STUNTED GROWTH? WEAK STEMS? POPPIES FLOPPED OVER & APPEAR UNHEALTHY?
How Floppy Young Poppies will Thrive…
JUST, Later in Life!
How many of you have been able to get Poppies to Sprout, but then…..Nothing!?
SOLUTION?
The First main Variables would be:
- Temperature – Must be between 35º and 65º Degrees (ºF) for Germination
- Light – Must have FULL SUN (for at least a few hours per day)
- Space – Over-Crowding is bad during the sprouting stage – You must Thin Them down to just one every 12″-18″ Eventually
This is something many people struggle with and is VITAL information, so I’m adding it to the Tutorial. As we all know, poppies grow Pods full of Seeds once mature. Therefore, they can become Top-Heavy and they need to be able to withstand heavy winds without breaking because their Seeds take 2 to 4 Weeks to mature inside the Pod after flowering, but ONLY if the Plant is still ROOTED with Stem IN TACT.
SO WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS??
Because the above info is the reason why Poppies create for themselves an extra 1/2″ length of Stem towards the base which may make them appear to “lay down” or “Flop Over” during the Seedling stages. Some people panic and cover this additional length stem by adding more soil at the base.
STOP!! THIS WILL COMPLETELY STUNT THEIR GROWTH!
The additional length of Stem, creates a “hinge-like” effect at the base of the stem so their Stems won’t Snap before their Seeds get a chance to mature. This also helps them to reproduce in Nature -so when the Rains come, and the Pods get too heavy from the water weight, any remaining seeds inside the pod await, on the ground, for nature to take it’s Course.
10/05/2016 @ 7:51 am
I am having the problem you describe in your page, but my plants always die.
I have tried Papaver somniferum 3 years in a row. Varieties “Danish flag” and “Hen & Chickens”, but they all die after a few weeks of growth.
A number of years ago, I succeeded in growing one specimen of Hen & Chickens in a pot to flowering and seed-setting. I don’t remember what type of soil I used, and whether or not I put vermiculite into it, but I haven’t had vermiculite to use for the last 10 years.
Stems are incredibly spindly, and seem much thinner than needed to support the massive plant above it.
When seeds of these varieties are strewn on ground where another Papaver species naturally grows, no seedlings seem to appear.
What am I doing wrong?
I have included some pictures of growth, including as the plants begin to die.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581eDJtdkx1NGVkVzQ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581N2lGRFgweDIxS1k
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581WnpJendxaUhLSUE
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581cERJXy1fWFdjbUU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581X2dKdnYzRmhaajQ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581UTB6WWxBNTZIS0E
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpuOoOfg581Zm5WTklNam0xNVE
Thank you.
05/09/2018 @ 5:44 pm
It appears that you’re thinning them, but transplanting the ones you Thinned out.
Poppies don’t Transplant.
But Thin them, and throw out them ones you thin out.
The others will appear to LAY FLAT at first, but they will rebound in a couple days.
01/12/2017 @ 10:36 am
Hello.
So sorry for my late reply.
I got an email notification of your reply on november 24th 2016, but I can’t find in here on the site. In fact, I can’t even find the letter you responded to. It said:
“8 Weeks is more than half way to full Maturity, so that means they’re dying off when in the Cabbage Stage?
The only explanation for that would be:
-Too hot
-Not enough Sunlight
-Not enough Spacing
-Or Disease/Root Rot
Those are the main things that could effect them at this stage.
-OrgBot”
I would just like to thank you. I am still confused, and don’t know what is wrong, but I will try this year to buy some vermiculite to make the soil more aerated, and try once more with a couple of strains.
Thank you.
01/26/2017 @ 8:33 pm
In your last Photo HERE, I can tell that they are WAY over crowded.
You want to have only ONE Plant in that size pot at that stage.
They can sense what’s around them, and won’t go to maturity unless they know they can.
Haven’t you seen my Single Poppy that grew over 75+ Blooms & Pods?? (Just search “Hungarian Blue”)
So they need more room from each other, but they also need to be in a bigger pot (5 gallon MINIMUM for a SINGLE Plant.)
Thanks!!
01/24/2017 @ 3:12 am
I appreciate your patience in teaching these tips to us. I haven’t sewn poppy seeds for a few years. I like your potted plant method, and am already gathering perlite, miracle gro, etc.. so I will be ready to plant when my order from organicalbotanicals arrives. Can’t wait to get started. Again, excellent growing tips. Will send pics of my mature plants in time!
04/15/2018 @ 10:27 am
My poppies are shriveling up and starting to die at the cabbage stage, almost 8 weeks, and are very small. Why could this be? I know its not over watering, and yes, they are a little bit over crowded, but over crowding shouldnt cause them to die, just stunt growth right? The spot I have them in only gets about 2-3 hours of direct sunlight a day, which is why I figure they are small, but the leaves are starting to turn black at the ends and crumble, and some of the leaves are shriveling up. The only thing that I can think of is that it is too hot. I am in southern California; could this be why? Can poppies be grown in hot weather, lets say 80’s and 90’s? Thanks in advance!
Dan
04/17/2018 @ 11:00 am
If you could snap a Photo of them, upload them to any Free Photo Share App (flickr, pinterest, tumblr, imgur, etc) and then COPY/PASTE the Link in your Comment, that would help me a lot).
But if you scroll through our TUTORIALS on our BLOG, we offer the answer to every question ever asked.
Temps in the 80’s-90’s can Kill them instantly, but there are ways to get around that, such as giving them Shade during the PEAK TEMPS of the Day, watering them with ICE CUBES at their Base, etcetc.
See our “Late Bloomers“ tutorial too.
Thanks!
07/06/2018 @ 9:48 pm
Help! My poppies have flowered and I now have many pods starting in on their 3rd week of growth but the pods don’t seem to be growing much bigger like they should and the leaves are dying from the bottom on upwards. I’m growing them in large pots in a greenhouse and the temperature never gets over 85 degrees F. Also, some of the pods appear to be turning whitish in color too.
07/07/2018 @ 5:44 pm
1-) “the pods don’t seem to be growing much bigger like they should and the leaves are dying from the bottom on upwards”:
-POD SIZE: Mainly has to do with Plant Size, Nutrients, and Water- Poppies require LOTS of nutrients (high in NITROGEN) for best results. (YES, even during Flowering).
-You want to continue watering them and giving them nutrients throughout their Flower/pod Stage until they’ve completely dried up.
2)-BROWNING (yellowing) Lower leaves: Are totally Natural at this stage. Eventually, it’ll work it’s way up the entire plant, and that’s when your pod’s seeds will be mature.
3)- “I’m growing them in large pots…”: Pots will always reduce Size of anything u plant. Try growing directly in the ground for best results.
4)- “…in a greenhouse and the temperature never gets over 85 degrees F.”:
-That seems wrong. Take a Pic of a Thermometer during peak Daylight and tell me what it says. Then, measure the Temp of the SOIL (which may even be hotter, since it’s dark in color) since it radiates heat. But, A Greenhouse- is NOT something I’d recommend- Even if u lived in ALASKA right now, a Greenhouse would make it WAY too hot for Poppies this time of year) since Poppies are a Cool-Temp Plant.
5)- “Also, some of the pods appear to be turning whitish in color too”.
They develop a White Faint Film on them for the first couple weeks, then will continue to mature into a DEAD POD (that’s a good thing- it means your seeds are ready). Some mature more Brown-ish in color. Some turn intona lighter color.
-Shake the pod. If it rattles, it’s ready.
Somniferum poppies are Annuals. So they die each year.
If you want, take pics, upload them to any Public Image Site (Flickr, Pinterest, Facebook, Imgr, PhotoBucket etc.), grab their Links and Paste them into your Comment!
THANKS!
07/07/2018 @ 7:54 pm
I have a evaporative cooler that regulates the temperature inside the greenhouse and without it the temps would easily soar up to 106 d. F. and higher where I live.. I’ve seen other pictures of potted poppies and their pods look larger than mine. I believe I found out how to grow healthier potted pops and if it proves successful, I’ll comment about it here. Thanks for your comments…
03/17/2021 @ 6:44 am
Hi, my name is Jamie. I”m growing somniferum poppies for the first time and they seem to be doing great, except for the seemingly shriveled tips of the inner leaves. I will post a photo later.
Is that what they’re supposed to look like? W/out the pics, I will just describe it as a shriveled up looking inner leaves. Thanks!
07/04/2021 @ 2:26 pm
Please upload a Pic to imgur.com (no account needed) , and paste the Image Link here.
Thanks!!!