just surface if you can. Slicing all the way through causes half or more of the sap to exude inside the pods and it’s a hassle to get out. Some people prefer to make horizontal slits, some prefer vertical. I’ve always done horizontal for no particularly good reason. Refining the sap is possible. Some people mix it in with a small amount of water and pour it through a coffee filter to reduce plant material in the final product. That water is usually poured into a pyrex dish and evaporated. The remaining residue scraped off of the glass is opium. I personally have not done this yet, so I cannot vouch for it’s effectiveness. I collected the sap and made tinctures using potato based vodka and one with everclear. One year’s grow in a 4x5 plot outside gave us enough to last for five years. We weren’t insured and I was a VERY active young person, so having pain killers on hand was very useful.
I grew mine outside directly in the soil and did not use a dome. I would try it without one first.
I don’t see why a 250w hps would be overkill. You’re trying to encourage good growth and flower set.
Honestly if you could grow them outside that would be best. Most people are absolutely clueless about them and would probably just think “oh, pretty flowers” if they saw them. I had best result by planting them in the fall just like with garlic, but they can be panted in jan-march depending on your local environment. I have seen some bruisers in Washington state that were started in the fall and ended up over a meter tall with 20 pods.
