You can easily obtain poppy seeds from your own plants. Do not cut back your poppies after flowering, then the seed pods can ripen. The seeds are ripe when they come out of the pod with a little shaking.
After flowering, the poppy forms seed pods
Collect seeds yourself
The poppy sows itself after flowering, or you collect the seeds that have just ripened to sow them elsewhere. If you don't want to sow immediately, keep the seeds in a cool, dry place. You should then use these seeds next year. If you sow later, the germination capacity may be considerably lower.
buy seeds
Of course, you can also buy poppy seeds in stores, just like seeds for other types of poppies. Here you even have the choice between different color variants. Because there are now cultivated forms of the wild poppy, for example white poppy or flowers in delicate pink tones.
Sow poppies
It is best to sow the poppies right where you want them to grow. Because it gets long taproots, the young plants cannot be pricked out particularly well. You can start sowing as early as March, but you can also wait until flowering in May or June. This is the time when the poppy seeds itself.
Corn poppies germinate relatively easily. The soil should be permeable and the location should be in full sun if possible. Mix the seeds with some sand to make them easier to scatter. Sow directly outdoors and cover the seeds only with a little soil.
The seeds should always be kept slightly moist during the germination period. The first seedlings appear after about one to two weeks. The ideal germination temperature is around 15 - 20 °C. Only water the young plants when they are particularly dry.
The essentials in brief:
- Buy or collect seeds
- Cultivated forms in different colors
- sow directly at the later location
- cover only a little with soil
- Keep seeds slightly moist
tips and tricks
Corn poppy is an annual plant and must be sown every year if it is not allowed to seed itself.