How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

Mike

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Mike writes

How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

Mike


I've read it's up to 100 years. (Hope the field poppy seeds I chucked
hither & thither earlier this year decide to do their thing a bit sooner
than that ...)
--
Judy
http://members.lycos.co.uk/bluelotusrising/index.html
http://www.rigbys.demon.co.uk

This was on the telly just a couple of days ago. Apparently, poppy seeds
can remain dormant for over a hundred years.

Regards


"Mike" wrote in message
news

How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Forthcoming reunions. H.M.S.Collingwood Association Chatham May 30th -
June 2nd
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more

In article ,
Judy Rigby wrote:
Mike writes

How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

I've read it's up to 100 years. (Hope the field poppy seeds I chucked
hither & thither earlier this year decide to do their thing a bit sooner
than that ...)

There is evidence that it is getting on for that, certainly. And
the same applies to quite a few plants that grow in disturbed soil
or where there is a glade suddenly created in a woodland.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Mike" wrote in message
news

How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

Mike

You beat me to it then mike 8~)

"Mike" wrote in message
news

How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Forthcoming reunions. H.M.S.Collingwood Association Chatham May 30th -
June 2nd
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more

I would guess that it depends on the conditions.
I read in an article that the record so far (not a poppy though) is 1200
years, though another article quotes 10,000 years!
So your guess is as good as mine ;-)
L

On Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, Mike wrote:

~
~How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
~all of a sudden germinate and grow?

Quite some time I seem to remember... they wait until the ground is
disturbed before they germinate, so I think it can be years. This is why
the poppy fields of WW 1 - the battles churned up the ground and up came
the dormant poppies.

This is an illuminating ref I found, searching for Flanders Poppy and
finding out more about why poppies for remembrance than I'd bargained for.
http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/poppy.html

The interesting thing here is they say poppies need light to germinate, as
I'd expect. However
http://www.dulley.com/plant/a089.shtml
says they need darkness! Load of rubbish....

ah! gotcha!
http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plant...cles/Poppy.asp

25 to 50 years....

There you go



--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove nospam from replies, thanks!

Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

"Andy Spragg" wrote in message
...
Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

So even a long nuclear winter will not completely sterilize the earth, after
10-20 years when the skies clear up come the poppies ??

"Andy Spragg" wrote in message
...
Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

So even a long nuclear winter will not completely sterilize the earth, after
10-20 years when the skies clear up come the poppies ??

"Kase" wrote in message
...

"Andy Spragg" wrote in message
...
Mike pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sun, 18 May 2003 22:38:35 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ How long can/could a Poppy seed lay dormant in a piece of land and
then
^ all of a sudden germinate and grow?
^
^ Not a silly question and I will explain later :-))

AFAIK about seedbanks in general, 50 years is par for the course.
Poppies may be different.

I'm guessing you had a similar experience to mine? A year or two ago,
an entire factory next door to my place of work was completely
flattened. In the six months or so before a new building was put in
its place, we were treated to the most spectacular multi-coloured
display of some sort of poppy - what I call powder-puff, I don't know
what they're really called. Goodness only knows where the seeds came
from but they must have been there a long long time.

--

So even a long nuclear winter will not completely sterilize the earth,
after
10-20 years when the skies clear up come the poppies ??


Maybe. Or maybe they won't be like the poppies we all know. Have any studies
been done on irradiating poppy seeds?