[Betterhaff]

Originally Posted by Douglas.Curtis

There are a couple poppy plants growing in my town. I've looked at them and the stems are not smooth like those photos, they're completely covered in long hairy trichomes. Not resin filled, more like fiber.

Those are probably Oriental poppies. The whole plant is covered with them, they almost look "furry". And they are perennials. Opium poppies are relatively naked for lack of a better term and are annuals but if established in suitable conditions will come up from seed year to year.

Nice pics HazeOil. I see you have some hens and chicks.

[Douglas.Curtis]

Originally Posted by Betterhaff

Those are probably Oriental poppies. The whole plant is covered with them, they almost look "furry". And they are perennials. Opium poppies are relatively naked for lack of a better term and are annuals but if established in suitable conditions will come up from seed year to year.

No, don't think that's the case. (Checked google images and they don't look like oriental poppies at all)

There are also some completely different, red poppies, over in Breckenridge, same hairy stems. They're the classic, poppy looking poppy flower. Nearly all the flowers around here have hairier stems than you'd normally see.

It's generally around 20%-25% RH here.

[Phaeton]

Back in 2012 I did a pictorial on indoor Poppy growing. It was on a rather liberal European forum and several subjects were discussed which are forbidden here.
But.
Ornamental poppies can be ordered online and are legal.

So I will do a simple photo set as a group of Dwarf Danish Flag ornamental poppies are grown in a marijuana garden. As mentioned by another member, the cycle is reversed. The poppies are sprouted and vegged in the bud room.
Previous experience shows poppies liking almost half again as much light as cannabis. The numbers for full spectrum light used here is 1100 umol at the top of the plants. Marijuana gets 850 umol.

I grow the Dwarf Danish Flag for several reasons, one is the flowers which are an exact duplicate of the Danish flag, a Tasmanian strain was bred with colorful dwarf varieties until the flag motif showed up. Another reason is it can be grown indoors as the height remains under four feet. And lastly, the plant is generous with pods, up to forty on a 'perfect storm' plant, the pods averaging 1-1/2 inches diameter containing tan seeds that go well in muffins.

The photos start up close with mist still on the baby leaves, and end with all the lights (and the edges of marijuana) showing. All the side lighting becomes important later when the pods go upright.

EDIT: Found an old 2013 photo of a siamesed pod with double the petals.

[therevverend]

Tasmania grows 50% of the world's pharmaceutical opium. The Powers That Be decided it is so isolated it would be hard for organized crime and smugglers to divert some of the production to the illegal market. Before that Turkey and India among other places had an ancient tradition, families who had farmed opium for hundreds of years. These people lost their livelihood to hide the world's dirty little secret.
Now the pharmaceutical companies could buy the opium from Afghanistan. The US is already protecting the opium producing farmers. Why not offer them a fair price and bypass the cartels? I'm sure the farmers in Tasmania get paid more for their opium then the Afghan farmers make for theirs. Doubt it will happen. UNunited Nations.

[Mikell]

Two different supply streams. Afghanistan is purely illicit and flows through Karachi.

Watched the port and border authorities clamp down a few years ago after the big post-Taliban boom.

Likely wanting more of a cut. Didn't go well for them.

[Phaeton]

Living 65 degrees North means most species gardened by mankind will not grow outside. Indoor growth is restrained by cost of electricity consumed versus harvest quantities.

The cultivation of indoor poppy plants from seed to harvest requires six kilowatt hours of energy for every milligram of equivalent extract. At local electric prices that worked out to $1500 USD per gram of product, far higher than any black market price for diverted name brand opiates.
Gardens cultivated near to the Bonneville Dam can expect $350 per gram costs.

Which brings the subject back to growing for ornamental purposes. A one and a quarter inch pod contains the equivalent of 4 mg morphine or 0.4 mg of oxycodone.
The average plant has ten to twenty pods and takes four months seed to pod. Indoor gardening of poppy plants will not support even a mild habit, it would require an acre.

This is the major reason it is still legal to grow poppies in a personal garden, it takes a few square miles to go commercial.

It took five days to get a serrated leaf, we are on our way.

[CaptainDankness]

All depends on the variety the Tasmanian ones are right up there but the lesser known Japanese ikkanshu poppy is supposed to be much stronger. Of course indoor growing would still not produce enough for profit.

[Easy7]

Poppies are far from legal to grow in the states. In my state it's an 8 year sentence for manufacturing plus whatever weight you get. 10 grams is considered bulk. So basically one plant (ya they aren't going to wait and dry it for you) and it's a bulk charge.

Real easy to hide them. They don't smell much and other than the colorful flowers, nobody thinks much about it. Indoors it's never going to be profitable. They yield less profit than the energy costs. Unless you have lot's and lot's of windows.

[Phaeton]

In Alaska they sell Bob's Red Mill poppy seeds in Fred Meyer (Kroger in the east) stores. Gardens with poppy pods that have not been lacerated are 100% legal.
I have accumulated over 10,000 viable seeds in the two years I grew poppies. I have a sister and two nieces that are police officers and a brother in law that is a state trooper.
My poppy plants are not against the law, my box of 400 pods was left in the open, none of the pods were scored and the half pound of seeds is completely legal as well.
If I occasionally ingest a pod instead of an aspirin, well, that I have to keep to myself. But growing the seeds for baking is OK and most states allow it.
I was going to say all states but Easy7 indicates they are illegal in his state. This sounds odd to me but I do not live there. Are poppy seed muffins and rolls illegal as well?

At two weeks old the sprouts are starting to show hairs and wavy leaves. It will take two months before flowering, at which time they will be taken from the bud room and put under 18/6 light schedule for pod development.

I originally grew Poppies solely because I was continually told they could not be grown inside. With friends growing both Coffee and Coca plants in Alaska I figured Poppies would be easier. They are.

[G.O. Joe]

Lancing = conviction that's what's up with that. Little old ladies are less likely to be lancing. The current price for dry pods on the internet is much higher than it was years ago.

Originally Posted by Phaeton

Are poppy seed muffins and rolls illegal as well?

(17) The term "narcotic drug" means any of the following whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:

(B) Poppy straw and concentrate of poppy straw.

(F) Any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subparagraphs (A) through (E).

(19) The term "opium poppy" means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seed thereof.

(20) The term "poppy straw" means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing.