Everyone knows the bright red poppy. But do you also know gold poppies? It blooms strong yellow and without much care.
The California poppy feels best in warm, full sun and sheltered locations. You should support it with the right care so that it can unfold its beautiful golden-yellow flowers there. Provide light, sandy, well-draining soil before planting. Then it depends on the right amount of water and fertilizer. Because if you do something wrong here, you have to expect that the golden poppy will not thrive splendidly.
This is how the floor should be
You shouldn't just sow the golden poppy, but first take a look at the soil. This should be sandy-gravelly to sandy-loamy, low in nutrients and well drained.
Golden poppy also needs plenty of space below, because the roots are up to 30 centimeters long. If you plant it in a bucket, the container should be correspondingly deep. Normal potting soil is best improved with sand, expanded clay or lava granules, then it becomes well drained. A drainage layer is also important on the bottom of the pot. To prevent the soil from mixing with the drainage, you can place a water-permeable fleece between the drainage and the substrate.
If you want to grow young plants indoors (instructions here), then it is best to start sowing from February. In September and also from March you can also sow the golden poppy directly outdoors. Since the plants form long taproots and are difficult to transplant later, it is better if you sow liberally and thin out the young plants.
How to water the golden poppy correctly
Young plants must be watered regularly. Normal rain will suffice later. You should only water occasionally if it is very hot and dry for a long period of time in summer. Then water only in the root area. This protects the delicate petals.
Golden poppies in buckets, on the other hand, need to be watered more often. The top layer of soil should already be dry. Then water vigorously and then remove the excess water from the coaster.
Fertilizer only in exceptional cases
The golden poppyusually gets along without fertilizer. You should only spread slow-release fertilizer over the soil in spring if the soil is very poor. Horn shavings or horn meal are well suited. About one to two handfuls per square meter is optimal.
Goldmohn in the bucket gets some liquid fertilizer once a month. But you can also use fertilizer sticks.
Further care measures
You don't have to cut the golden poppy. Always remove the faded parts.
For self-sowing, you can leave some flowers for seed formation. In mild regions, the golden poppy sometimes even develops from an annual plant to a perennial. Then always leave the dead leaves on the plant as winter protection and only remove them in spring.
Caution: The golden poppy is poisonous. So please always wear gloves!