# Planting sesame seeds **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091 "2001-02-12T01:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/1 "2001-02-12T01:24:47Z")
If you plant sesame seeds, how long does it take for something to grow? Same question for poppy. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/2 "2001-02-12T01:42:27Z")
[this](http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/page34.htm#S) seems like a cool site. Hope it helps. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/3 "2001-02-12T01:49:49Z")
_Sesamum indicum_ has a germination period of 7 to 14 days. _Papaver Somniferum_ will also germinate in a week or two. Neither will germinate if they have been cooked. 😉 [http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/page34.htm](http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/page34.htm) Damn you **samclem**! You beat me to the punch. 😛 Hell, I’m submitting anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/4 "2001-02-12T12:04:07Z")
Poppy seeeds wil germinate over there? I assume since your talking about sesame seed you mean commercial cooking poppy seeds.They sterilise them before sale here because they’re made from Opium poppy, and people were growing them to extract the opium. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/5 "2001-02-12T14:41:09Z")
Right. All poppyseeds sold for culinary purposes in the U.S. are processed (cooked) so they won’t germinate. It’s illegal to grow opium poppies in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/6 "2001-02-12T14:49:05Z")
IIRC, back in the 1980s, you used to be able to order _papaver somniferum_ seeds from Thompson & Morgan, in England, but a check of their website shows that they’re no longer offering any kind of _papaver_. At least not on-line. I haven’t had one of their print catalogs for a long time. There was always a disclaimer printed in the catalog, pointing out that it was illegal to grow these in the U.S., but that in the interests of Science (they specialized in rare and exotic seeds) they were offering them. Evidently they’ve had to go more mainstream. [http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds/us/sindex\_by\_name.html](http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds/us/sindex_by_name.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/7 "2001-02-12T15:23:40Z")
Oo, a gardening thread (sort of). [Richter’s](http://www.richters.com)in Canada offers about every type of herb going, including sesame seed. I think the culinary sesame seed is either baked or held long enough in storage so that germination is unlikely. You have to grow a ton of opium poppies to extract a significant amount of the drug. The law against growing them, unenforceable as it is, is more for show and annoyance than for any effective purpose. There are still numerous seed houses that sell seed of ornamental P. somniferum. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/8 "2001-02-12T17:38:10Z")
Can anybody find a link to a picture of a sesame plant? I’ve searched and can’t find anything. Sesame seeds are my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/9 "2001-02-13T02:34:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gaspode \* > \*\*I assume since your talking about sesame seed you mean commercial cooking poppy seeds.They sterilise them before sale here because they’re made from Opium poppy, and people were growing them to extract the opium. > \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DuckDuckGoose \* > \*\*Right. All poppyseeds sold for culinary purposes in the U.S. are processed (cooked) so they won’t germinate. It’s illegal to grow opium poppies in the U.S. \*\* This leads to a classic “Straight Dope” conundrum: If it’s illegal to grow poppies, and the poppy seeds are all sterilized, where do all the poppy seeds come from? ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/10 "2001-02-13T02:48:00Z")
Well, down under here we have large and well-guarded poppy farms for the purpose of extracting opium for medicinal uses. That’s where we get our poppy seeds from. You kind of need a high fence and special permission before you start cultivation though. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/11 "2001-02-13T03:11:57Z")
Leagal Schmeagal. I (err, I mean some guy I know) grew a very nice crop of _Papaver Somniferum_ 3 years ago right here in New Jersey. My friend’s friend ordered them from Thompson and Morgan and started them in a greenhouse. And no, it doesn’t take a whole field of poppies to yield enough opium for one persons casual use. So I’m told. 😉 Sesame Plant Photo: [http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/album/sesamun.htm](http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/album/sesamun.htm) ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/12 "2001-02-13T03:58:55Z")
I wonder if the average cop is trained to spot poppie plants in the same way they are trained to ID cannabis? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/13 "2001-02-13T15:42:05Z")
Well, sad to say, **Shiva** , but if some eager beaver DEA agent had spotted them, your New Jersey friend would have gone down for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. [http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/agency/csa.htm](http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/agency/csa.htm) > [@](#): > > (17) The term “narcotic drug” means any of the following whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis: > > (19) The term “opium poppy” means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seed thereof. > > (20) The term “poppy straw” means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing. > > (22) The term “production” includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance. > > SCHEDULE II. > (a) Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any of the following substances whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis: > (3) Opium poppy and poppy straw. And this is interesting. [http://64.14.118.196/usnews/issue/970317/17popp.htm](http://64.14.118.196/usnews/issue/970317/17popp.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/14 "2001-02-13T16:34:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **Well, sad to say, Shiva, but if some eager beaver DEA agent had spotted them, your New Jersey friend would have gone down for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.** Oh yeah, _he_ was well aware of the law. The thing is they were an ornamental variety and had pink ruffled flowers. 😉 It’d take a helluva DEA agent to know at a glance that they were _P. Somniferum_. Sorry for taking this thread so far off track. BTW, is a New Jersey friend anything like a Huckleberry friend? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/15 "2001-02-13T19:57:17Z")
I have to think that the enforcement of the ban on poppy growing is nowhere near the level of that of cannabis. Just this past summer, my magazine ran a story on a gardener who had a penchant for poppies, and identified her as growing, among her many varieties, _p. somnifer._ This was in a 1.6 mil. circulation magazine, and she’s still a free woman, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planting-sesame-seeds/54091/16 "2001-02-13T20:04:47Z")
somnifer-um, I mean. Maybe that’s why she got off … the cops thought the misspelling was a different, legal, variety … 😉