Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: Ben on April 02, 2013, 01:10 am
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Just curious: has anyone on here attempted to grow somniferum poppies?
It seems to be the right time of year to start them, so i've put some seed onto soil today. As far as i know they are proper somniferum seeds, though the resulting plants will be to prove that ultimately. If all is well they should grow and mature over 2 to 3 months, and be harvetable by that time.
Do any of you have any experience growing and harvesting them? To me this is just something to try on a very small scale, no intent on commercial distribution or anything like that. As i live in the netherlands i'm starting them indoors, and i wonder if there is any serious chance of harvesting morphine from them once they mature.
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They grow like weeds in Seattle. It takes quite a bit to get to where you want.
Proper drainage of soil, regular watering, and don't try and transplant them.
Let them do their thing. The less you tend to them, the less likely you are to piss them off.
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They grow like weeds. Easy .
I notice the potency of the pods and sap really differs throughout the season and from plant to plant. I never could get any smokable opium, it was always too much latex in it. Like burning rubber taste.
It made good tea though. I went to the hospital vomiting violently over and over for a few days after eating a few fresh pods. Not sure what happened , but the doctor said the cocktail of alkaloids caused stomache seizure . Not even OD either. Anyway, make good tea with it.
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Poppies love sunshine. Keep the seeds of the biggest pods, so next harvest will be better. Dry the pods out before you make tea.
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As i am in the netherlands it will be entirely up to the weather here. I'm starting them indoors in any case since it can freeze at night here until about halfway into may. I can keep them indoors in pots, outdoors in pots or outdoors in soil - i suppose i'll try a few plants on all of those options since the weather can be very unpredictable here. I have south and west facing windows as well as access to soil that receives a fair amount of sunlight from both directions.
I just wonder about the best way to harvest opiates though. Once they do end up as seed buds, what would be the best way to go about this? In commericial production they milk the bulbs by scouring them and collecting the sap that drips from the cuts, which seems reasonable enough.
I suppose i could use other methods too though: i'm fairly well experienced in organic chemistry and using lab equipment. This may not be the most efficient method of going about things, but then again, i do not have football pitch sized pieces of land to work with either. To me it would be more important to get the most out of a single plant, but harvest the maximum amount per acre on the long run.
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Well, just stay away from the acetic anhydride additions unless you want to take it there.
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I came here because I think growing puppies just takes having sex with dogs so I was going to tell you that. I didn't realize this is a thread on growing poopies. I'm pretty sure you just need to have decent size meal or two.
Ok, I'm sorry but I really couldn't resist. Plus, I really thought that's what the title said at first. I can only suppress my immature side sometimes. Good luck with your project.