Opium
How To Harvest Opium
From Papaver Somniferum
Picture 1:
opium poppy flowering.
Picture 2:
after the petals have dropped.
Picture 3:
poppy ready for harvest.
Picture 4:
poppy releasing opium.
Harvesting means making shallow horizontal or vertical cuts to release opium from the seed capsule with a sharp blade (razor blade or x-acto knife will work).
The cuts should be less than one-sixteenth of an inch deep so they only slice into the first layer of the capsule. Do it all around the pod. As you do so, you will see little blobs of white coming out.
Leave the wounds to release opium for 3-6 hours. Then collect your opium. By now, the white blobs will have turned into yellow/brown blobs that can be scraped off and collected on a blunt putty knife or something similar. Learn more about growing opium here.
images from the back cover of opium poppy garden
please link to this page, not directly to the images
Related Books Hydroponic Heroin: Grow Opium Poppies Without Soil
Although this book is out of print, it is worth getting if you can find it for a good price. It shows how to grow opium poppies with a hydroponic set up. From how to sprout the seeds and care for the plants to harvesting. This is the book to get if you want to try growing the opium poppy indoors, in a hydroponic environment.
A short history of opium is presented along with the risks of addiction, pain of quitting, obtaining materials, laws, dosages, overdose antidotes and more. Shows how to harvest raw opium from the opium poppies you have grown and describes how to convert the opium to morphine or heroin.
Hydroponic Heroin
Opium Culture
Although the title makes it sound strictly like a history book, in addition this is a very good introduction to smoking opium that anyone who has access to opium (but isn't sure how to smoke it) should read.
Thorough instructions on how to prepare the opium for use and how to use an opium pipe for the purpose. Includes addiction, withdrawal and medical issues as well as cultural insights and a social history of opium.
Opium Culture
Opium for the Masses
This is the updated 2009 version of this book. It is nearly twice as long (over 190 pages) as the previous 100 page edition. A fairly comprehensive introduction to opium, it takes you through the history, chemistry, use, cultivation, harvesting, storage, and other aspects of opium.
There is enough information about how to grow and harvest opium poppies for this to be used as a grow guide. For someone not interested in growing poppies, the book has good info on how to extract opioids from legally obtainable sources.
Opium for the Masses
Opium Poppy Garden
A good small book (less than 100 pages). Part one is a novel about an opium grower. The second part of the book shows (using black and white photos and illustrations) how to cultivate and harvest the opium poppy outdoors with traditional tools that are easy to make and use.
Although less than 20 pages are about growing opium, it contains enough info to be used as a single introductory opium grow guide. If you grow poppies this book might be worth the price just for the page about how to harvest the opium capsule so it provides a maximum yield.
Opium Poppy Garden