A Detailed Guide to Growing Opium Poppies and Care Tips

The opium poppy, commonly known as the "big poppy flower," is a drug-producing plant whose cultivation is explicitly prohibited in China. Regardless of the purpose, and regardless of the number planted, growing opium poppies without authorisation is illegal, and all such plants shall be forcibly eradicated.

Article 351 of China's Criminal Law clearly provides: illegal cultivation of opium poppies, cannabis and other plants shall be forcibly eradicated; it also provides that cultivating 500 or more opium poppies, or resisting eradication, or cultivating again after being dealt with by the public security authorities, constitutes the crime of illegally cultivating drug-producing plants and is subject to criminal punishment.

For those who cultivate a relatively small number that does not yet constitute a crime, administrative penalties for public order are imposed. Article 71 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law provides: illegal cultivation of fewer than 500 opium poppies is punishable by administrative detention of up to 15 days, and a fine of up to 3,000 yuan may also be imposed.

Illegally cultivating drug-producing plants is an illegal act, and growing even 1 opium poppy is illegal! Never treat the drug flower as scenery or the cultivation of drug-producing plants as a pastime; it is neither elegant nor fun, and you must not be misled into treating poppy pods as treasures and eating or using them, which will not only lead to addiction but also involve suspicion of illegal and criminal conduct.

The opium poppy is an annual herb. The stem is 30-80 cm tall, branched, with spreading coarse hairs. The leaves are alternate, pinnately deeply lobed, with lanceolate or linear-lanceolate lobes, and coarse hairs on both surfaces. The flower buds are ovoid, with long stalks, drooping before opening; the sepals are green and fall off after the flower opens; there are 4 petals, purplish-red, and cultivated opium poppies have multiple flower forms and colours. The base often has a deep purple blotch, broadly obovate or nearly circular, and the anthers are yellow; the pistil is obovoid, with a radiate stigma. The flowering and fruiting period is March to November.