Propagation: WS Poppies & transplant problems, 1 by kqcrna

kqcrna wrote:
Marie: this transplanting poppies thing keeps popping up and I'm feeling like a broken record. I had tons of beautiful poppies last year, all transplanted by hos, and I don't think I lost a single one. They were beautiful.

What about the ones you lost last year? Were they WS? How were they sown, in peat pots or peat discs? How big were they when transplanted? Do you know the date?

Mine had been sown in regular old potting mix and planted out hos, early , before the weather got too warm. It was WAY before the last frost date. My record keeping was very poor but I do have a record that I started planting out poppies on March 30. (Our late frost date is somewhere around May 15). They were transplanted with only 1 or 2 sets of true leaves, probably an inch or 2 tall. The taproots are not a problem at that stage because the roots are still small too.

Early transplant helps with weather, too,I think, because poppies don't mind they cold but have trouble with the heat. Early transplant lets them get established before the heat arrives.

Karen