Ideal conditions for growing opium poppies & tips

[truenamebrand]

Wasn't sure exactly where to put this. Maybe OD would've been better? Feel free to move if need be.

Ok so a little background. I live in the woods. In the mountains on dirt roads. Cops don't come through ever unless called. I have a small garden with which I've had mixed results.

Soil is good, however I don't get a ton of sun and I actually chopped down some branches above the garden to increase the sunlight. I have no knowledge on cultivating these, it was sort of a spur of the moment order being so cheap. Figured why the hell not try.

I don't plan on trying to grow enough to go crazy, just wanted to try it out, even if I only get one pod out of it. So here are my questions...

What type of sun/shade ratio is ideal? One side of the garden gets much more than the other.

Will vegetables like peas, carrots and beans interfere with them growing? And how far away from the other crops should they be?

Because we don't get a ton of sun the soil plays pretty moist. Is this bad?

How deep do I bury the seeds and how far apart between them?

How long should I expect it to take to sprout before I know they just didn't take? And is it too late in the year now to get a nice pod before the frosts come?

Are they generally easy or hard plants to grow? I've heard ppl say both...

Also, will any type of plant food help?

Any other tips are much appreciated.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

They are picky about soil it seems, I can't grow them without working the land since there's a lot of clay where I am. I also heard they don't like really wet conditions.

 

[truenamebrand]

I read they liked soil with a little bit of sand in it. Luckily enough, the soil in my garden contains some sand. Maybe 15-20% or so.

 

[spacejunk]

you need full sun, and well-drained, preferable sandy soil.


i'm not sure if the relevant mods will be cool with keeping this open, but i will say that if you use the search engine, you should be able to find tips on cultivating papaver somniferum on bluelight.

they're not hard to grow, but they are temperamental and need the right conditions.
i used to do 'guerrilla gardening' with poppies, and had a very, very low success rate, considering how many kilos of seeds i threw around the place.

 

[Tranced]

We have them naturally all over our garden, and they self seed; they're pretty common in flower beds up here. Climate is cold, cloudy, rainy, with little sun. Soil is clay. Somniferum do not seem picky at all in Northern England, so perhaps you just need to make some minor improvements.

I'd suggest just googling the optimum conditions and trying to replicate them. If you have poor drainage, build a raised bed and improve the soil quality. I grow vegetables in a raised bed which consists of compost, sand and clay. I basically created my own loam. All plants seem to do better in there because it's highly nutritious with good drainage, and the clay binds the nutrients in.

Just stick them in the sunniest spot, improve the soil/drainage, and look up the reccomended plant spacing.