Lads, recently I've gotten in some seeds of a few different strains and I'm not sure how well they'll grow at this time of year in the area I'm living in. To clarify, they're the same sort of plant but the seeds apparently come from different parts of the world, (Or so I judge from the names), and neither have a climate similar to mine. I'm not much of a gardener and I'm somewhat lost. It's of utmost importance to me that they flower well. I was considering possibly growing them inside but the cost of lights, etc seems prohibitive.
Basically I'm lost in all sorts of ways and I need help.
No, something quite different. I've discovered that the soil I live on is shit and the climate I live in is terrible for the plants. Also, they don't take well to growing inside.
>>1955 If you're growing something which, for whatever reason, you're unwilling to name for, say, legal reasons you may want to take this to /A/. Otherwise, find an equivalent (I mentioned tomatoes for a reason) so we have at least some idea what you might need. Do they come from warmer or colder climates than yours? Wetter or drier? Do they grow in sandy clay and all you have is mulch and compost? Give us something to go on, otherwise it's impossible to help you.
I'm growing some plants from Tasmania and apparently Denmark. I live in the subtropics, where it's hot, humid and sunny for the grand majority of the year. The sun is apparently good for them but from what I can tell, if exposed to too much moisture, the results will be lacklustre at best. The main area where they're grown is the highlands of Asia, and and I live on an island at sea level. They also like the cold and it's never cold here.
Before my house was built the ground needed to be leveled, so they dumped a bunch of rocks and whatever as the foundation. I can't find a place where I can dig more than a few inches with a shovel, and the roots for these plants apparently get up to three feet. Apparently the soil should be granular.
>>1958 You can fix the soil problem with raised beds, which'll easily give you enough depths and also gives you complete control over the soil's composition. Depending on size this is not a small undertaking, mind, as getting enough soil to fill even a small-ish one is a serious undertaking in a situation like yours where you can't "borrow" much topsoil from the surrounding area. Please please do make sure you read up on drainage for these things, though, mostly because root rot is no fun but also because it seems you need to control moisture in the soil some. If rain is over-watering your crop, consider getting poly tarp to keep the rain off as much as possible.
Temperature, unfortunately, is very difficult to control. Short of setting up an air-conditioned green house there isn't much you can do about it.
If you confirm I'll give you my experiences in growing them gained from growing them for years. Additionally if they are no need for furtiveness as there is NO legal restriction on growing them in your yard (somewhat surprisingly)
>>1961 The point where you score the bud to extract the opium
I suppose if you were to go screaming about 'growing my own opium' all over facebook the authorities might come and take a look but simply growing opium poppies is legal
TBH poppies will grow almost in spite of you, they really are very easy to grow in the UK.
To get a head start on the weather I would sow mine in peat pots around mid Feb with an eye to planting out mid March. Poppies will not tolerate being transplanted in the traditional way (being pricked out) so I would just plant the peat pots out whole. Sow the seed on the surface and mist the peat with a water mister, the seeds have a very good germination rate so one seed to pot only, additionally planting a few seeds then teasing out the weaker ones might result in disturbing the root of the one you want to keep, which as said above, they will not tolerate.
They will grow in pretty much any soil, even very poor soils, although to do well they require a full sun position. They grow fine in tubs as well. Water only in very dry spells and usually dont require any fertilizer.
They can grow surprisingly tall so if you live in a windy area make sure they have some wind protection.
All in all they pretty much take care of there selves.
>>1965 I wonder if growing poppies on my allotment would attract a lot of attention. I know they're perfectly legal, though I would have to mind to harvest them. I suppose it'd be very obvious that I'd scraped the bulbs to anyone with half a bit of knowledge.. Would that be enough reason to po-po to come knocking at my door?
Hypothetically, of course.
Growing poppies on an allotment strikes me as a daft idea, your fellow allotment tenders would more than likely know what they are and if you start harvesting there is a high probability of a shit fit being thrown.
If your lucky they will just pull them all up and tell you to sling your hook, if your unlucky they will call dibble with an additional strong likely hood of you featuring in a hysterical media story.
Just grow them in tubs, or do you really not have any yard/garden/flat balcony?
