Food grade Poppy Seeds

[markcond]

I was just wondering if the white food grade poppies of the variety Persian White, in jars of 100g from a certain online source are viable or have they been treated to sterilise them. I recently got some poppy seeds from the supermarket for my parrots which they loved. I threw the leftovers in the garden and out of probably thousands of seeds, only one came up, and that could be a weed Also wondering hypothetically is now an OK time to sow poppy seeds. Of course I am only thinking of growing legal poppies, but I figure the same info applies to them

[Torsten]

we don't germination test the food grade poppies, so no idea. there will be some viable poppy seeds in the shop again shortly.

[Vagdevi]

Theres lots of Poppy info here also: http://opium.poppies.org

I think sowing in spring is a good time. I live in syd and now is probably a good time if they were legal.

So what varriety are the viable seeds coming into the shop?

seeds from Tas are meant to be really good. But I heard that there are two strains that come out of tazzie. One is from the pods of the crops used for there high alkaloid yield. The other is specifically bred for low alkaloid content so they are a weak strain which are useless for someone cultivating(in a country where legal) for good quality opium.

My research on this has been fairly light though. anyone know the facts on this?

Hope ya get the seeds your looking for

Edited August 29, 2008 by Vagdevi

[Free Man]

If you take a trip out to clyburn[An old railway staff station in between Auburn and Clyde ]in Sydney in the railway yards there the poppies used to grow wild and some railway staff used to milk them and smoke them with other herb, don't know if the yards still existbut it would be worth the drive if they do!

Edited August 29, 2008 by Free Man

[markcond]

If you take a trip out to clyburn[An old railway staff station in between Auburn and Clyde ]in Sydney in the railway yards there the poppies used to grow wild and some railway staff used to milk them and smoke them with other herb, don't know if the yards still existbut it would be worth the drive if they do!

Around Wagga, where I used to live there were opium poppies growing wild. During the world wars people were encouraged to grow them to provide the military. The ones I'm thinking of had a pale pink flower and I'm pretty sure they were Papaver Somniferum. Even if they weren't they still worked for me. They also occur in many old gardens. Actually a lot of Poppy varieties contain some amount of active alkaloid.

On the subject of the viability of food grade seeds, I have a friend who does poppy washes all the time. He reckons that about a year ago the poppy washes became a lot less milky and he had to use heaps more. I read somewhere recently (sorry can't remember where) that most food grade seeds are washed to remove active ingredients and then heated to sterilise them. However a few seeds make it through ok. The same article said that a strain which caused more nausea was being used to discourage people from poppy washes. My friend said he could only find one obscure brand in a health food store which still had plenty of kick to it.

[Torsten]

Early this year queensland introduced laws that prohibit the sale of viable poppy seeds. ie all supermarket poppy seeds are meant to be treated to make them unviable. I doubt this will be accomplished any time soon, but it is interesting to know what the govvy thinks they should be doing.

Australian produced poppy seeds are washed. I think the washing process has become a lot more efficient. Some poppy seeds even taste slightly acidic, which is probably a residue from an acid wash.

[bob-bob]

FOAF had an excellent germ rate from some McBrand of supermarket seeds. Was to late in the summer apparently and they did not last very long.

I have no idea of the weather patterns in Brisvegas, but once the frosts have stopped and the days are getting warmer is the ideal time for planting. Which will should be very soon.

[Vagdevi]

what exactly is poppy seed washing?

[markcond]

what exactly is poppy seed washing?

Poppy seeds have some opiates in/on them as do all parts of the plant. Basically you get a heap from your supermarket or wherever, put em in container like a cordial bottle or a large Gatorade bottle, then add some hot water, put the lid on, then shake the crap out of it. This can be repeated several times. You can let em soak in between shakes. Some people add a little lemon or lime juice (vinegar would probably help too) to facilitate getting the opiates into solution. Keep in mind you have to drink this later, so use the minimum amount of water and/or citric acid you can as poppy wash tastes foul. Actually you could probably use heaps of water if you evaporate a lot of water at the end although I'm not sure how stable the opiates would be when heated. The amount of alkaloid can vary greatly and as I mentioned earlier seeds seem to be washed a lot better than they used to. Probably best to start with 200g or so and work your way up. Be warned that people have died by using too much and also regular use can lead to addiction.

[Vagdevi]

I've heard that people have grown supermarket bought seeds very succesfully and the plants are high alkaloid tas plants. I've also heard that there are low alkaloid producing plant seeds being sold in supermarkets which would give a shit final product. Anyone know the facts on this?

[markcond]

I've heard that people have grown supermarket bought seeds very succesfully and the plants are high alkaloid tas plants. I've also heard that there are low alkaloid producing plant seeds being sold in supermarkets which would give a shit final product. Anyone know the facts on this?

I think it varies from brand to brand how well the seeds have been sterilised and washed. I've been told that even seeds of one brand can vary greatly in potency at various times, probably due to seasonal availability. Vagdev, how long ago was it these people had great success growing them? as I think they are processed more thoroughly than they used to be, although I have no direct evidence of this, only hearsay. My friend only uses ones he gets from a Health Food store as he thinks they are the "least spoilt", but it could be in his head

There's an article on the web I'll try to find which deals with poppy seeds in Australia.

From what I've read the Tassie "high alkaloid" poppies have been bred to produce more unpleasant effects that your average P.somn. This doesn't worry the people producing the medicine, it just makes for a very nauseating poppy wash, though maybe OK to smoke.

Edited August 30, 2008 by markcond

[Conan Troutman]

I think it varies from brand to brand how well the seeds have been sterilised and washed. I've been told that even seeds of one brand can vary greatly in potency at various times, probably due to seasonal availability. Vagdev, how long ago was it these people had great success growing them? as I think they are processed more thoroughly than they used to be, although I have no direct evidence of this, only hearsay. My friend only uses ones he gets from a Health Food store as he thinks they are the "least spoilt", but it could be in his head

There's an article on the web I'll try to find which deals with poppy seeds in Australia.

From what I've read the Tassie "high alkaloid" poppies have been bred to produce more unpleasant effects that your average P.somn. This doesn't worry the people producing the medicine, it just makes for a very nauseating poppy wash, though maybe OK to smoke.

In 95% of cases seed will be viable but lets not forget growing plants would make your activities ILLEGAL.

The opium latex is present on the seed from processing. A lot of seed it also imported so depending on these factor each batch (not brand) can be very different in it alkaloid profile, the quality of can generally be seen (if you know what your looking for)

and there is NO WAY GSK would allow their patented plants in the public arena

do really need more info on PST? im sure this have been covered numerous times..GOOGLE is a great search engine ey

[Vagdevi]

and there is NO WAY GSK would allow their patented plants in the public arena

I'm assuming that these patented plants are the high thebaine/low Morphine producing plants?

It would make sense that they wouldn't allow them on the spice racks seeing as there patented. At least not without sterilizing them.

[MindExpansion]

Ummm I think they are actually likely to be the high morphine plants, because GSK (Glaxo SmithKline) is a pharmaceutical company.

Peace

[nabraxas]

Ummm I think they are actually likely to be the high morphine plants, because GSK (Glaxo SmithKline) is a pharmaceutical company.

the normal tazzie seeds are selectively bred to be ov high morphine content, the patented Norman strain is bred to be low/no morphine high thebaine.

Thebaine is ov great use to the pharma industry as it is converted into a variety of compounds including codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, nalbuphine, naloxone, naltrexone, buprenorphine and etorphine.

Tasmanian Alkaloid researchers used mutagenesis to isolate a plant which stopped alkaloid development at thebaine rather than morphine. They were able to work out how to check en masse the latex of many plants - 1000 plants each week - which left the plant intact and viable. They then propagated this variety.

(This is the first time a variety of poppy has been developed that stops the alkaloid development at thebaine and it has received wide acclaim.)

The thebaine strain differs from the morphine strain by one just one recessive gene.

Much of the Tasmanian crop is now given over to this variant.

http://forum.poppies.org/index.php?showtop...mp;#entry140645

Edited September 5, 2008 by nabraxas

[MindExpansion]

Interesting