ok, listen up guyys-
ima write a bit about harvesting from live opium plants.
i have done this thousands of times.
Scoring:
The amount of opium obtained will depend on these things:
CLIMATE - depending on the growing conditions, they will be bountiful, or bare. fresh rain while budding up, then strong sunshine when flowering is best.
MATURITY - when the crown atop the pod is flat out, the pods can be harvested. most potent opium is obtained, when the crowns are curling upwards. eventually the pod overripens, and will produce no more opium. then, the opium inside will not ooze out. it will dry, inside the pod.
WEATHER - as you cut the pods, and the opium oozes out, if the sun is too strong, and the air dry, the opium will dry very quickly, blocking the cut, and stemming the flow. England produces the best situation: the sun is strong, so the opium does dry, but the air is not too hot and dry, so the opium is still soft, allowing more to push out slowly, and meaning your O does not CRUST onto the pod, which sucks arse, because it all flicks away when you scrape it.
Now, the method:
multiple harvests are possible, to a degree, dependant upon the growing conditions.
i begin to harvest when the crown is flat, leaving 3-4days before scoring the same pod again, repeating until no more opium flows.
to begin, use a pin.
take some pliers and bend the tip, 1mm of it, perpendicular to the shaft.
this will allow you to make even scores.
it is easy to fuck up with a razor blade.
The scores should be around 1mm in depth.
They must breach the surface, enough that opium oozes out,
but not so much that they penetrate the entire outside layer.
If the cut is too deep, i.e. the inner chamber is pierced,
opium will be lost to the internal cavity of the pod, and pressure will not force much opium onto the surface.
This sucks arse, is inefficient and makes you look like an amateur.
practice with razor blades on tiny pods, or exhausted pods.
it is good to master the blade.
the blade produces (as anyone who has done time in one of the nastier institutions will know) a very clean cut, which takes long to heal.
This allows more opium to flow out, before the slit clogs up.
Plus, it makes you look like a pro.
Paperclip, one guy told me.
moron. his pods looked like they'd been massacred by a mad lumberjack.
in my climate, 3 slits is generally ideal.
too few, and less opium will be able to escape.
too many, and the lack of pressure will produce tiny beads of opium, which will dry quickly and hard, sealing the cut, and proving difficult to harvest.
THREE SLICES,
DIAGONALLY, TOP TO BOTTOM,
APPROX. 5mm APART.
hint:
i go, top-left, to bottom right, across (and round, and down) the pod.
it is a LONG cut, be careful.
the direction is ideal for harvest, the opposite sweep, back up.
slit in the direction you find easiest to harvest.
if the pods are eye level, slit horizontally,
when you harvest, you will scrape the edge of the blade forwards, along the scores.
moving perpendicularly to the direction of the scores.
this is important, if you attempt to scrape, with the razor aligned parallel to the scores, it will catch in the groove, snag, flick and send your flake opium flying away.
This sucks, and you look like an amateur.
Harvesting:
Leave your scored pods for between 8-24 hours, before returning,
depending on the weather.
regardless, any time, any weather will be "okay" (save immediate torrential rain),
but there are ideals.
if it is intensely hot, 6-8hours should be ok. longer will dry it out too much, and it will "flick" and be difficult to harvest.
if it is damp, if it rains, or if it is cool, leave for longer.
The ideal time is when the Opium is light brown all through, firm, but soft;
not runny.
Intuitive estimates will come from experience.
Some intelligence is required.
Technique; as said previously, scrape a blade in the opposite direction to when you scored it, back along the scores (upwards),
with the blade perpendicular to the scores (and, so, to the direction of motion).
push gently onto the pod, so as to not pull off the O, but to push it upwards, letting it stick onto your blade.
it's easy when you do it right.
i find a 10 rouble note to be good to store it in (waxy layer to scrape from),
but there will be better surfaces.
Others i have used have been greaseproof sweet- wraps.
finally:
pods that do not produce any opium when sliced, or those that have been exhausted, may be sliced completely free, to be used in a tea.
This is the best use for those pods, which you may have unfortunately have cut "too deep".
...
Take heed of my wisdom, and you shall surely {get real fucking high} in a most dignified and efficient manner.
please, feel free to present one of any of your inevitable questions, to propose any hypothesis, or to dither along any discourse, which may, subsequently, occur to you.
My (now) Sangria-soaked brain is for your pickings.
Oh yeah and don't use poppy seed tea.
good luck.