The perfect place to seed your passion for poppies.

Here at TweeFancy Seed Store we love nothing more than seeing beautiful plants burst into flower from seed.

This poppy grows to only about 24" tall Himalayan poppy is the favorite of the home gardener and some are hard to find. These types of poppies offer some of the most wonderful looking bright blooms of any poppy. When we plant these we put them on a moist paper towel and put them in the fridge for about a week and then we plant them. We put them into 4" pots when they are about 3" tall these do very well for us.


How to Grow Blue Poppy Seeds

Note ∗ Seed count is approx. I weigh them out so they may be a few more or less. I try to err on the + side.

These poppies are annuals, which means they grow, flower, and fruit in one season, then die. They generally like cool weather best. Barely cover the papaver somniferum seeds, and sow sparsely so you will have less to thin. The papaver somniferum seeds will germinate in 10-28 days and do best when the soil temperature is coolish, 60-65 degrees F (or air temperature of 55 degrees F). They will not grow if it is too warm. I have gotten the papaver somniferum seeds to germinate at 80 degrees F., although they obviously don't like it. What works better if it's warm is to plant them in peat pellets as usual and then put them in the refrigerator for a week or 2. They will not germinate in there, but when you take them out, they will germinate en masse. This is a great way to get them around germinating in warm weather.

Thin seedlings by cutting off the tops with a scissors, leaving only the 2 or 3 healthiest looking per peat pellet. Pot them up pellet and all when they at least have their first true leaves, which are the second pair. I usually let my plants go until small roots are coming out the bottom or sides of the pellet.

While the papaver somniferum seeds are just coming up, watch out for damping off (fungus); if this happens, they suddenly keel over in unison. To avoid this, make sure they get air circulation (you can use a slow fan on the sprouts, which will strengthen stems also) and that they are not sopping wet. Another way to avoid damping off and build strong stems is to just lightly brush your hand over the tops of the plants every day. Most plants enjoy human contact.

Pot in soil that is not too heavy; mix sand, vermiculite, peat moss in if the soil is full of clay. Garden soil is too heavy for pot-bound plants. I get the best results with high quality potting soil, like Scott's, with some Black Cow Composted Manure (it doesn't smell) and a bit of sand. If you want good plants, it is worth it to invest in good soil.

Poppies can be grown indoors with lights (but keep temps cool). Papaver somniferum seeds can be sown in fall or early winter, or they can grow indoors in a cool sunny room (a sunporch is great). Outside, grow them in full sun and good soil that is not too wet. They will also grow well outside during the winter in the Deep South.

Poppies hybridize easily. If you do not exclude the pollen of other varieties, and you save the papaver somniferum seeds from year to year, eventually you will get more and more poppies of the dominant types--single-petaled mauve and white. If you want to preserve the seeds of a particular strain, then choose your biggest or earliest or healthiest, and as soon as the bud begins to open, cover it with a light cheesecloth or cheap muslin sack, the type used for small amounts of potpourri or tea, or just make one from a bit of thin, white cloth. Tie lightly. Some people use little paper bags; others clip the petals closed. This is just to keep the bees off. Replace them when it rains so the plant doesn't get waterlogged. Take it off every day to fertilize the flower by brushing the pollen from the stamens (wiry things) to the ovary (in the center) lightly with an artist's paintbrush. When the petals fall, you can take the sack off, and the seeds produced by that pod should be the pure strain.

You can use this same technique to make your own hybrids, taking pollen from one type and putting it on another, which you cover in order to exclude all other pollen. What you get will be a mixed bag, but that is the fun of hybridizing. If you get something you really like, make sure to keep that plant self-fertilized until you get a good dependable seed for it.

Fruiting plants (which includes producing a papaver somniferum seeds pod) need more sun than any other kind of plant. Keep this in mind if trying to grow poppies for their papaver somniferum seed pods indoors. You will need very good growing lights to get decent "fruit" production.

Again, seeds need to be pre-chilled in the frig for a week or 2 or planted outside when it's chilly or you won't get good results. If chilling in the frig,

don't leave them too long in a plastic bag or they may rot or get moldy in the bag from condensation, best to use a cheap white mailing envelope

or folded up in paper... or in peat pots as mentioned above. Good results also if planted outside in late autumn or early winter (no pre-chilling in frig needed).

------------------------------------
Thanks for shopping with us! Happy Planting!
HAPPY PLANTING!

For more check us out here!!
http://exoticgarden.ecrater.com/