Growing opium?

[Mike9]

Can you grow opium anytime of year or can you only plant it certain times (in the UK).

[oblivion]

Being in the UK as i am myself, your best off waiting till next spring to plant seeds. especially as we are having a particularly wet and crappy summer. Opium poppies dont really like alot of water, so this summer has been very cruel to my babies. You can plant them around october (Before the first frosts), For them to germanate the following spring(after last frosts). I find the first method the best, planting april or may. Good luck! We need more opium growers here!

[Mike9]

:( great i guess ill wait till next spring to plant my first ever seeds. Any advice on how to look after them where to plant,soil types etc.

[oblivion]

try and plant them where they wont get water logged, they will hate that, they'll get rot around the base of the stem and probably die. There are a few different opinions on the type of soil poppies prefer, but i have always found that a PH neutral to slightly alkaline works best. You could maybe work a small amount of sand and/or gravel into the soil to help prevent it holding water. Where i live the soil is clay so i had to do this to stop my garden turnig into a mud fest when it rains.

When you sow your seeds just scatter them freely, dont be too picky about it. cover them lightly with a fine layer of soil/compost. Keep them watered untill the seedlings begin to show, then lay off for a while. At this stage they can easily be killed off by over zealous watering. Just dont let the ground completely dry out. When they get to about an inch high they will fall over on to their sides, dont worry about this as its nornal and they will eventually right themselves. Remember at this stage to pluck out so they have spaces of about 6inchs between each plant, or you'll end up with minature poppies!

[bluegill]

how can you get some poppy seeds??? hate to be som direct but i'd like to know...

[Mike9]

try and plant them where they wont get water logged, they will hate that, they'll get rot around the base of the stem and probably die. There are a few different opinions on the type of soil poppies prefer, but i have always found that a PH neutral to slightly alkaline works best. You could maybe work a small amount of sand and/or gravel into the soil to help prevent it holding water. Where i live the soil is clay so i had to do this to stop my garden turnig into a mud fest when it rains.

When you sow your seeds just scatter them freely, dont be too picky about it. cover them lightly with a fine layer of soil/compost. Keep them watered untill the seedlings begin to show, then lay off for a while. At this stage they can easily be killed off by over zealous watering. Just dont let the ground completely dry out. When they get to about an inch high they will fall over on to their sides, dont worry about this as its nornal and they will eventually right themselves. Remember at this stage to pluck out so they have spaces of about 6inchs between each plant, or you'll end up with minature poppies!
minature poppies :eek:.
So

PH neutral/alkaline
Some sand or gravel 4 drainage
scatter seeds not to closely
keep watered until seedlings emerge
dont worry about poppies falling over at about 6 inch (normal)
check
thx 4 the heads up

[Mike9]

how can you get some poppy seeds??? hate to be som direct but i'd like to know...
i bought mine on http://www.ebay.com but you could try http://www.poppies.org or http://www.poppyseed.org.

[oblivion]

[QUOTE=Mike9]minature poppies :eek:.
So

PH neutral/alkaline
Some sand or gravel 4 drainage
scatter seeds not to closely
keep watered until seedlings emerge
dont worry about poppies falling over at about 6 inch (normal)
Yes, thats the business mate!

[oblivion]

If you live in the UK you can get them from any garden centre, cheap as chips.

[DharmaBum]

Hey Oblivion

I was wondering ,i Live in ireland at the moment and i presume our Poppy laws are Similiar to yours so if i can purchase poppy's in a Local Garden centre what type do i ask for ,i know it's a specific type of poppy i need to get, so is there a name i use when asking for my poppy's..can't wait to try opium!.

[Mike9]

Hey Oblivion

I was wondering ,i Live in ireland at the moment and i presume our Poppy laws are Similiar to yours so if i can purchase poppy's in a Local Garden centre what type do i ask for ,i know it's a specific type of poppy i need to get, so is there a name i use when asking for my poppy's..can't wait to try opium!.
yeah their is its called papaver somniferum, it maybe called peony mix or P.somniferum.Theirs others types but as long as they mention P.somniferum/peony/papaver somniferum on the packet you should be fine.

[Kitaro]

From what I have JUST learnt, lool, the best AND LEGAL way to do it is something like this:

get Papaver somniferum seeds OR Californian poppies seeds. Some prefer Californian because it's cheaper, better taste and a lot less adicting. A bit weaker, though. Where? There are THOUSANDS of websites selling both seeds. This is one of those http://www.shamanshop.net/store/prodpage5.cfm/CategoryID/6000.0/SubCatID/0/file.htm
Once again, it is LEGAL. They also sell the californian poppies resin, to smoke! Of course they don't sell papaver's resin, because that's illegal.

Now you get the seeds. Put'em in a coffe grinder, to make opium powder. Steep in hot water. Remember, boiling water will ruin the opium. After about 5 minutes run the beverage through a coffee filter into another cup. This should extract the majority of chunks in the beverage. Tada!!! You now have just legally made a light and relaxing opium tea! ^^ You may not like the taste, so a bit of honey may help.
:)