Growing Papaver Somiferum (opium poppies)

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Dogma Jones

Member
5/16/12


Today hasn't been a great day for the lovely Somniferum. The dying indoor one pictured some days ago finally died for good. The insecticidal soap made it unhappy and it promptly died. Two others that had been moved indoors stopped growing. They had gone dormant and refused any more development. One of the small developing plants has started to get shiny on one of the leaves, like it is moist, but it isn't. ​
SWIM
is wondering what is going on with that one, SWIM will have to keep watch. Maybe some of the gnats SWIM saw before using the insecticidal soap are causing problems.

After all the chaos, SWIM is down to five indoor plants and nine outdoor plants excluding those recently started in his parents backyard. He also has various sprouts and seeds being started every few days. With death stalking and killing some of SWIMS plants, SWIM is happy about a Tasmanian outside that is still kicking major ass and doesn't seem to give a fuck what the weather here throws at it or what bugs pester it. It is SWIMS favorite. Another picture of this beauty has been attached (green pot). Also attached is a picture of the second largest outdoor plant (black pot).

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Dogma Jones

Member
5/23/12


If any of you have been keeping track, SWIMS poppies have had a few issues. The insecticidal soap purchased for them made them extremely unhappy. Some of the leaves on various plants are stained and some are starting to shrivel up and die. ​
SWIM
found an account of this happening to another grower in another log.​

"There were some bugs from the soil. SWIM was annoyed by this and sprayed the plants with a 'safe' 'natural' insecticidal soap. This nasty stuff seemed to stain the leaves on the plant. That layer of leaves always seemed a bit wilted and never recovered.
"

SWIMS polydactyl cat wishes she and SWIM would have seen this other log before spraying the precious poppies. The plants are still healthy though except for those few leaves on each plant. It was sad seeing the one Persian die. SWIM is attaching pictures of some of the damage to the plants.

On another note, SWIMS grow room was getting way too hot due to the central A/C not working and the apartment management not wanting to fix it. SWIM installed a window unit in the room next to the grow room where he sleeps to combat the heat. Because of this, the grow room door has to remain open. This presents a problem. SWIMS other cats are not to be trusted when it comes to the poppies, they like to eat greenery and knock things over. SWIM countered this with a $20 screen door from the local hardware store. They have not tried to claw up the screen door yet because SWIM coated the screen with lemon cleaner. Cats hate citrus. The pleasant smell of lemons is protecting the precious poppies from being destroyed. The plants in that room seem much happier now.


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Dogma Jones

Member
5/23/12


Quote:
Originally Posted by Phaeton
The info getting passed on before a 'not as safe' insecticide got sprayed on some poppies is appreciated.

No problem. ​
SWIM
isn't happy about the insecticidal soap situation but is glad we can all learn from it.

SWIMS grow room before the screen door modification was pushing 93F easy. The plants seemed to tolerate the heat ok once established but they seemed to be stalling in growth. Today is day two of cooler temps in the grow room and they do seem happier. SWIMS residence is comfortably in the 70F range at all times with just the window unit and the weather here in Zone 8 has been 90F-95F.

The outdoor plants are mostly doing ok in that heat, but they are on the shaded balcony. They get direct light in the morning and afternoon (4pm) and have constant CFL daylight supplemental light from dawn to dusk. Being in the shade probably puts them in the 80F range. The shade can often be 10F cooler.

Phaeton, SWIM would say that cooler temps are better, but if all the poppies know is hot, than that should be ok as long as they are watered more frequently.
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D

Dogma Jones

Member
5/24/12


Last night ​
SWIM
began to worry his poppies are undersized for their age. It has been two months. SWIM remembers reading that it can take up to four months for varieties to mature though. Also, some of the plants seem to have stalled in growth. SWIM theorizes this could be due to weather, the inscecticidal soap incident, or that they simply do not like their pots. Maybe SWIM is worrying too much though and the plants are simply stalling leafy growth to concentrate on root growth. One cant rush nature, especially if using soil, so SWIM has to remind himself to be patient.​
 
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Dogma Jones

Member
5/26/12


The indoor plants are seeming to spring back after the insecticidal soap incident. They sucked up the water ​
SWIM
added only a day ago, today the soil was bone dry. SWIM guesses they needed quite a bit of water to help regenerate themselves. Today SWIM had to prune some of the dead leaves from the plants. The dead leaves were brown and crumbled when touched. They needed to go. The first picture in the attachments is all of the leaves that needed to be removed.

The second picture was taken to show the thickening of the man stem when they start to grow up and grow more leaves. SWIM placed a penny vertically next to it for comparison. Once they get big enough SWIM recommends you bury the stems and position dirt on both sides of the plant to steady it. After awhile, when the stem thickens, it will pretty much hold itself up.

The third picture is one of the biggest indoor plants. These are definitely younger than the oldest Tasmanian plants outdoors. SWIM can't remember exactly how old each plant is, because a lot were lost etc and he keeps crappy records. It is most definitely a Tasmanian though. Tasmanian leaves have sharper edges. Persians in comparison have more ruffly leaves.

The fourth picture is an up and coming little plant. SWIM likes to use coins as reference to the size of young plants. Next to the plant is a quarter and a penny. This little plant is either a China White or Hens and Chicks. It also has the chance of being a "Wizard of Oz" red type, but this is unlikely because that strain doesn't like to live for SWIM it seems. SWIM has been keeping crappy records. He has since started labeling what plants are which when germinating seeds.

Since he has an indoor setup, SWIM is constantly germinating and growing. Right now he has Tasmanian, China White, and Giganteum germinating outdoors. Indoors he has Persians, Giganteum, and Hens and Chicks germinating. These indoor plants were started today. The outdoor ones were started two days ago and are doing well. The Giganteums especially are doing great. When SWIM took a look at the mini greenhouse this morning only one Giganteum peat pellet had started to sprout. When he checked them again about an hour ago two more pellets had shot up sprouts. None of them have their first two leaves yet but they will in a day or two.

SWIM has included an early picture of one of his early poppies as a bonus. SWIMS wife thought this picture was awesome because the water and the plant together form a heart shape. She said, "Awww....your poppies love you. They appreciate that you try your hardest to take care of them." SWIM thought this was funny because he and the polydactyl cat do love the precious poppies and try their best to take care of them.

That's all for now. More info to come soon.

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Dogma Jones

Member
5/29/12


SWIMS plants are still doing ok, and the indoor crop is starting pick up in growth. It has been three days since ​
SWIM
had to prune the dead leaves from these plants and they are responding extremely well. SWIM theorizes they are doing better because the plants can now focus their energy on growth rather than trying to repair the dying leaves. They have been sucking up the water provided to them like crazy lately as well.

On a side note, when SWIM did remove the dead/dying leaves, a tiny bit of white liquid (possibly latex) came out. It wasn't a significant amount but it does reinforce the claim that there is ​
opium
in every part of the plant. SWIM will probably keep all the plant parts and grind them down with the pods once the plant matures.

Pics included today are of the 5 indoor plants left and the close up is of the biggest of these.

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