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nitrogen

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Posts posted by nitrogen

  2. Posted

    Well the things I have are not scale it turns out - but now I have sprayed them with White Oil (about 10 days ago), and the one of them looks a bit unhappy about it...

    Anyone know how to remove the white oil from the sprayed cactus? Does it eventually wear off or something? The cacti are a different color now, very green, no glaucation..

    I was thinking of mixing some straight detergent water, spraying it with that to surfactantify the oil, then spray it off real good with a hose...

  3. Posted

    I apologize as I was taking the piss a bit in my last post - I know Australia isn't a Third World country, I just couldn't resist :P

    But yes this doesn't sound encouraging - I don't like the idea of dogs sniffing for organic matter - they'll likely detect a cactus cutting - heck I can sometimes smell one of those in a box... In the USA the dogs are just trained to smell certain organic matter, not ALL organic matter for godsake!

    And I don't like at all the report above about people raiding the house for a small cutting being found in the mail - now that is most certainly entirely indubitably not cool in any way whatsoever... I was quite okay with the idea of sending cutting and having it confiscated - "worth a try" is my mentality - but having the swine show up and raid the recipient's house is bad news and not worth it, if that is what would happen...

    Any other experiences or info about all this?

  4. Posted

    Australia seems to have stricter import restrictions than other Third World countries do, but I think its worth a try to get seeds and choice clones in there...

    I would be fine with having a package confiscated so long as no legal trouble came of it..

  5. Posted

    Trouble is, there's so many different strains of T Peruvianus, and even Cuzcoensis or KK247 type plants labelled as T Peruvianus, that you don't know what the genetics of the parents plants were - could have been potent parents, inactive parents, or any combination on that continuum...

    Icaros seedlings are very attractive plants, but its unclear their potency, or if the parentage of each batch of his seeds is even the same... The dried cactus from which Icaro offers is presumably the same as parents the seed, and that cactus is of decent potency, but nothing exceptional...

    I have heard no reports of seed grown Peruvianus or Icaros cactus potency either way... Not even sure anyone has raised an Icaro seedling to maturity...

  6. Posted

    Basically, if some verbotten plant or cactus is sent to Australia undeclared, and customs find it, what is the policy? I had assumed it was the same as in the USA, where they just confiscate it and send a note saying as much to the intended recipient... I assume this happens all the time, they're very busy, and its a minor thing, so they just confiscate..

    But I hear in Oz they are stricter on customs in general - is there any risk, legal or otherwise, to either the sender or recipient if an undeclared piece of cactus or other plant is discovered upon customs search? Or do they just take it and that's that?

    Also, how intense is the scrutiny of the Aussie customs? In the USA, undeclared items and even substantial quantities of outright contraband items will get through customs most the time - with Australia though they're strict on plant importation, so I want to know if they use any special detection system to keep plants out that the USA does not?

  8. Posted · Edited by nitrogen

    It is unsightly stuff, though seems harmless...

    I don't know that "rot" is really the right term for it actually - the tissue underneath, after it scabs up, is totally fine - it's more like an infectious pus type thing, but not "rot" like that actually consumes the plant... Consuming scabbed over sections that had the stuff produce no ill effects either...

    I don't think the wet conditions cause it - for me it always happens when I take cuttings - especially on the bridgesii - all get the black bubbles, and I live in a low humidity climate... Eileen gets it too, though I heard it said that she is rot-resistant - not black rot resistant however if that is what those people meant... I have a couple other bridgesii though which are much worse than the Eileen clone about it...

    What is interesting is that it starts as bubbles under the skin - those bubbles, when sliced open, contain clear and healthy looking juice or something like it, which then becomes black as it emerges to the surface...

  9. Posted

    hhmm, might be the same one...

    The Oxalis - gets in all my trichos - does it do any harm though? I suppose it drinks some of the water and slurps up a portion of the nutrients, but does a weed like this negatively impact growth rate or health? It is a pain in the ass - clever little plant, stems detach readily so the roots are near impossible to pull up.. And the seeds "jump" somehow, dunno what that's about... I pull it out, but really I think I'm just "pruning" it more or less, it come right back bushier than before...

    I would think it could be offed by withholding water - since it's small and leafy it needs water, whereas the tricho can go for quite awhile without - so if water is withheld the Oxalis should perish soon enough, right? Well, I tried this for about 10 days, and the Oxalis was indeed looking pretty scraggly, but I broke down cause its growing season here and I want my trichos to grow...

  10. Posted

    Here in the USA we have the PC pachanoi, the common San Pedro - but I hear y'all talking about the aussie PC too? And then I read the aussie PC is like twice as potent as the yankee PC - what gives? Is this the same plant here?

    Our PC pachanoi grows fat and reasonably quickly, but requires at least 12" to get anywhere interesting, usually 18" or more for kowabunga.. Very bitter in taste but not so potent...

    Here's a flush of pups on the yankee PC..

    Jan24th026.jpg

  11. Posted

    In the 9th pic down from the top, and more towards the right side of the pic, there's some fat spineless midcuts with 3-4" pups coming off them, looks like you have several of the same strain- are those the psycho0? Look kinda like it with the downward angled spination and such..

    So spachianus grow fast then?

    Beautiful collection btw!

  12. Posted · Edited by nitrogen

    I see Herbalistics I think its called has these seeds, but with the minimum order and overseas shipping I'd pay like $35 or so..

    Does anyone have seeds of this cross to send me? Or other Super Pedro crosses? Or Super Pedro cutting? To trade I could send any of the Sacred Succulents crosses, though you could order them yourself from Oz and they would ship, so I don't know how great a trade that would be for you..

    I could also send, in a clever and undeclared way, a cutting of a quality strain of the T bridgesii clone A/long form, which I understand is very rare in Oz - I could send a cutting from the clumping/clone B also, but there's lots of that one in Oz already no?

  13. Posted · Edited by nitrogen

    Per potency - must consider the girth of the cactus too - a 4" X 6" slab is gonna be like a 2" X 12" piece... The potency varies too, some say by season, or by age...

    If Eileen is as potent as some of my other bridgesii, then an 18" piece, if it's a fat 3-4" piece I think would be entirely too much... Or not, depending on what you're after...

    To me a quality bridgesii is one that will produce a substantial and satisfying experience with a 6" X 3" or so wide piece - that's my acid test for cactus - how far does a 6" section get me... Not to say that 6" need be mind-blowing, but it should produce visuals with eyes open and rich visuals with eyes closed, as well as transcendent aspects and insight if the setting is right.. About like 100-150mcg of good acid, a solid tab or so...

    Me and a friend split the tea from an 8" X 3" piece (so 4" length apiece) of a certain unnamed clone pictured below (the single column to the right of it in the small pot is an Eileen) last weekend and that was produced a pretty rich experience for me, great visionary stuff with eyes closed... Another friend had 5" or so of the same cactus yesterday and found it quite strong as well...

    Now, I had a 8" by 2.5" piece of this same cactus last year, soon after I brought it home from the place I bought it, and that was less strong than the 4"X3" piece I had recently (although that was strong too) - since it has been in my care it's been getting much more sunlight and nutrients than it was when I first got it... The spines are thicker and longer than they were before, I think due to the sun exposure... And the piece we ate recently had been cut over a month before (I've read that letting them sit for awhile increases potency but I dunno if this is true).. The fresh material is very very bitter...

    I've eaten this particular strain 5 times (3 were pretty low dose though), and is has been of different friendliness each time - a couple had dark and slightly sinister elements/periods for sure, but overall it has been very friendly and enjoyable, especially this most recent time.. Probably a lot to do with my own state of mind and what the cactus felt I needed at the time...

    So the potency varies... The best way to do it if you want to be sure is make up a batch of tea with a whole lot of cactus, try out an amount, and then you'll know how strong the whole batch will always be if you keep it frozen...

    may262009007.jpg

  14. Posted

    Are either of these scale?

    In the top pic, those are scabs and they don't come off by scraping with fingernail - they seem to form first as bubbles under the skin..

    In the lower pic, those orange things do come off if I scrape with a fingernail, but they take off the top layer of the skin too...

    may222009029.jpg

    may222009025.jpg

  15. Posted

    That doesn't say anything about how potent the seedlings will be though - and it's not clear which particular strains the seeds are from no?

    A given strain/clone of Peruvianus is not self fertile or is it? So the seeds are hybrids from a mix of T peruvianus plants I would think...

    The seedlings are very attractive and fat little things I can say that in any case...

  16. Posted

    I see where Mr Kent is coming from, but he is also presenting himself as one of those reductionistic and overly scientific types who think that unless something is shown to be true for sure there's no use believing in it...

    Kent would be one of those people who, back in the day before Copernicus or Galileo, would have called you crazy for saying the earth actually revolved around the sun...

    Leary, Mckenna, and Lilly were very relevent people, and had a big impact on the world, and have contributed to the evolution of psychedelic theory and practice... Using the word "messiah" is a little far-fetched and very likely delusional if the person sees themselves that way, but they were influential people, as many are..

  17. Posted

    Yah that guy sold me a T bridgesii which was actually a T Peruvianus - he wouldnt fess to it either, and insisted it was a bridgesii... He lets his cacti get eaten to pieces by thrips too and I emailed him a couple times telling him to just dust some sulfer on the tips and the problem would be solved - he never emailed me back with a thank-you or anything but since then I havent seen so many thrip eaten cacti for sale by him...

    So yah, he should lay off Trout since he doesn't really know what hes doing either...

  21. Posted

    Well I had some syrup - milder dose of pachanoi - really lovely experience with euphoria and such - that evening went to an event and felt the beginnings of a headache creeping in at about the 8-10 hour mark - I had been eating Clif Bars and tangerines, and also added a small amount of mushrooms to the mix - the headache never really manifested and I had a great evening...

    Unless glucose isn't metabolized at all I would think supplementing carbohydrates would be effective...

    I have heard of psylocybin helping with the headaches too..

    I'd rather have the headache than an ephedrine jolt on the tail end of a mescaline trip though I know that...

    I think it is something we can do something about though because, at least in my case, I don't always get the headaches (regardless of dose - I have taken high doses with no headaches), but sometimes I do...

    The last time I had mescaline before this time I got a headache, and noticed that I was holding a lot of tension in my cranial muscles as well, and upon shutting my eyes and really focusing on relaxing that area, the intensity of the headache abated..

    So maybe fruit or other food in general, psylocybin, and relaxation practice combined is a good way to go - more experimentation needed :) Mushrooms mix very very well with cactus in any event...

  22. Posted

    Interesting - so to combat possible hypoglycemia drinking some sort of fruit juices or other sugary product toward the tail end might help?

    I don't technically have hypoglycemia (my blood glucose readings were normal at my last check up a couple months back), but I am lean and I experience precipiatous drops in blood sugar accompanied by irritability and such - my ex girlfriend who is a physician used to tell me I was hypoglycemic at those times - so maybe my headaches are related to that...

    I'm gonna be having some syrup tomorrow anyway so maybe it'l be a good day to test the hypothesis ;)

  23. Posted

    The bridgesii seem to grow faster than my pachanoi...

    Some of the bridgesii are very fast - in my climate they grow pretty much year round..

    Per the Aussie celebrity bridgesii, The Eileen and Psycho0 clone grow fast, as advertised.. My Psycho0 clone has grown over 2' these past several months.. In fact, the Psycho0 is the fastest growing plant in my collection (though not by much), and also grows damn thick.. The Psycho0 is of questionable potency though...

    The "MumnDad" cutting I got has grown very slowly, barely at all - may just be an issue of it getting established, though it has been rooted for months..

    Per the USA celebrity bridgesii, the "Baker" and "Lumberjackus" grow quite quickly, as does the SS02 - all of these can grow over 2' per year.. A friend of mine tells me that in his collection, which has a variety of bridgesii clones, the Eileen and Lumberjackus grow the fastest... I have an un-named bridgesii that grows about as fast as the Psycho0...

    The Lumberjackus is a bitchin looking and very potent cactus, hopefully we can get it over to Oz at some point..

    I have had a couple Peruvianus clones grow extremely quickly as well, faster maybe than the bridgesii..

  25. Posted

    Very interesting...

    The bit about the alkaloid content - it is very true, I am speculating based on bitterness, and this is a weak argument except for the fact that bitterness is a decent indicator of activity (activity certainly, potency though not really - I have had very bitter T. pachanoi be quite weak)... With the bridgesii in my collection though, I have noticed a positive correlation between bitterness and potency (the more bitter the more potent)

    An important variable to know though, is how many other strains of bridgesii have the same people who have tried Eileen tried?

    I get the feeling that Eileen may be the only, or one of the only strains most of these people have tried. Almost certainly Eileen provided them with the most mature slab of cactus they have eaten, so likely Eileen provided them with the highest dose of alkaloids of any bridgesii they had had. High dose experiences tend to be more magical, healing, etc..

    The thing that interests me then, is how would these other strains of bridgesii compare?

    The experience of a strong dose of cactus tea has throughout the ages been described as "magical", "healing", "intense" etc etc - it would be very interesting to have several people try several strains and compare notes... How much does anticipation figure in? I.e - if I am already in love with the cactus because it is beautiful and a treasured part of my collection, and people have given it a pretty name, and they talk about its specialness to me, how much bearing does that have on my experience?

    Also, when a strain is named, it seems to acquire extra value in people's minds instantly.. Certainly for me it does, despite that it seems illogical given that some of the unnamed ones I have growing I know to be fantastic despite their nameless obscurity..

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