Can sow papaver somniferum now??

[WarpedAstro]

Hello again, I wanna grow some poppies to bring me back memories of my childhood home in Tasmania where there's heaps of opium farms (I'm sure everyone knows this anyway).

I live in Brisbane, can you sow the seeds now?? or too late or too early?? I've seen some opium poppies growing in Brisbane, they didn't look that healthy, maybe bit too cold now for them?? I wonder if I sow them in July would QLD summer be too hot for these opiums?? I was thinking it wouldn't because I often see pics of opium farms in Arabic countries where it's possiblty hotter up there than QLD's summer?? Maybe I am wrong, can anyone give me some advice please??

Thanks again....

"A Vision without means of travelling the pathway is only a fantasy."

[Darklight]

Now is the perfect time to sow, WA. At about Brisbane climate, most papaver spp will take off after being sown May 1, tho some clever boffin here managed to get one flying along as early as February

[gomaos]

I've also heard that you can plant poppies as early as feb around here, but what about the legality of it?

Anyone with poppies ever get busted?

[Darklight]

Someone was busted down here a few years ago in northern NSW

I think ( but please check ) that in many places p. somnif. is illegal to cultivate, but as it is a weed in many places and self sows readily then unless evidence of cultivation is taking place ( ie fertiliser at the plant base, excised seed capsules ) then I don't think ( but again, pls check )that it is on the sort of schedule that legally requires you to ferret out and remove every last one on your place

Just having a weed in yr garden in no way implies cultivation. Some laws require you to remove some spp. ( Cannabis spp are a prime example ) if they're just growing on yr property, whether cultivated or wild. Other plants are only illegal if they are being helped along with your intervention. Poppies fall into the latter category in many places. But like I said, its worth checking the relevant local laws b/c weed lists do vary from place to place

[WarpedAstro]

Thanks for your replies, I am wondering what normal cheap flowers with similar characters/height and flowers at similar time as poppies? and will be a good to grow along the poppies to "hide" the poppies so it wont be too noticeable in my backyard from these nosey neighours??

Any suggestion of flowers will be great, cheers again, WA

[Darklight]

Damn I used to know. Had a fave sp myself but its been ages since I grew any. Best advice is go to supermarket and hardware store and look at pics on seed packets. That's how I found my similar looking spp.

[gomaos]

You could try "Yates poppy mix', they're totally legal.

Disadvantage: They may crossbreed with your good ones....

[John_Barleycorn]

Originally posted by gomaos:

You could try "Yates poppy mix', they're totally legal.

Disadvantage:  They may crossbreed with your good ones....

I have in fact found that the generic Australian supermarket/health-food store seed produces a plant with a mild kick. Especially so if you extract the opium with ethanol (ie, metho) and eat it instead of smoking it. The Adelaide city council cultivates loads of poppies in public places.

[WarpedAstro]

mmmm....interesting suggestion goamos, ta mate

As where I live, I don't own the house, I'm renting, doesn't matter if they cross bred, I can always buy more seeds, they don't cost that much, if they suddenly over grow and spread like weed (which they probably will ).....it's the landlord's/next

tenant's problem not mine...as I'm planning to move out next year anyway...if they cross-bred, would that lower the opium's strain, or it will spoil the next generation strain?? Is there any effects on these legal Yate's poppies??, or mix them with Mexican poppies as I think they might be too short in height to grow along the opiums??

also ....John Barley_Corn,I don't like the idea of soaking the seeds in metho and "eating/drinking" metho soaked poppie seeds, doesn't metho make you blind??

Cheers Fellow Day Trippers and Psychonauts

[This message has been edited by WarpedAstro (edited 04 July 2002).]

[This message has been edited by WarpedAstro (edited 04 July 2002).]

[Guest Mesqualero]

Originally posted by John_Barleycorn:

kick. Especially so if you extract the opium with ethanol (ie, metho)

Since when did Ethanol become Methylated Spirits? Don't soak your opium extract in Metho and then Drink it hehehe like Warped Said

[John_Barleycorn]

Originally posted by Mesqualero:

Since when did Ethanol become Methylated Spirits?

Since as long as I have been able to read labels on bottles OK, as this isn't the Hive, I should have given more details. The idea is to pull the plants up, roots and all, chop them up, soak them for some weeks in a suitable solvent, then evaporate that solvent off, to leave opium. If you want to read a bit more, look up the "wet straw" technique on the Web. The million dollar question then becomes: what is a suitable (and available, and cheap) solvent? Obviously, avoid metho containing dye (this _is_ obvious, right?) Unfortunately, no retail metho is 100% pure, and all of it is deliberately adulterated with various nasties to discourage people from drinking it. However, if you evaporate some on a plate, it leaves a comparatively minor amount of white, bitter solids which doesn't seem to have killed anyone yet, especially when one considers the toxicity of the solute which is being ingested If you still don't like those odds, go to a chemical supplier and buy some 100% stuff (better still, make it methanol).

Now to air my limited botanical knowledge. On the one hand, we are told that growing Pap. Som. is illegal. On the other hand, we are warned about the dangers of ornamental poppies cross-breeding with our good varieties. This suggests to me that these are all different strains of the one species, right? And, BTW, how does this cross-breeding actually occur, ie, are there separate male and female components of the plant?

PS: when I said the ornamental plants give a "mild" kick, I should point out that a pea-sized lump of product once made my wife spin-out. But then, she's way more sensitive to codeine than I am.

[MrBumpy]

ok, looks like some people are confused.

Methylated spirits is mostly ethanol...only it has had methanol or probably nowadays other nasty stuff added to it.

hence the spirits (alcohol) has been methylated

still..ain't no way I'd be drinkin it....even with the boot polish.

-bumpy

[Guest Mesqualero]

I know what u mean now John Barleycorn... I didn't think about it properly sorry...

[theobromos]

Different plant species can hybridise together.

"are there separate male and female components of the plant?"

Umm... yes but I am too embarrassed to talk about it. Birds, bees, all that kind of thing.

[gomaos]

Yeah Theo, i would be too ashamed too, it's just to hot a topic...

We used to tell them the stork brings them, but they don't believe that anymore, do they?

See, children, it's like a woman has a vagina and a man has a penis, so do plants have sex organs and they're called... no, I just can't talk about it, it's too low, too dirty, why always me?

[MrBumpy]

If you wanna know the TRUTH about these dirty things...come to me...I'm straight forward, I'm blunt.....I'm the kid your parents told you not to play with when you were in primary school.

-bumpy

[gomaos]

Okeydokey, Bumpy, so what are the names of female and male organs of plants?

[WarpedAstro]

Goamos, I think you will find the names of flower's "private" parts, in one of these botany books,I forgot as I used have a good one, and I used to remember for my biology classes years ago when I was at college, we had to learn the parts and names on pumpkin's male and female flowers as they are both different, but I no longer have that book, fuck..wished kept that textbook...by the way I went to the Hardware store, and decided to have a go with D.T.Brown's "Cottage Garden Mix" as the flowers heights is between 30cm to 90, starts flowering after 9-13 weeks, and Cornflower (centaurea cyanus) grows up to 90cm, flowers after 14 weeks "an long last flowering plant and advises you to deadhead regularly to prolong the flowering season" hopefully these will go well along with opium poppies..... :D