Hydroponic poppies grow log

[glev]

Hello folks, I will be documenting how to grow poppies from seed to flower using the deep water Culture technique of Hydroponics. Basically it involves submerging a net pot filled with a non-soil grow medium into a container filled with water, nutrients, and aquariam air stones (which are connected to air pumps) to oxygenate the water. I use 14 gallon rubbermaid roughneck containers, various air pumps and airstones as well as tubing from the pet store, and general or advanced hydroponics nutrients with a superthrive additive.
I cast the seeds directly onto the hydroton grow rocks, because the rocks are moist from the bubbling water below, the seeds stick in the crevices and begin to grow. Within a week you may have sprouts.

[glev]

I am using six 5 inch net pots per container, and using three containers for 18 plants.. thinning to one plant per pot after about a month, every few days i would thin out the weaker seedlings because usually there were about 10 germinating in each pot, I would drop about 20 seeds in to start, some do fall through the cracks.. In about 2 weeks, you should have some true leaves forming as the first two leaves are just the "seed leaves" or cotyledons. the first picture is about one week in, I cast the seeds the second week of february, this picture is from the 23rd, the first pic was the 17th.

[glev]

This next pic is from Feb. 29th, you can see the leaves are getting broader and begining the very early cabbage stage.

[~Hippie3]

hi
good luck.
btw
we ask members to
> upload pix <
here instead of linking offsite like you did.
that was the pix enter our image browser system
and avoids broken links in a year or so.

[glev]

My pics are too large, around 3 mb or so, and I dont have time to resize them all right now, perhaps I will start the log another time when I have more time to do that. Thanks!

[~Hippie3]

what type poppy, tasmanian, turkish, hens-and-chicks ?

[duaut]

swim tried this back in 1996-98 and had a little sucess. Poppies do not like lots of water. That's the only advice she has atm. Harvest is not as good as outdoors.

[glev]

These poppies are afghanistan special and Persian blues, they are really big now and will be ready for harvest soon.

[Doctor D]

Originally Posted by glev2005

My pics are too large, around 3 mb or so, and I dont have time to resize them all right now, perhaps I will start the log another time when I have more time to do that. Thanks!

Resize digital pictures quickly

MS Image Resizer Power Toy for windows. If you can right-click, you can resize a pic. Simple as that.

[glev]

I will temporarily end this log with a link to see how the poppies are doing now, take a look. i'll come back and finish this when I have time to resize the pics for this website.

glev2005 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[glev]

@Duaut : Poppies don't like lots of water? Only the roots are submerged in the water, it takes the place of soil, that's what hydroponics is. The leaves never get wet at all, so it actually gets less wet than soil grown outdoors. These are thriving and I would suspect they will end up around 3-4 feet tall which is the biggest these strains usually get.

[~Hippie3]

your pix are easy to upload from photobucket,
just copy the direct link
and paste it into the upload from URL section
of the attachment manager [paperclip icon]

[glev]

Thanks, well if anyone has any questions about the grow, I'd be happy to answer.. the next pics should show the beginning of the budding process.

[glev]

Also, sowed Persian, afghan seeds and I think some tasmanians..is anyone here skilled anough to identify a taz from a persian in the later cabbage stage period? I have one which is different from the rest and Im hoping its a taz because the other ones are one pod per plant (at least until I deadhead it) and it would be nice to get a multipod Taz plant up there too.

[greenie]

questions:
1: how long from seed to latex?
2: average yield per netpot?
3: why do they onyl grow one head? can this be fixed?

[omentheduck]

hmm I would think that the potency at the end wold be a little lower that with soil as you have to give it water a lot more than when it is in the soil, ( during the flowering phase you really don't want to water it that much but thats hard to do with hydro)
They look very nice and healthy tho, very healthy!
I am watching this one, I can't wait to see the out come!

Outdoors, the total time from germination to harvest will be about 120-140 days.
and as for he one pod there are many different types of poppies I think hens and chicks might be the ones you are looking for, they have a main center pod with a few others poping up around it!


I would by this but can we say red flag!
Amazon.com: Hydroponic Heroin: How to Grow Opium Poppies Without Soil (85278): Robert Neil Bunch: Books

[glev]

Originally Posted by greenie

questions:
1: how long from seed to latex?
2: average yield per netpot?
3: why do they onyl grow one head? can this be fixed?

1: about 3 months, maybe a little more
2: one plant per pot is best, in hydroponics you can milk the pods for much longer than in soil, and when the head is dry, you can cut it off and a new one will form. It takes at least 10 heads milked for one to smoke a bit, but it varies, i wouldnt grow less than 10 plants if you want more than a one day session.
3:Some strains are a one pod per plant strain like persians, and some are multiple like taz or hen and chicks. When you cut off the dried out pod on a persian, however, more than one pod can come back as I understand and it will become a multiple pod plant. One pod per plant is not necessarily a bad thing though, because generally it is about the same yield either way. (one high yield pod or several low yield)

[greenie]

thank u!

[glev]

More growth going on!

[waylitjim]

Very cool, thanks for the photos.
What type of lighting are you using?

btw, clever setup here.

[omentheduck]

damn those look nice, do the pods need to be under the light or can you let them reach above them?

[glev]

I do intend to raise the light to have the pods be under them, I think they do need to get light to be healthy. The light I have is a high intensity flourescent, so Im hoping it will be able to penetrate down to the lower leaves as well.

[glev]

I'm using the teklight 4 foot lamps system. It has 8 four foot t5 flourescent in a highly reflective ballast. Sees to work well and emits very little heat. but it costs a lot, almost 5 hundred.

[glev]

By the way, I should let you know that I am in the netherlands, please check your own state's legalities before growing anything. At this point I am a little past 2 months from seed.

[roc]

I look forward to seeing more.

[glev]

Newer leaves look black and burned, deformed and kinda glossy.. old leaves look fine.. I started flowering by using 16/8 lighting schedule and basically all is the same. See photo

http://i30.tinypic.com/300wqwp.jpg this is the new up coming leaves

also see attachment to see how the more grown newer leaves look

If you look next to the burned looking leaf you can see how its different, kinda glossy and puffy and singed around the top and edges

[glev]

And, no I dont think my PH has changed drastically nor my nutes, they are about the same, a little more nutes now cuz im trying to flower but thats it.. please help! I dont think this is natural for the plant to do preflowering.

[BaconSquishy]

What about heat? Poppies are sensitive to it i believe, too hot in there?

[~Hippie3]

might be temps
but i'd back the nutes down too

[glev]

So I had what I believe to be some nute burn from using too much fertilizer, this affected only newer leaves, so I cut back on the nutes and thins I should be ok. When I was moving the plants to clean the reservoirs, i notices my first bud forming and can see they are about to bolt. Bolting is when they grow a long stalk which the pods and flowers develop from. They then go into hook stage where the peduncle is hanging down and then they straighten up and blossom. I think I will be in hook stage by the end of this month, so a little more than 3 months from seed to harvest is my guess. Hopefully the nute burn wont hurt my end result. More pics soon to come.

[glev]

Bolting is when, early in the blook stage, the poppies begin to grow upwards and form stalks where the flower will bloom from. I over fertilized them last week and some were burned, but I think they are recovering now and a few are begining to bolt. Apparently the ones that are bolting are forming around 4-5 flowers per plant that I can see right now. I expected only one per plant so I am happy!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...poppies003.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...poppies004.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...poppies001.jpg

you can see the stalk forming in some of these pics.

[waylitjim]

Please upload pix , in the future, directly to Topia.

[durban_poison]

looks like its time to extend light periods or have you, kind of looks like you already have.

[glev]

Yes I already have lights at 16/8 woth 16 being the light and 8 dark

[glev]

Hopefully the nute burn will not hinder my harvest, I have counted up to 5 pods per plant beginning to form!

[glev]

The plants with nute burn got burned right in the middle where the leaves tend to sprout from and where the stalk would sprout from when they bolt. I noticed when they started bolting that the area where the pod should be forming at the end of the stalk was the burned area, I was afraid that this would ruin the harvest. I am happy to report, when the end of the stalk is damaged by nute burn, the stalk splits at the burned areal eaving the damaged bud, that would have been the main bud, as a lower secondary bud, and begins growing past that point to grow a new, fresh, unburned pod (bud)! So it looks like the injured plants will be fine, they know how to repair themselves, by not using the injured pod area as the main pod, and the new growth looks fine and healthy! At this early point the pods are about the size of a unshelled peanut which I believe is fine for the very newly formed pods. I guess it would grow to a golf ball sized pod when mature, but who knows, we will see in a few weeks.

[durban_poison]

they will be fine the top pod might not grow on you but thats fine more side pods. im not sure why salt burn causes them to abhort but it does. most other plants just fix themselves after the problem is fixed. maybe bescause its the final stage or something of that nature. as long as the problems fixed it will provide for more side pods and its even benifical in a way. as it keeps your plant shorter allowing more light to get down to the leaves giving you larger pods. i learned that by accident then kept pinching the tops when they went into flowering. the amount of light your lower leaves recieve directly effects the size of the pods. its hard when that top flower wants to reach way up to the sky to get light penetrating that far down but 1000 watt hps make it a little easier but still you want that base lit up not just the top.

[glev]

Thanks durban, as you can see by this pic I have pods forming now, and you are absolutely right, a lot of side pods are coming up.

[~Hippie3]

some cfl down low might be good

[omentheduck]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

some cfl down low might be good

I second that, How far are the lights above the top layer of leaves?

[glev]

about 4-8 inches but i am using high intensity flouros, not the regualr shoplights.. i am using the teklight t5 system

[omentheduck]

Originally Posted by glev2005

about 4-8 inches but i am using high intensity flouros, not the regular shoplights.. i am using the teklight t5 system

thats still a lot closer than i thought they were, nm, and yea those are way better for you babies! I am still using the shop lights with CL's lol! in any event keep it up, looks good

[glev]

Yeah, i usually move the light for my pictures, otherwise it gets in the way

[glev]

Nice pod forming here
Biggest cabbage, interestingly enough this plant was the smallest by far seemingly underdeveloped until I switch light to 18/6, then it grew so fast and surpassed the other plants in cabbage size.

[glev]

Hippie, I took your advice

Also i dont know if I said so but i have about 16 persian whites going into early cabbage stage

I will say that 6 plants per 14 gallon rubbermaid container is a little ambitious.. now I only use about 6-8 gallons of water, but the size of the lid is kinda small to cramp together all these plants.. that is why it looks kinda chaotic.. If you were to force flowering early it wouldnt be an issue but with full cabbage stage plants like mine, the fan leaves tend to get in the way of other plants getting light.. I think I will either stick to persian whites with this setup for now on because persians are usually smaller but still pack a punch, or I will switch to 4 large plants per lid..

[~Hippie3]

[omentheduck]

I have a few sprouting outside, I hope mine , end look like yours!

[poppies_plz]

hey, ive never trried growing poppies before, but i have a little experience with hydroponics. iève been thinking about growing some poppies inside, but i wasn;t sure which method to use. i think i read that your using the deep water culture method. just wondering how you knew to use this way rather than a drip method or whatver. so just to clarify, your containers are filled up to the pots... i seen one system that used bubbles and seperate tubes to each of the pops. another had small nozzles that sprayed the roots inside the containers. have you tried any other methods. i was gonna purchase the book hydroponic heroin, but the name alone is a red flag for me. your plants look great by the way. did you have any trouble flowering...

[glev]

Any type of hydroponics is fine, DWC is just so easy it is what I know well and am equipped for. The only flowering troubles Ive had were my own fault.. I got nute burn and dropped the light on a few plants that were bolting, Ive stressed these poor plants way too many times and the other day I let all the water evaporate and didnt change it for hours because I hadnt checked how low it had gotten.. Still I am able to flower, I actually had my first pod opening up this morning with some bright pink petals showing in hook stage as it opened, I cant wait to get home and see it now. I will post more pics soon. I would say there is no reason to boost the nutes for flowering, its better to need to add more than to get nute burn.. the nute burn is what hurt my flowering the most here. I eneded up with a lot of smaller shoots that one or two big ones.. however since the pods dont really swell until after the petals drop, i really dont have an idea on my pod size yet.. I do have very good root growth though and that may be what allows me to get a good harvest despite all my errors.

[glev]

Here are some pods early on, they will soon bloom, drop their petals and then the pods will swell to what I estimate to be around a golf ball size