Late Planting Poppies in the UK - Questions

[Gaz_hmmmm]

I know March to April is apparently the usual time to plant them here in the UK after the last frost but I was wondering if it's too late to plant them now?

Are Supermarket seeds sterile? I can't imagine any companies wasting their time sterilising the seeds here in the UK or washing them, like they do now in the US.

 

[Tinker55]

Depends on where you order them from in the US. A number of companies offer mail order seeds that haven't been washed or sterilized. Prominently labeled "Not for Human Consumption". I've gotten them to germinate but not develope decent root systems.

 

[Sprout]

Supermarket seeds are so cheap they're really not even washed let alone sterile.

 

[mydrugbuddy]

They take about 4 months from the time you sow the seeds to reach maturity. So if you did plant now they'd have midsummer to do their growing, which could yield great results, and they would reach maturity towards the end of September.

Better hope for a sunny September as apparently lots of strong sunlight helps the Opium sap rise into the pods. If september is a washout you wont get any Opium at all, but at the very worst you could at least grind the fresh pods down to a fine powder and you'd at least get a few cups of Poppy tea.

So I read anyway.

 

[ClemFandango]

I've never used fresh pods, but for a session using dried pods, I reckon I use about x15-20 heads. (I always go by weight). It seems like growing them for tea gives you little reward for all that waiting. Might as well just buy them dried in bulk.

I'd love to find a secret plot where I could grow some poppies and score the heads. Problem is I don't have a garden. Just lots of concrete everywhere round here.

 

[Sprout]

The reason fresh pods are worthless for tea is due to the process of extracting the seeds on an industrial scale - the pods are pulverised mechanically which sprays the alkaloid latex all over the seed matter. Hence blackened, filthy looking seeds oft provide farrrr more Morphine per unit weight than the blue-grey examples.
The actual content of tea varies from 0-256mg/g of plant matter, if I remember correctly.

 

[ClemFandango]

The reason fresh pods are worthless for tea is due to the process of extracting the seeds on an industrial scale - the pods are pulverised mechanically which sprays the alkaloid latex all over the seed matter. Hence blackened, filthy looking seeds oft provide farrrr more Morphine per unit weight than the blue-grey examples.
The actual content of tea varies from 0-256mg/g of plant matter, if I remember correctly.

I just bin the seeds that come with dried pods. The sheer amount you need which does little more than temporarily cure a rattle and the mess and shaking it takes just isn't worth the effort.
The seeds do account for half the weight of the sacks of pods, so it is a bit wasteful binning them. Seeing as though I can't sow the seeds anywhere useful (local police station?), I should really make some cakes, muffins etc. There's loads of decent recipes for poppy seeds.

 

[mydrugbuddy]

The reason fresh pods are worthless for tea is due to the process of extracting the seeds on an industrial scale - the pods are pulverised mechanically which sprays the alkaloid latex all over the seed matter. Hence blackened, filthy looking seeds oft provide farrrr more Morphine per unit weight than the blue-grey examples.
The actual content of tea varies from 0-256mg/g of plant matter, if I remember correctly.

Fresh pods from seeds that have not been altered in any way, are generally regarded as being stronger than dried pods. (Opium For The Masses)

Seeds that have been fucked with in any way then God knows what results they would yield; probably very poor ones. It's probably better to get the seeds directly from dried pods, rather than from a pack at a garden center or supermarket, that way you can be more certain that they have not been fucked with.

I guess that perhaps you may need the the kind of pods you'd find in the Afghanistan if you wanted to make a decent brew out of fresh green pods. Most parts of the UK do not seem to have the right sort of climate, obviously we're far from guaranteed months of dry and sunny weather which is what the pods need to be most successful.

 

[strungout2010]

My Mrs oriental Poppy's are flowering already. But her somniforum (sp) are still growing heads are getting big fat and juicy looking.

 

[zirbeldude2]

The reason fresh pods are worthless for tea is due to the process of extracting the seeds on an industrial scale - the pods are pulverised mechanically which sprays the alkaloid latex all over the seed matter. Hence blackened, filthy looking seeds oft provide farrrr more Morphine per unit weight than the blue-grey examples.
The actual content of tea varies from 0-256mg/g of plant matter, if I remember correctly.

4-200mg/kg

Edit: sorry, I meant content on seeds...Not plant matter