Iceland poppies

[Philthy]

I've been asked by a friend to grow some Iceland Poppies, with a view to plant out in a garden space later in the year, and then hopefully have self-seeded plants year on year thereafter.
So a few weeks ago I scattered a packet's worth of seeds over some compost filled cells in a tray, and stuck in the propagator. Seeds were sprouting in a little under two weeks. So far so good.
I've taken the cells out and transplanted the seedlings into slightly larger pots.
I've transplanted them in little clumps as the seedlings are finer than human hair and to separate them at this stage would be impossible.
They're currently in my windowsill growing space with seedlings of other plants; it's not overly warm and the poppies are purposefully not in the strongest sunlight at the front of the bench.
I'm keeping the compost moist.
So far I've lost about 50% of them. They are so delicate and fiddly, even watering them causes problems as they sometimes keel over and then that's it for that seedling; they won't right themselves again.
They seem to be very slow growing, too.
Anyone got any tips? They're starting to get on my nerves to be honest.

[roitelet]

You need to sow them very thinly and if possible water from the bottom. You could weed them out with a pair of tweezers to give them more space. Leave them until large enough to pot on into little pots. I have grown them and they have never self seeded. Some will over winter but they are a bit fragile.

[Alison]

I don't know what the packet says but I think it's quite early to be sowing them. I'd wait a few weeks personally. I've grown some before and simply put a small pinch in each module and leave them on the bench in the greenhouse. I then thinned out to one per module when they'd got to a decent size but they did seem to like the extra light levels. As also said above, watering from below while they're small is definitely the way to go.

[Madasafish]

I grow all my poppies outside.. sown directly into the soil where they are to grow.

Poppies HATE root disturbance and transplanting them is tricky - if you must grow inside, plant in individual pots.. and plant out VERY carefully.

They will germinate outside with the slightest warmth.. despite snow/frost and wind, they will overwinter as small plants successfully.

I planted several spaces in our garden - and guerilla planted bare spaces elsewhere (!!) - about 3-4 weeks ago and they are growing slowly..