Poppy Grow w/pix

[Hippie3]

posted by MycoCakEater
1. Introduction
The Opium Poppy(Papaver Somniferum) is the worlds most controversial flower. While some use it for the beautiful flowers, others use it for cooking,relive from pain,and best of all,for recreational and spiritual purposes. But beware,as frequent as the use comes, addiction follows. In no way is this drug to be abused, or you may be abused your self by Mother Opium. Opium is both an angel and a demon.Now without delay let the guide begin.
2. A Basic Rundown on the Opium Alkaloids
Opium is made of four main alkaloids morphine, codeine, thebaine and papaverine.About twenty other alkaloids exist in opium but they have little or no significance medically or economically. A number of other "opium alkaloids" are commercial products and are used medically(hydrocodone), but·they are not obtained directly from opium, but by conversion of morphine, codeine and thebaine.
Morphine being the most prevalent, Most raw opium usually has between 8% and 19% of morphine.The second most prevalent, but just as, is Codeine.The codeine content of opium is related inversely to the morphine content but only in a general way. Codeine percentage in opium can range from 1% to over 3%.The third most prevalent are Thebaine & Papaverine. Thebaine is the most poisonous opium alkaloid and is scarcely used medically.However, it is converted into several other products: hydrocodone & oxycodone.Papaverine has a considerable medical use, so much so that supplies available from opium have sometimes run short. It is then manufactured synthetically.
3. Growing
In the United States and Canada, poppy seeds are perfectly legal. This is because, like our very loved mushroom spores, poppy seeds do not actually contain any of the alkaloids that are in the fully-grown poppy plant.You can purchase seeds from many online retailers, gardening stores, hardware stores, and florists.
There are many strains of papaver:
Nigrum - White and purple Opium Poppies that produce whimsical, often peony-like flowers that mature to medium-sized pods of decent yield.
Persian Whites - These Opium Poppies produce gorgeous white flowers, and are considered a "high-yield" strain. They make an excellent addition to any garden, indoors or out.
Tazmanian - Big and beautiful, Tazmanian poppies are one of the largest somniferum strains. Considered by many to be the "best of the best", Tazmanian poppies produce monster-sized pods that produce many seeds with each generation.
Hens and Chicks - A unique pod that is composed of 1 main pod surrounded by 20-30 smaller pods.
Giganthemum- The largest opium poppy pod, size can range from golf ball to baseball sized pods. Yield is VERY good.
For this grow, our strain of choice Giganthemum (these are planted in the late fall in SE US, due to freak weather during weather they were growing but slowly through the winter)
First we have to start with a few seeds.........
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After about 2 weeks you'll see some seedlings like these-
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Then after a couple of weeks.....
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Now lets fast forward a couple weeks.....
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And a few more weeks of an unusual mild winter..........
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And now its Spring time, and now they are officially supposed to grow and that they are!.............
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And now ladies and gents is the poppies as of today (April 05)
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[Hippie3]

Lets say about 2 months from now...
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When the pod is ready to slice.....
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And the final product...........
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Now lets say that smoking opium just isn't your thing...
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MCE's Poppy Tea Recipe

Grind pods into a flour with a coffee grinder, put the grounds into your French press. Now boil some water to a rolling boil. Take the water off of the heat and pour into your french press. Put the top on the french press, and push down the strainer so that the poppy straw is 1/3 down in the water. Slowly move it down throughout 10 minutes. Pour, add honey and fresh mint leaves. Enjoy!

[Hippie3]

LEMON LAUDANUM


Poppyheads contain Opium, because the juice has dried up in the pods. Unfortunately it also contains lots of other constituents which do not help the taste. Now the standard way to extract poppyheads is to make a tea of them. This tastes pretty foul in my opinion and far worse: it negatively affects both potency and richness of the experience, because many alkaloids are stripped from the opium that really ought to be in there. This happens because of heating over 70'C which destroys the Meconic acid which makes the alkaloids more soluble. Meconic acid and Narcotine/noscapine significantly potentiate the Opium without being true narcotics themselves.
To remedy the flavor and extract the whole opium into a tasty beverage I have developed my "Lemon Laudanum".
Be warned that Lemon Laudanum may be highly illegal, but it truely is highly addictive and not forgiving of overdose.

Firstly a quantity of poppyheads is ground to a powder and mixed well. The strength of this is determined. An oral dosage of standardized opium tends to lie in the range of 1-3 grains which is roughly 50-200mg. This strength is usually contained in 2-10gr ground poppyheads, with 4 grams usually falling between these extremes.
Then you know said batch has a given dosage per portion. You could then proceed to make Lemon Laudanum.


LEMON LAUDANUM

water................1/2 liter
lemon juice..........1 lemon/oz
honey................3 tablespoons
ground poppyheads....1 measured dose

1...put the water, honey and lemon juice in an empty 1 liter soda bottle.
2...put this in the refrigerator and chill.
3...add the ground poppyheads and vigorously shake.
4...put this in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours or 12 hours at most.

You can do all this before bedtime and wake up to a laudanum breakfast! It hits you best that way, on a completely empty stomach.

5...pour the liquid through a handkerchief and squeeze the liquid from the "dog", as poppy residue is often called.
6...drink the Lemon Laudanum ice cold and with determination.

It will come on strong rather rapidly on an empty stomach, will plateau after 1-2 hours and lasts the full 8-10 hours.

[Hippie3]

tip from Mikul

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.

tip from flowstone

When making tea from the stems, use only the top 5 inches of the stem. THe bottom portion of the stem contains aprox 30% alkaloids that the top 5 inches hold, or roughly only 10% that the pods would hold.

Also, always wipe your pods down to remove dust and anything on the outside. use a damp cloth and possible add a small amount of vinegar to the dampness.