It sounds like either low light or damping off disease. Poppies are one of those plants that do better if started where they are to be grown in the garden. Al

I try each year and never get my seedlings started inside to survive. Each year a few new ones come up around the parent plant outside and these do OK in place but don't like it if I try to move them.

calistoga-
It's not low light as they are in my greenhouse and I have good luck there with all kinds of plant starts. I've tried starting them twice: once in late spring and then last month. If it is a damping off problem, do you have any suggestions?

The number one cause of damping off is keeping the mix too wet. The next is keeping the seedlings too warm. You are dealing with a fungus that needs warm wet conditions with too little air circulation. As soon as germination takes place move your seedlings to a cooler place with better air circulation, and better light. If I want to grow poppies in the greenhouse I will plant them in paper pots, that can be planted as they are in the garden. Any more than one plant per pot is cut off with scissors. Al

You grew them in the greenhouse, while it was much too warm. They are a cool season perennial....
Mine are just now waking up, after the heat of summer, now that the soil temperature isn't as hot.
When you transplant, you'd have to be very careful not to break their scrawny necks, & plant deeper to support the rosette of leaves, or better yet, add some soil around the stems while in their pots & wait until they get a bit bigger & weather is cool enough & they are a bit more stout.

Otherwise, transplanted too soon, any high wind or heavy rain could easily break or fatally damage the tiny stems, aside from easily snapping them in two, simply in the act of trying to plant them deeper to support the leaves.

gringo-
I live in the Pacific NW where it is much cooler than your location...but, you may still be right that the greenhouse was too hot an environment. I actually did try, out of desperation, to put soil around the scrawny stems a week ago, and it seems to have helped. At least I haven't lost any. I've backed off on watering so much. The leaves are about 4" long now. I can tell the stems are still wobbly, but I may be making progress. Thanks for the input.

Arn't they illegal to have?

RE: Question about growing poppies from seed
Posted by kaotickelly none (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 7, 11 at 12:57

Arn't they illegal to have?

Some are. Some are not.

In general, if you are using poppy flowers for ornamental purposes or poppy seeds for food consumption purposes, no one is going to care. Even the poppy seeds you buy at the grocery store contain some levels of opiates, but, if you're not setting up a drug lab to process them, you don't need to worry.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poppies

No one has yet established what sort of poppies were being asked about. Papaver somniferum? (annual) Papver rhoeas hybrids?(annual) Papaver orientale? (perennial) Half a dozen colours suggests Papaver rhoeas.

But whichever they are none need to be in greenhouse in August. Neither of the annual types is keen on being transplanted so in situ sowing is best for them.

Only certain Poppies contain opiates, so therefore, only the opiate containing Poppies might be illegal to grow.

The Poppies you buy from the garden center do not usually contain opiates, and are simply ornamental plants, which are perfectly legal.

By the way, I also tried growing Poppies this year from a packet of Burpee seeds. I started them in early June/late May in the area where they were to be grown permanently, but not a one germinated, even though the Zinnia seeds planted right beside them in the same soil all came up.

I grown Shirley poppies and red peony poppies by winter sowing in Jan. this year. And they bloomed beautifully. See some of the pictures I uploaded couple monthes ago on http://www.howtovegetablegardening.com/winter-sown-flowers-blooming-pictures.html

I transplanted the seedlings when they were very small ( around 2 to 3 inches tall). Some I transplanted when they were 6 inches tall, they grew much smaller than the others.

Here is a link that might be useful: vegetable and flower gardening

"I started them in early June/late May in the area where they were to be grown permanently, but not a one germinated"
---- I believe poppy seeds need stratification, they need to go through a cold period to break the dormancy and then germinate.

Here is a link that might be useful: poppy flower pictures

winter sow them. poppies love it.

All poppies are legal to

You can grow china white poppies, tasmanian poppies, afghan poppies , whatever poppy in the USA legally. Even if the DEA is your neighbor... Now you cannot harvest the opium or you're going to be going to the big house for 7 to 15 years. Grow them for there aesthetics NOT anesthetics! plus they make delicious seeds for my famous burger

A couple of people on here said that they are illegal and I hear that alot

They ”Papaver somniferum” are legal to buy seeds and to grow illegal to use for opium, smoking or making tea I planted a few with some coneflowers and bachelor buttons for a pretty and useful flower garden we use seeds to cook with and the spent pods can be left for out for the birds lol