You should be aware of this

Obtain permission to grow opium poppies

Basically, the unauthorized Cultivation of opium poppies Can be punished by law with prison terms of up to five years and / or fines, although in practice this rarely happens - at least with isolated plants in the wild respectively. in the garden. Still, you should be in front of a sowing Obtain the necessary approval from the Federal Opium Agency in order to be on the safe side in case of doubt. However, the permit is subject to a fee (EUR 75 for private applicants in 2016) and is only granted for a limited time. The application can be completed online.

Sow opium poppies and other types of poppy

Have you finally obtained the required approval, you can use the opium poppy seeds Apply directly outdoors between March and April. The following instructions for sowing apply not only to the opium poppy, but also to

many other types of poppies like for example Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas), Icelandic poppy (Papaver nudicaule) or Turkish poppy (Papaver orientale).

Location and preparation

Poppy prefers a sunny, sheltered one Location in the garden respectively. in a planter on the balcony. Before sowing, prepare the soil thoroughly by digging up the area and topping it up with mature compost and, if necessary, sand. Any coarser crumbs of earth can be finely crumbled with a rake. The soil should be tilled a few days before sowing and the area should rest a little afterwards.

Sow poppy seeds

Now you can apply the two to three millimeter large poppy seeds directly to the field on a dry and warm day. Throw the fine seeds out broadly, but do not cover them with soil or only cover them very thinly - poppy seeds are one of the light germs. Keep the seed area slightly moist and protect it from birds and bad weather such as heavy rain. The plants will germinate within eight to ten days.