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Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) cultivation

That's one plant :) got probably 20 pods from it before it died.

The first 5 or so were the most potent but the rest def. weren't weak, and I still used the same dose of two or three pods.

It wasn't big to start with and most of that growth happened when it started 'bolting'. The one difference between that plant and more regular sized ones were a much thicker stem.

Noticed the growth rate of my plants starting to accelerate also ;) as for springlings, they aren't quite as productive but still very much worth it I reckon. Got a few seedlings just popping up now, and they should put out 2-3 pods a bit smaller than a golfball before the season is done.

Good times :D
 
ok, Im pretty devostated about this but I dont know if its normal for poppies or not.. My old lady reckons it isnt...

Why are the petals on my poppies falling off naturally within 24 hours of blooming? :? :!

I swear thats not normal.. could it be a nutrient/mineral deficiency? or just abnormal grow possible due to planting 'treated' seeds?
 
Do the plants look fine apart from that? Pods look healthy without any heavy discolouration? No black rotting stuff on any of the buds?

The flowers are pretty fragile and the petals DO fall off much sooner than others...last year my first couple flowers only hung around for maybe 2-3 days, normally it was between 4-7 days.

I wouldn't panic. Has it been windy at all? Have you been touching the flowers? It's probably all good :)
 
its windy all the time pretty much and yes I did very gently touch the first one lol but not the last two.. plants look healthy but I think I may have noticed some black stuff at one point?

ehh Im sure their alright if they arnt ment to last long :p thanks for the quick reply :)
 
yeah, the petals don't last long at all.
usually 1-3 days, tops. in my experience, anyway. a very ephemeral flower - then the real beauty begins when the petals drop ;)
love to see some pics if you can manage it, pisspot?
my moderate guerrilla grows were pretty sketchy this year...but better than nothing.
one of the few things i miss about having a backyard.
 
ok, I think a few of them are in a bit of trouble...

I'll admitt, a few leaves in the last week or two have had some little sections eaten away by snails and catapillers but after having a good observation today, it looks like they now have a fungal/bacteria or disease problems. The best way I can explain it is this black tar-like substance that first appeared on the under-side of the leaves and kinda like spread? and it became apprent when you could see it threw the top-side of the leaves. It seems to be affecting the whole plants it was origionally on because alot of the new growth now has this dark, not-quite-right looking splotches all over it :X :!

Even my 'biggest' (its only the third one, lol) pod is an unhealthy lookin colour with weird dark shit around the top crown :?

I'll get photos tomorro, but for now, any ideas? Also, there is a bit of yellowing goin on but I'm assuming thats only natural from aging.

Ps. I'm 99% sure they're tassies =D

EDIT: Sorry for all the questions, I have briefly flicked threw poppies.org but can't ever find the specific answer I'm lookin for.. plus its always good to hear from other BLers experiences :)

I also forgot to mention, some of the leave's perimeter (maybe the outer 2 inches, about 1/8 of the total leaf) have gone dark green an soggy, if that helps with the diagnosis. Could be aging but it's not a good look lol I've already removed these parts..

As I mentioned before, Ill post some flicks up tomorro (sorry but don't expect any flower shots, none of the buds are currently in bloom..)
 
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um....hard to say without seeing them, but it was a hot day in perth yesterday - that does tend to shrivel them up. hence their annual life cycle - they can't handle the heat, so they grow only in winter/spring.
sometimes you do get a bit of mould on the underside of the leaves....but yeah, if you can give us some pics we can better advise you.
 
http://imageshack.us/f/17/29460960.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/f/842/flowersvn.jpg/

^^ok, this is my 'suss' lookin pod..

http://imageshack.us/f/198/1000000021.jpg/

^^These are the splotches I was talkin about around the new growth :X (I'm starting to think it could be from the heat on sunday BUT it is 'soggy' and weak apposed to dry n brittle)

http://imageshack.us/f/40/1000000022.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/f/442/1000000023.jpg/

^^This is that tar-like shit that is 'eatin' through my leaves..




anddddddd

http://imageshack.us/f/5/1000000024.jpg/

a small, not so perfect flower :)
 
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ok, I've officially got a serious fungal problem..

I didnt actually notice it when I took the photos but I just spotted something on the underside of the black splotches on the new growth in this photo; http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/198/1000000021.jpg/

It was this 'pimple' like white ball thingy and when I poked it, puss oozed out :p My old man reckons its deffently a fungal problem..

time to do alot of research and take a trip to bunnings.. fuck, I hope I can get rid of the problem because it seems to be affecting 1/3 of my garden.. not to mention all my mammoth poppies :X :(

EDIT: Christ!, does this sound like the fungal problem you had? you know, the one where you quoted the remedy on page 3? ehh either way, Im goin to bunnings to have a chat with the gardening people there.. hope I can save mah babies
 
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hmm...i dunno, the black spots are a bit weird, but i'm sure i've seen things like that before.
the 'pimple-like' things look a bit like mealy bugs or scale insect...but it's hard to be sure from the photo. if you get a little metho or turps and a paintbrush, you can just kinda brush them off. not too serious.
as for the black stuff...i dunno - you sure that's not where the big, sort leaves have rubbed against a bit of wood or another plant in the wind or something? it could be some sort of mould/fungus caused by water sitting on the leaves - they're pretty well designed to catch water.
i'm no expert in plant pests, but i wouldn't freak out just yet. don't forget that your babies are on their final legs, so to speak - once they flower and drop their petals their life cycle is effectively over, until the plant foliage and pods dry out and they scatter their seeds for next year. the foliage will have some wear and tear, you often find mouldy bits between the stalk of the plant and the top of the leaves where they emerge. nothing to worry about from what i can see - they look pretty healthy to me.
i don't know how many plants you've got or how many pods to expect, but it's the pods that are really your main goal here, IMO.
if the leaves have a bit of mildew or rot going on, that's no big loss...in fact, i'd expect it.
by the time spring is rolling around and you're getting flowers, these plants are pretty 'old'. so long as they live long enough to give you some nice poppy pods, they've served their purpose.
somebody with more horticultural knowledge may very well contradict me on this, but from the pictures you've shown i don't think i'd be too worried. looks like you've done pretty well man! :)
 
Yeah it does look similar.

I had a kind of yellow/off green pattern on some of the leaves as well - this was my main fungus problem I think. The black bits I'm not sure about, they eventually didn't seem to cause many problems, but I did have a few pods that had rot inside of them.

I don't think I had any of those balls that ooze that you describe.


I'd make sure you stop watering, they shouldn't need any-more water unless they start looking really dried out. You could give the remedy a try - ATM I'm using 3 tablespoons baking soda, 3 tablespoons olive oil and a few drops of dishwashing liquid in 3.7L of water. I had a few spots of fungus but they cleared up after I removed the effected parts and sprayed with the solution.

If you try this solution, make sure you only do it on one plant, or one part of the plant to see how it copes - give it 24 hours and if there's no probs you can treat the rest.

Lots of fungus needs about 6 hours of being submerged in water to start growing...so if your plants have lots of water drops on them that's a pretty prime place for them to thrive. I always make sure I water them or use that baking soda spray in the morning so they dry out quick.

Another thing - if a bug bites a hole in the plant somewhere, some opium/sap will actually start to leak out, and this will eventually dry into black-like stuff. I know this was the reason for some of my black spots at least.

- http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/1000000022.jpg/

That one looks like it's just sap that's leaked out after some bug got to it, it's right on the vein.

No need to panic yet but I know it was a pretty stressful time for me last year :)

Another thing to do would be to snip off any of the dead lower leaves, and clear any debris around the plants so there's good airflow.
 
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cheers for that guys, cant thank you two enough for the help you've givin me throughout this season :)

I ended up gettin some sulphur-based fugicide from bunnings right after I posted my last post and it seems to be working good. (but thanks for posting up that remedy Christ! Ill deffently give it a shot in future season if I run into this problem again)

I've already had to get rid of two pods due to rot, so I still have a while to wait before I can try my first tea :! but yeah its because of excess moisture and me over watering them (I'm assuming).. oh well, you live and learn..

Ill post some more flicks up when they're a bit more mature :)
 
no worries man, happy to share the knowledge.
more people should grow opium poppies, i really can't encourage it enough!
beautiful plants, beautiful flowers, beautiful pods and a beautiful high - it's the plant that just keeps on giving :)
and the majority of people have no fucking idea what it is, unlike cannabis.
all the best with the fungus or whatever, i hope you get some nice results soon to reward your effort and dedication.
 
I have a difficult time getting them past the sprout stage. They just get stunted and die. Does anyone with experience know why this happens?
 
^do they become reddish when this stunting happens?

Are they in the ground or in a container?

What medium are they in? (potting mix, coco coir, etc)


Stunting may occur with overly moist (wet) soil or in containers that are too small.
 
Just moved into a new place with the GF. We're going to be buying this place so going to take the season off I think :) Yard is MASSIVE, but needs lots of work.

When/if I manage to do my next poppy garden, definitely going to concentrate on getting some quality opium out of it. My attempts at purifying the latex and getting it ready for smoking in years past was pretty poor I think. There's a bit of an art to it from what I've heard and read.

This is a great read - http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2000/09/opium-dens-200009 (confessions of an opium seeker) Basically about a guy travelling the world trying to find a real opium den. Enjoyable read despite being pretty long for an article (9 pages) This article along with a few older people I've talked to have gotten me interested in smoking opium again :)

The first step in the purification process is to submerge a loaf of raw opium, usually a brick of from one to two kilograms, overnight in a large pot of clear springwater. The next day, the pot should be brought to a full boil and whisked thoroughly for 15 minutes to completely dissolve the raw opium. As all of the many active opium alkaloids are fully water-soluble, this process separates the active opium essence from the inert vegetable matter. The pot is then removed from the heat and set to rest until the inert matter settles to a sediment. The contents of the pot are then filtered through a sieve lined with finely woven cotton or silk. The filtered sediment then undergoes a secondary boiling, whisking, and filtering. The two filtered liquids are then combined and filtered yet again, with whatever sediment collects being discarded. The liquid is then set aside in a large covered vessel for two days. Further filterings, further sedimentations follow. After 10 days or so, a final boiling, simmering, and reduction is completed. Further steps involve the addition of a cup of good brandy, to kill any spores that may have grown during sedimentation, and to help blend, balance, and enrich the active alkaloids. The brandy is added as the opium brew simmers, thus evaporating the alcohol and not degrading the smoking paste.
Click to expand...

Have done the real basic water/filter preparation in the past, but nothing close to that involved :) apparently the correct equipment is important for smoking opium also, foil, lightglobe, in tobacco just doesn't compare to the old lamp/pipe and good technique.
 
spacejunk said:
more people should grow opium poppies, i really can't encourage it enough!
beautiful plants, beautiful flowers, beautiful pods and a beautiful high - it's the plant that just keeps on giving :)
Click to expand...

Don't forget it's an extremely useful skill to have :) If society ever broke down, financially or because of war etc.... It's hard to imagine that ever happening...but who knows!? Having a green thumb and being able to care for and harvest poppies and use as medicine or recreational relaxant would be so prized .
 
^ so true. most of us would be up shit creek if we were forced to exist off the land...

as for jackie jones' question above - are your sprouts/seedlings getting enough sunlight?
too little tends to do them in every time. they seem to sprout practically anywhere, but they need many hours of sunlight each day.

and pisspot - good news man. it's on, brother! :)
 
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