Aaaaargh. My daughter (bless her soul) was cleaning the house today (again with the blessings) and she “cleaned up” all the dried sap/latex/resin I had collected. Aaaaargh.

To the beginning I go.

The main plant I have been collecting from has grown considerably taller. By about a third perhaps. (7 bricks taller maybe).

The plant has also sprouted a few more growing tips.

I found the method of scoring the stem and collecting the single drops was a little slow so last Post I thought I’d follow the general instructions and cut off the top of the plant and collect a larger amount of latex produced by the larger wound. I was worried that as I only have a few plants that this might cause an early demise for the plant and I’d be limited in what I could collect. But no worry at all. The plant just sprouted 4 more growing tips from the sides of the stem. The latex was also more difficult to collect this way as it tended to run back down into the hollow stem of the plant. This actually requires you to cut a small portion off the top of the stem each time so’s you can collect the latex. Too fiddly for my liking.

I do imagine that, in the old days, they grew this stuff in large beds and had ample to harvest. Not quite a poppy field but you get my drift.

I was also generally only making 1 or 2 cuts per node. I have increased this to several cuts.

The main plant still looks strong and healthy but I think they are not long from flowering. The collected resin is probably at its most medicinal right now.