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I searched every forum and could find ONE reference to poppies-oriental ones. I decided to grow these Iceland poppies from seed, mostly because in my area (10) they can be planted this late and still have blossoms by autumn. The amalgamation of several websites indicated that you can grow them in containers, they like a very rich soil/compost mixture, direct sun, and don't let them dry out.

I put rich soil, compost, and a tiny little bit of fertilizer in a reused plastic lunch meat container that I punched holes in the bottom of for drainage. I spread the reddish colored tiny seed on top, as the packet directed, placed it in the sun and I keep it moist. My concern is that I saw this spot on the soil that kind of looked like sand, which was not part of the mixture. So, I kind of smooshed it lightly and it was like grey colored clay. Am I growing myself an inedible fungal container here? Has anyone grown Iceland Poppies from seed?

Likely I'm just being a worry wort (is there such a plant?) and I just need to keep waiting-it's only been about 6 days, and the packet had germination time from 6 days to 14-and those are usually only approximations, but I'm kind of fumbling in the dark here-I've never grown flowers before. No, I do not have a yard. Anyone got any clue about these????

Sorry you didn't get a response. I'm not familiar with Iceland poppies. It sounded like you were doing everything per directions. Did your seeds ever sprout?

Rich soil and compost, kept moist as you have to for seeds on the surface, can easily start growing some mold. It's not a problem and you can just scrape it off.

My only concern here is -- are they like bread seed poppies at all? Because I remember with those, they are sown at earliest opportunity in spring and prefer to germinate in cooler temperatures.

Yes! My Papaver nudicuale finally sprouted! I had almost given up hope! I was so excited when I saw the first seedling you would have thought I actually invented them! They do like cooler temps, but hey-it's San Francisco. We've been in the low 60's for over a week-today was the first sun in a while. I've got about 3 that are definitely on their way. A few more that are growing...I think they are good. And, two more in the seed pan have come up after I pricked the seedlings into their permanent home. Poppies, it seems dislike being transplanted, so it's best (I find out later) to sow in the home they are to stay in. Anyway, I got a great survival rate.

I'm a little concerned-with all of my plantlings- about this thing called "damping off" which, from the context means "dropping dead" but I'm having a hard time finding out the particulars-what causes it, how to prevent it. That kind of thing. I'm careful about top watering, and make sure no one gets "damped" into the dirt and left there. Is that all there is to it?

BTW-I did read "Starting Seeds For Newbies." It was well written, I appreciate the time taken to do it, the set up is really fantastic and well thought out and simply isn't possible for me. I have to work with what I've got, which is a lot, really, and I never forget to be grateful, but, I am not going to kid myself.

Based on these 2 responses, I'm thinking there are not many folks out here into poppies. Too bad, I was hoping to start a poppy forum. The genera is huge, and really varied, so I thought maybe there would be others interested. The ephemeral nature of some of the species is part of the charm. A whole season, maybe even more for a spectacular bloom that may last only a few days. But there are also our CA wildflowers. They are a little more hardy. I'm wondering why the seeds I planted from collected ripe seed pods are not doing anything. The E. californicum in most of the sub species likes sunny spots-so the thing that allowed the others sprout may be the very thing keeping these down. So it goes. We sometimes get summer weather into November, so as long as it's not all blocked off by buildings, I should be good.


Thanks for responding, and I'll let you know how it goes-if I manage to get any blooms and their colors.

Writing from the heart of the city,

Shawna