How does a 4' tall plant produce so many chemicals from dirt and sunlight?

Hello,

Not sure if this belongs in biology or not, but I think it's more of a chemistry question. Also, this should not violate rule 3 since we are not discussing "how or why", just broadly and theoretically speaking. Yesterday I got my wisdom teeth pulled and I was prescribed Norco (hydrocodone). It turns out that it is synthesized from the poppy (codeine). So the poppy is building complex molecules like Codeine, Morphine, and Thebaine from essentially nothing other than dirt and sunlight. To do this in a lab would involve all kinds of equipment, steps, precursor chemicals, and yet a poppy uses nothing but dirt and sunlight, is 4' tall with a stem barely half an inch wide (not very big for a "lab" building complex pharmaceuticals). Same for other plants used as medicines and precursors. If "man" can synthesize these pharmaceuticals from the poppy, why can't they synthesize from dirt like the plant does?