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The Corroboree

Darklight

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Posts posted by Darklight

  1. Posted

    The best way to keep out all bugs is not to crowd your plants, to keep the inside of the unit clean. Keep the floors clean too, bugs will track across messy floors. There's not a way to keep bugs out that's 100% but reducing the number of hideouts for them is a basic a lot of ppl forget

    You could keep scale-farming ants out with pots elevated in larger buckets of water, and make sure no plant part touches the walls or floors, but indoors and in a closed environment that potentially raises other problems

    I wish I had a better answer, if I did I'd be rich and famous

  2. Posted

    Ah- drainage. If you aren't going to install drainage, use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner with large capacity. Get one which easily switches to wet/dry functions. And read the manual on upkeep for it. A large unit can suck up a lot of water and keeping the area less damp can help with pests and contam

    Fully enclosed growth systems mean a lot of pests IME. In the past I've used sulphur burners nightly on timers to minimise spraying. This prolly won't suit you as sulphur gas can have a deleterious effect on some metals over time. Plus you don't want your sulphur burners on- ever- while you're in there, as the gas is toxic. In the past I've set timers for 3am, made sure the fans are switched off 15 min before and after so the gas has time to penetrate all areas, and made very sure that when the gas gets blown out when the fans go back on that there is no-one around who might breathe it.

    Still, like I said, that prolly won't be practical for you. Yellow sticky traps should give you an idea of your pest load tho, and you can determine your response from there

  4. Posted

    Giant Sundew trichomes....Bricks of bud grown in aquariums...WooHoo!

    Yeah yeah... but you'll still need to know what the genes encode for, or test them in Arabidposis first :P

    Mind you with all this getting simpler, pretty soon someone will have most of this down for you anyhow

    Call me when you can get it done before lunch ;)

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Darklight

    Oh, and invest in a temp alarm which will contact you in an emergency, or if it loses power. Work out what your normal temp fluctuations are by testing them, and then set alarms at +/- 7C so you don't get too many alerts

    A research institute a FOAF was working at lost all their research plantlets a few years ago when a sparky forgot to turn a switch back on after an upgrade over Xmas. Hot summers here, the temps got up to 42C outside, and the roof was tin, poorly insulated. They had loggers, but no alarm system. Get one for any fridge/ freezers in there as well. I believe they're cheap to set up if you have an existing network. Cold storage outages suck donkey dicks if you aren't there to move important stuff fast

    • Like 2

  7. Posted · Edited by Darklight

    48ft...wow. 8ft is narrow tho, make sure you can walk down corridor while carrying large crates or you'll be cursing yourself for eternity. I'd only set up on one side. Is this a tissue culture area as well?

    I'm not brave enough to set up whole plants in a space where TC is going on, I'm thinking humidity issues causing contams at the grow room end. And mites. Paper mites. But you do like a challenge...

    I have set up and wrangled a few fully enclosed spaces for various research institutes. Here goes...

    Rule of thumb for plant growth in fully enclosed environments is that growing plants need at least 5 volumes of air per hour. Office environments only require 0.5 volumes per hour in .au I was told by an aircon bloke. If you are running evaporative cooler ( swamp cooler ) units you will need more airflow than that just to keep the coolers operating properly to hit temperature in summer

    If you're keeping the doors shut all the time that amount of airflow makes a helluva current- it needs to reach all the room too, no dead spots. Dehydration is an issue for staff or yourself if you're working in that space longer than 30 minutes. It's easy to miss if temps are around 22C, because it's not hot. First sign of dehydration is crankiness. Headaches can follow. Hydrate. Keep water handy.

    If you are using filters in your aircon unit, keep them clean and keep your maintenance up. Clogged or mouldy air filters are a hazard for breathing and reduce airflow

    See if you can locate a cheap network setup for temp/ humidity and lights. They're around, but cheap is a relative term. You can get independent waterproof USB humidity/ temp sensors for around $25 each if you buy in bulk, but you will have to check and log them individually. There are Arduino units which can be setup for PAR ( the spectrum of light plants use ) with temp and humidity as well, and these can be networked for logging via a Raspberry Pi or similar. It's a headfuck, but worth it to keep an eye on your lights performance. Most PAR units are around $300 last I checked, and you will want at least five of them- you may as well integrate a Pi/ Arduino system and save some dosh. If I had the dosh I would knock a system like this out and add a few extra units for upscale use in the future

    If you are planning to use sprays as any kind of control for pests and pathogens, or as a fertiliser, make sure you can turn the fans off during spraying. Single switch.

    Drainage for floors- will you have it? Put some 500 micron mesh under it so critters can't get in. Make the mesh easy to remove so you can clean it- they clog.

    I'd use CFL bulbs in a fully enclosed environment, rather than HPS, but you prolly know lighting better than I do. I like CFL because you can be confident they won't get too hot. I'm unfamiliar with the new LED teks but the Home Tissue Culture Newsletter 9 you just pointed me at has some really good writeups on LED technology developments

    And finally, my favourite.... plastics. Brassicas hate plastic. If it's the wrong type of plastic- specifically phthalates- and it's outgassing as part of it's normal lifespan, your Brassicaceae species will not thank you. They sicken. This includes plastics used in internal wiring. So either avoid Brassicaceae, which includes lovely plants like Wasabia, or accept that they might not respond well to a fully controlled environment- or make sure that none of the plastics you have around include phthalates in them.

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    I use distilled water from the store, too.

    Feel guilty about all the plastic containers,used,

    but I do take them to recycling.

    I am considering gertting or making a water distiller,

    Just get the water from the shops unless you're using more than 10L every day. Seriously. I wasted money on double distillation water units years back, the situation changed and I've never switched them on :( Think maintenance, think seals, think benchspace, plumbing, power

    I've heard Reverse Osmosis units can be cheap and provide good quality water, just make sure you get one with easy to find cartridges. But really, stick with ironing/ battery water. Spend your $$ on other toys

    Carol is in the process of making a kit to sell for Cannabis micropropagation,

    where legal of course.

    Which may be in more locations over the next few years!

    She has much wisdom to share, as does Darklight, regarding various kinds of micropropagation techs.

    I would post what she sent me, but its probably better if you ask her yourself.

    A search online will reveal her interesting ghetto micropropagation techniques,,

    as well as a way to contact her if needed.

    Haven't corresponded with her in years, she prolly wouldn't remember me but her expertise was invaluable in my early days

    Cannabis kits, hey? That should get a bit more interest in the field :)

    Ta, no need to share private corro, but I should check her ghetto teks again, there have been some amazing advancements in the field of late

  12. Posted

    so do you think it is possible to micro pipette the GM chloroplast from the bio glow plant and pop it into a plant cell of the same genesis . I'm assuming like mitochondria, some genes of the chloroplasts are in the plant cells nucleus, I guess you'd need to remove the competing chloroplasts first.

    Looks like it, but I need to check this out some more. I keep missing your posts, thank heavens you keep asking good questions

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR

    A couple of months later and I was wrong already. Love it :D

    By delivering the Cas9 protein and appropriate guide RNAs into a cell, the organism's genome can be cut at any desired location.

    From memory, the first clinical application was in trials for gene therapy against adult leukemia, with a high success rate. Can't find the ref, could be wrong

    Clinical application is the thin end of what will be a very successful GM wedge, allowing an incredible consumer acceptance of GM tech.

    No-one is going to tell parents of sick kids that they can't use targeted GM tech, and no-one is going to tell recovered patients that their altered genes should not be passed down to their kids. From there it's only a short stretch for GM tech to be accepted in by consumers of agricultural products

    Terminator gene, anyone? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_use_restriction_technology. I have always been a fan of V-GURT. Keeps the rest of the gene pool clean, no transgenes should ever be viable for replication in vivo outside their target organism

    The above scenarios are Just My Opinion. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

    • Like 2

  14. Posted

    What do you used as a good source of distilled water? (I'm guessing auto distilled battery water or well filtered sterilised rainwater, may not be up standard)?

    Bugger, missed this, sorry

    For pure research work on new species I use water from the supermarket that's sold for irons and stuff, prolly the same as battery water. If I have access to a good lab I'll grab water from a Millipore unit, 0.22uM, but it's overkill for small scale use. Supermarket ironing water is fine AFAIK , and I've had chemists tell me they use it for TLC and spectro as well if they're away from facilities

    Once I'm comfortable with the protocol and I have spares for replication, I move to rainwater from my tank, filtered with a domestic water filter. I know it varies from season to season ( I checked- had it analysed years back over a few seasons ). It's never been a problem, but then I never dump all my work into a batch which contains a new variable, I always keep spares for later

    So long as you don't use filtered rain or tap water for your initial work, you should be good

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    I've found a place to collect seed in March or whenever they set

    In Canberra? The references I've seen say they flower in their range in Spring and fruit in December, YMMV.

    Am close to their native range but I've never seen one. Illegal in NSW anyhow, even tho they're native.

    Chemovars would be of interest :)

  16. Posted

    The whole sales pitch sounded like a typical Deadhead car-park dealers pitch. If that sounds cynical, it's because I am.

    The more formal myco research I do, the more I'm finding that a lot of USA publications are great at publicity that doesn't match the scientific publications they reference. Hoping it doesn't catch on in Australia, it's frustrating and unethical

    Much of the time it's 100 points for capturing the public's imagination. 0 points for factual representation. It's only self serving in the short term


    I'm familiar with the Australian variety - it smells like a decomposing corpse in a car that's been parked in the sun for weeks, and inspires nausea and a desire to wash with a scrubbing brush and bleach. I have it on my property, the stink goes when you wash off the spores, and it tastes good. I'm also familiar with Chinese medicine which attribute aphrodisiac properties to a large range of materials - except for those mushrooms.

    Ta for clarification

    Anyone who thinks there's a difference between the desire to go bushwalking, and what it feels like when you've just finished a good bushwalk?

    What, you've never gotten back from a good bushwalk and decided another one is just the thing you want after lunch? Excess in all things, except moderation

  17. Posted

    Was checking out Bolete species yesterday, and saw something similar, now can't find it Were they local to you and found recently?

    Get a spore print, take one on white paper and one on black. Add them to pics, it helps

    FungiOZ app has a wider section on bolete ID than Fungimap. There's also an ID app for iPhones iFungi AU, but it's not ported for Android yet and I haven't tried it

    Also grab the Hunter Catchment pdf, it's handy for phones or tablets and is an excellent guide

    http://hunter.lls.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/516807/guide-to-common-fungi-hcr.pdf

    Both suggest it could be Strobilomyces sp. tho your cap seems to be a different colour. Not a lot is known about Australian boletes apparently

  18. Posted

    Anyone know a source.

    Lol... biology is not for the impatient. Unfortunately. Put feelers out and something may come up while you're swimming home

    Are you after live cultures for cultivation or locations of wild specimens?

    Aloha Medicinals in the USA sells cultures, tho you'll check AQIS to see if an import is permitted.

    There were rumours of cultures in Australia several years ago, but I wasn't interested enough to follow them up. Am now tho. It doesn't hurt to have spare orgasms ICE

    Atlas of Living Australia has reports of Dictyophora spp within Australia.

    http://bie.ala.org.au/species/f90f1c85-d5e2-4ac8-a48c-cccf340af84d#

    Fungimap ( local org ) has this species listed under Phallus indusiatus as one of it's target species

    Not sure if the orgasm phenomena is substrate or strain specific. Lava may be required for effect ;) But I'd start local just to be sure

    http://fungimap.org.au/index.php/learn-about-fungi/fdu-online/targets

    (technically I don't think it qualifies as a true aphrodisiac, the same as wild, hot, wet sex doesn't).

    Who says?

    Welcome to the forums. Loving your work.

  19. Posted · Edited by Darklight

    I was under the impression QLD had recently passed the laws which said that any dog rushing at someone, even behind their own fence and unable to make contact with the complainant, could be declared dangerous. All it takes is for the complainant to make a statement that they felt threatened. It's a bullshit law which readily lends itself to real abuse

    Which merely reinforces my desire to not go to QLD or support their economy

    I chose my mastiff for it's breeding, it's distinct disinclination to move more than it has to, and it's tendency to be ludicrously happy for any excuse at all. When we went to puppy school and dog training, all the trainers constantly reinforced that it was my job to protect the dog from stupid people, because stupid people will panic and he'll be declared dangerous on hearsay evidence. He's well trained, and gets great feedback from the kennels and trainers. Which is not protection against stupid.

    I've had a few people behave really oddly around him because of his size. Or let their dogs get away with bad behaviour because it's up to me to make sure their stupid yapper doesn't get hurt if it chews his leg or bites him. I don't take him out in public too often because of it, their body language and demands are too unpredictable for me to consider them safe or sensible.

    I have CCTV at my place so if a complaint is ever made, I will have video evidence

    No matter who is wrong, the big dog will get the blame

    I don't know your situation woodswoman, but I'd be inclined to move the dog interstate for safe keeping. If it isn't microchipped, have it microchipped interstate under another name. And tell Council it died of snakebite.

    • Like 3

  21. Posted

    Wasabi loves the cold. It's possible to grow it outside it's comfort zone if you have the right microclimate, but harvesting roots is often a waste of time there as roots are small

    The leaf is good for salads and sandwiches as a winter green at times when other greens aren't so productive

    I keep mine year round, shaded, in a tub of water. Rats love the roots and will pull the plant out to get to them

    In subtropical FNC NSW my leaves rarely get larger than an inch, have had it for over 5 years now. To put this into perspective, I sent a cultured clone from exactly the same plant to a cooler part of Vic, where the leaves got to 5 inches wide in a few months

  24. Posted

    365nm is your basic forensics blacklight for fluorescing the majority of items/dyes. The light is invisible to most, except apparently kids. One photo I was looking at recently shows a mushroom with bright partial cap fluorescence at what i would expect would be 380-400nm, judging by the strong violet light. This is good in that these led lights are cheap & easy to get compared to high powered 365nm leds, negative is the violet light Potentially mask glow & and are visible.

    http://www.fungaljungal.org/images/Cortinarius_ahsii_Cedar_5-16-13_6.jpg

    With the red light, it's good that green grass & leaves absorbs it so if using a metal torch that hides the reflector it's relatively stealth. My wildlife also vastly enjoys red light more, will often freeze or run away with white light.

    Darklight as I understand it the UV for fluorescence should all be contained withiin UVA and so not such a risk to eye, your purpose prob necessitates using 260nm light which is very dangerous.

    Ta, I did not know that it came in so many readily available wavelengths - and even LED! Different now than when I was a tacker

    The one I was using for mutation was your average UV-sterilising tube. The TLC-Vis was a handheld cheapo with a tiny fluro tube

  25. Posted · Edited by Darklight

    It's also maybe helpful in conversation to let landholders know Psilocybin mushrooms are being researched at reputable research institutions as a possible preventative for migraines and there are accounts online at clusterbusters describing long term effects from sub-threshold doses of psilocybin mushrooms.

    I mean, who doesn't know someone who has migraines? And most farmers I know love to collect all sorts of miscellaneous information. Also it's true.

    If you hear shots fired over your head, it's because they are being polite. It's considered polite to fire the first round away from the intruder, for most values of polite. Remember this well. It's not because they missed ha ha ha oops...

    Good on you dizzyanarchist for remembering the forms. Politeness goes a long way out in the bush, as does beer.

    • Like 2
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