POPPY GROWING INFORMATION:

Growing information

Papaver

GROWING POPPIES

Poppies can be very easy to grow as long as you follow a few pointers, as perennial poppies like Papaver bracteatum and Papaver orientale are robust and just about indestructible, the annual Papaver somniferum ‘Opium poppy’ can be very fragile and a little more demanding.

They are two good times of the year to sow poppy seeds, after September to the end of October, this only work if you receive mind winters. Poppies are frost hardy to a certain degree, but if they receive hard frost after frost week after week, they will perish. That said if you can manage to over winter them, autumn sown plants make way bigger and better plants than spring sown ones. Late winter to late spring are the next best times, I start on the first of March and sow up until the end of May. Different verities of Papaver somniferum respond differently to later sowing, all poppies aim to flower around the longest month of the year, so the later you leave the sowing, the smaller your plants will be, the most sensitive verities are the Afghan and Indian types, these really do need to be sown early, I have had May sown Afghan and Indian poppies grow no more than 6” high, which were very disappointing.

Poppies are best grown outside in situ; they need a rich neutral to slightly alkaline soil to do best and absolutely resent root disturbance. Select a weed free patch of soil in full to part shade, all poppy seeds need to be surface sown; this means that they need to be in contact with the moist soil and be still in sight of the light, the seeds need only need to be pressed into the soil, not buried.  Germination will only take place if the temperature rises above 15 °C, keep moist and weed free, and protect the small seedling from slugs and birds.

Once the seedlings have reached 1 – 2” in height, they need thinning, again this will depend on the verity of poppy you grow, for example Asian Smooth Pod and Bush poppies can be spaced 2’ apart and Afghan and Pharmaceutical type can be spaced 4 – 6” apart, the general rule is the closer the plants the taller and weedier they will be. Water regularly, keep weed free and protect the lager plants from strong winds, gales will rip your poppies to bits and snap off lager plants at ground level just before they flower, this is practically depressing.

Happy growing and enjoy their beauty

Solanaceae

Cold Hardy Solanaceae [Henbane and nightshades]

All seeds from this species will need a cold treatment or a soak in GA3 before they will successfully germinate. Seeds can either be mixed with a little damp sand in a sealed bag and placed in the fridge for 4-6 weeks or you could try soaking the seeds in a solution of GA3, which can be found on eBay and other online retailers, this works really well with many plants of the Solanaceae family.

Nicotiana

Nicotiana seeds will usually germinate within 10 days. Seeds will normally only germinate with light so surface sow. Sow Nicotiana seeds on the surface of a well-drained seed sowing mix at between 15°C - 22°C.

Scutellaria

Scutellaria lateriflora

Seeds will usually germinate within 14 days; even under good conditions germination may be erratic. Sow seeds about 1 mm deep in a well-drained seed sowing mix at about 10°C.

Convolvulus

Convolvulus tricolor

Seeds will usually germinate in 5-14 days, Sow seeds about 13mm deep in a well-drained seed sowing mix at between 15°C - 25°C.

[Seeds can be Chip or soaked to aid germination, but I don’t think it’s necessary.]

SILENE

SILENE CAPENSIS [syn. Silene undulata]

The seeds will do best if you just lightly press the seeds into the soil, but try not to bury them as they need bright light to germinate, 20°C or above and keep moist and humid, watch out for greenfly and slugs as they really like the taste of this plant.