Organic poppy fertilzer...ideas?

[devils_cactus]

My poppies just sprouted. Hoorah.

They are Papaver Somniferum, some kind of 'hybrid' and a 'mixed bag'

whats a nice organic fertilizer and when should i start using it?

cheers

[Benzito]

Hey mate,

I've been growing some poppies that I sprouted right at the end of Autumn. (You can sprout in Spring aswell as Autumn. But I think you've left it a little late. You'll probably still have small-ish plants when they start flowering.)

Anyways, since they we're about 3 weeks old, I've been watering them every 2nd weekend with fish emulsion, and every other weekend with water I take out of my aquarium. (mmmm, lots of nitrates)

Then just water as needed during the week with tap water.

This is my first time keeping poppies, so don't take anything I say for gospel, but mine have been doing well apart from low germination rates. :D

[devils_cactus]

yeah i thought i may have left it too late

do you think they'll still flower? some people reckon they won't coz i planted them too late

on an unrelated topic they seem to be loving the cold

[hebrew]

they should be ok just small, but if you look after them they just might grow big

you can also plant in spring but they are not as good as if you planted in autumn

[Pisgah]

Yeah, prepare a bedding area in the fall next time around with composted cow manure, and some type of soil conditioner to provide aeration. The better the root system the healthier the plant.

I really worked the shredded wheat straw into one side of my garden, and not the other. Same light, same oragnic ferts & watering all spring, and the aerated side gave me five foot tall, multi headed monsters, while the non aerated side had lots of minis and abnormal pods.

[occidentalis]

I like to piss on my poppy patch (paeoniflorum). They are doing well .

[onz]

So we're planting in autumn to harvest in winter, yeah? But i was sure i've read about planting in august and harvesting before winter. You can get two harvests in one year?

I could never piss on my poppies, they are the most beautiful sprouts i'v ever seen, hard not to fall in love... I'v had more broken hearts than adult plants:( . If mother doesn't realise the secret, they will never stop growing:)

[hebrew]

plant in autumn collect seed in summer

[Rev]

they are boron hungry

there was thread a little way back where i summarised some ideas on poppy ferts

you could add borax to the compost of just use cardoard in it as its coated with boron salts too

i think all winter growers just love foliar feeds with seaweed, fish and human emulsion ( ala creaches style)

[bsm2wr]

cow compost

[.dg]

good sucsess with bat guano, mix of high n and high p.

[incognito]

i am feeding mine with dry cow manure,weed-tea(weeds left in a bucket of water to soak for a cupla months, my plants seem to dig it-thanks pete cundall!) seasol and miracle grow mix and blood and bone every two and a half weeks, they seem to be going bananas.but id say im over doing it!

[onz]

Alright, one left. 2 months, many deaths... one left... One dying, just like the last one

The cause, unkown. the answer? hopefully within one of you.. Now, it begins with a thinning at the base of the stem (gulp), then makes its way up to the top, and on its way the poppy deteriorates into weakness and death. PLEEEEEASE HELP ME OUT. WHAT IS IT? FUNGUS? STEM ROT? LACK OF WATER? TOO MUCH WATER?

and is there any way to easily fasten up growth of your poppy. Mirroring the sun or someshit?

[incognito]

hmmm, when did u plant them??maybee they didnt get a good enough start be fore winter set in??

im of a mind that they are very hardy,but if they havent grown enough before the onslaught of winter they can keel over???can u get a pic?

[onz]

Alright, one left. 2 months, many deaths... one left... One dying, just like the last one

The cause, unkown. the answer? hopefully within one of you.. Now, it begins with a thinning at the base of the stem (gulp), then makes its way up to the top, and on its way the poppy deteriorates into weakness and death. PLEEEEEASE HELP ME OUT. WHAT IS IT? FUNGUS? STEM ROT? LACK OF WATER? TOO MUCH WATER?

and is there any way to easily fasten up growth of your poppy. Mirroring the sun or someshit?

[onz]

ahhh, sorreh! disconected, refreshed. u get the idea..

i planted'em at the start of winter! In a very, very unsunny spot(so the frost couldn't get'em), stunted growth seemed real. A week after transplanting them (two left) my largest one died first. with the exact conditions described above. i hate knowing that somethings been done wrong, and not no wot it is, and have that same thing happen again, and again. Untill nothings left xcept a confused state of regret

[hoodoo]

This does not regard fertilizer, I do not know much about that. I havent read anything here so I do not know if anyone has mentioned success with poppy seeds (soms) when frozen in a plastic baggy in the freezer in water, for a few days, then thawed and repeated, then put out into pasture even far late into the warm season, will hatch quickly aftward, they do not need to be planted prior to the winter. I was surprised that they germinated in the ground and soon flourished even in Ausust, here in the northern hemisphere.

[ 28. July 2005, 07:03: Message edited by: hoodoo ]

[onz]

Well, i'll give it a go, without the repeat. and mention anything worth mentioning.