Poppies

How long do poppy seeds last?Ive had a pack of Hens & chicks (visa versa?) for 7 yrs.I PUT at least 50-60 seeds in a wet paper towel folded up in the bottom of a glass and kept em' wet (maybe too wet?) for over 3 weeks and one hair thin sprout is all that sprouted. I kept a lid on it but opened it every few days,think i deprived em' of air?Also they felt "slimy" think i left em' too wet? Or are they just too old? P.S. Im' gonna' fill a 5 gallon bucket but all i have is plain garden dirt,sand,vermiculite and manure..whats a good ratio? 5 pts dirt/3 pts verm/1/2 pt sand and 1/2 pt manure?
maybe dirt and verm mixed 50/50 w/ a couple handfulls of manure? Its very warm here,think i could start em' in February indoors?

poppies are often germinated in refridgeration
as they prefer cold temps during that phase
pre-soak old seeds 24 hours in a dilute solution of liquid seaweed/kelp extract to improve germination rates.

O.K.,Seaweed/kelp...but 7 yrs isnt too old? Even without the seaweed and in a warm room at least a few of them should have sprouted anyway if theyre viable,right?

not at warm temps, no.

from what ive read about poppies they like to be started when its still cold in like febuary outside. i always just germinated them by sprinkling them on moist soil indoors or outdoors. but ive never successfully grown poppies so i dont know much. they would germinate but die quickly

same here. my poppies got to like an inch then they all just tipped over and died. they germinated easily at room temps though, indoors.

[pskovinsky]

Don't try and germinate them in a paper towel, poppy roots are extremely fragile and any damage will kill them.

I just tossed a bunch into a pot, and then GENTLY watered it twice a day to keep it nice and damp, and probably 80% have sprouted now. They were 6 month old seeds though, still pretty fresh.

[sparky]

Mine always sprout but like mensioned above , they get an inch tall and just stop, then die.
whats the problem , and or the fix here?

I would greatly like to know.....

[agency]

Everything you need to know is on this site below. Apparently it's also possible to grow papaver somniferum with hydroponics. Their not accepting knew members, last I checked -so you'll need to do some reading.

http://opium.poppies.org/



(Message edited by agency on January 17, 2005)

yeah what the fuck is this shit, mine always get like an inch tall and die i don't get it i've tried a few different methods with no success

[opie]

I found that if one just cuts the stem of the poppy and then makes the cuts, holding the stem upside down over a liter or so of H2O or even allowing the heads of the poppy to rest just below the surface of the water, one can cut the hard part out completely. The latex mixes well with water and one can go from plant to cooked opium with out the painful task of the harvest. I know you can't harvest as much from one plant as you would if you did give it a couple of days, but if you have plenty of the flowers and was not trying to open your own drug store then this would work just fine. It has worked for me and I learned this in Laos. My mother is Hmong, and although it says most Hmong do not prefer it cooked some do. Just a little tip I picked up in my travels. Plus if you hang them over the water and add a little heat to the water to cause it to steam then the latex will drip into the water and begin the cooking process sooner.

I'm interested in the above process. Can someone explain it in more detail I can't understand it? I'm intersted in the harvest of ripe pods without lancing and the procedure to end with cooked ready to smoke opium. The smoking process would be of interest as well. Homemade pipes a plus!

[Soliver1]

Try poppies.org for more on that type of process.

Sounds like it could work, but you'd get a lot of excess plant material,
waxes, etc, that would change the quality / consistency of the final product.

best of luck,



soliver

[opie]

Try poppies.org for more on that type of process.

It looks like they don't have a server anymore. All I get is a data base error message when trying to access the forum or archives.

it would work but i think it would be more labor intensive then milking which is already very labor intensive. i prefer tea over opium anyway, it lasts longer and i can be lazy.

[Hippie3]

see http://forums.mycotopia.net/showthread.php?p=232524

i remember reading that quote above but haven't tried it

[opie]

it lasts longer and i can be lazy.

Why does it last longer? I'm interested in Tea however I like the idea of the quicker effect of smoke and that it can be dosed more effectively by a novice. I also like the process of smoking which I feel is more involved and historic.

it would work but i think it would be more labor intensive then milking which is already very labor intensive.

I guess so however I don't even seem to be able to understand how to do his process. Since you do can you describe it in more detail? I'm really just looking for a way to get smokable opium in a situation where you may not be able to score the pods and or you want to process anything that maybe left in a scored pod.

see http://forums.mycotopia.net/showthread.php?p=232524
i remember reading that quote above but haven't tried it

Yeah thanks Hippie 3 I have read everything I could find on this forum about Opium
Opie

[manjotar]

speaking of opium,
i was just now going through an old bag of camping stuff,
and found 1/2 a gram of some sticky, gooey tar.
i can totally see why i forgot i even had it... cause it's HELLA potent!

[robman1]

poppies.org forums are back up

Theres an explanation there too.

[bearmtn]

The best method for obtaining smokeable opium product is still the old fashioned "cooking" the raw latex and filtering, IMO. It works exceptionally well while other methods seem to be marginal at best. It's a simple mrthod detailed in the PORG's FAQ.

[opie]

The best method for obtaining smokeable opium product is still the old fashioned "cooking" the raw latex and filtering, IMO.

I would agree however not evryone can have scored pods in thier garden so it would be nice to know the next best way to obtain smokable opium.

Another thing I just thought of is wouldn't it be effective to take this smokeble opium and encapsulate it? If so it seems a bit more atractive than drinking tea and you should get the same effect no?

[Soliver1]

"Confessions of an Opium Eater" anyone? Lol...

If you're going to just eat the opium balls, you may as
well make tea and save yourself the hassle IMO.

[opie]

Can anyone ID these Poppies for me? Also how can you tell the difference between a China White and Persian White Poppy?

taz.jpg

wp.jpg

rp.jpg

pp.jpg

[Hippie3]

only the last one looks familiar to me,
need to see more of the plant/pods

[opie]

Here are the pods and leaves which correspond to the above flowers in the same order. I was unable to insert them in the original post.

tp.jpg tl.jpg

wpp.jpg wpl.jpg

rp.jpg rl.jpg

lp.jpg ll.jpg

[Bluejay]

first once looks like taz's

second one is persian white if it didnt veg very long(they tend to go straight to flower from birth)

Red peonie poppy would be my guess for # 3

Turkish strain would be my last guess for the last one..

Check out this link for a large commercial farm out of canada..they have tons of pics of different strains..

www.izmirpoppy.com

[Hippie3]

izmir's where i got my first seeds.
and yeah, that last one does look turkish, like mine.

[opie]

Hey thanks a lot. Are there different colors of Tazmainians? I was reading the Poppy Tek thread on this website and on the first page are photos of a red with purple bloches said to be a Tazmainian. I tried to insert the photo here but couldn't figure out how.

[opie]

Has anyone heard of making Poppy Tea using an espresso machine and if so any tips?

[MycoDani]

Hey everyone it's been a while since I have been on and I love what has been done to the site much kudos.My ? is I am growing poppies indoors and I cannot find a pic of when to transplant them.I have heard once there done being a toddler mine are toddlers but when is it best to transplant?I am going to use plastic cups any better ideas I could use any help I can get.I also read not alot of water fact or myth?
Thank You Mahalo

[Hippie3]

poppies don't handle transplanting very well,
sooner = better, imo.

[MycoDani]

Thank you I will do it today is it ok to put a couple per cup?Thanks Hip=)

[Hippie3]

sure, easier than trying to separate them
the books all say to thin them but i never do,
i let them grow like weeds, seem to do fine.

[MycoDani]

Much thanks now off to transplnt...I wondered about thinning myself but,you answered my ?.=)

[MycoDani]

The transplanting went 50/50 I transplanted a few in 6 cups.I am going to wait a day or two because I noticed some roots are stronger than others.So I will wait to get some stronger rooting.
Thank You Mahalo

[rocketman]

what kind of light are you using? which strain, etc.

thanks

[SharkieJones]

Never heard of that.

[rocketman]

the idea with the tea, with most other extractions is to have as much surface area (ground material) exposed as possible. then, your tea needs to steep for at least 20-25 minutes ime for a good tea. so to answer your question, i dont know unless you meet the above criteria. i have read where people make coffee, with the ground pods in the coffee filter, but it seems again like there would be waste. The best way i have found to make tea is bring some acidified water (acidify with lemon/lime/phosphoric etc.) to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and add your finely ground pods to the water. use an old t shirt or similar cloth to strain after it steeps 25 minutes and drink up. i do use a tiny bit of sugar.