mutant

3. shouldnt miss commenting on the mystic part of the thing and the habitat plants like Malverde said, this plant is magick, because magick is make believe and make believe around this plant still stand strong.. whatever tha case, its virtually impossible to uproot a whole plant from habitat.. older plants seem to go to impressive depths - I beheaded some 60 mandrakes from the habitat and in some way I am convinced I did a wonderful thing for them.. spreading the genes of that particular island everywhere! I would be proud if I were them mandrakes... plus there is a root that I recognize (its the one I dug the most , trying to get the largest chunk I could) and I remember it comes from a very important place of the island.... so important that admitting the actual location would be illigal, since its illegal to dig in archeological sites ...... especially when the site keeper encourages you to do it! (talking about a 12 cm fatty root, cutting, mind you , NOT something like you see in my home grows, which exceed 30 cm's in length note that I found more populations of mandrake around areas of historical importance, especially the oldest sites (unharmed by civilization areas ) , but there were also everywhere where the ecology said they would be: edge of the roads, olive groves , stony areas, stony paths, paths, archeological sites.... bingo! anyways there's still interest for the plant and root itself, let alone a live root... especially of the esoterist/mystic kind ..... some of these people wanna use the material as a symbol and not eat it, and some people sell them ginger instead of mandrake for what its worth, large Hyoscyamus plants, which are annual, do interesting looking , fatty rootlets which are considered as 'good' as mandrake root or Hyoscyamus flower, in terms of alkaloidal content. In that sense, and irregardless the legal status, growing mandrake to eat the root is equivalent to growing peyos to eat 'em - its stupid as you can get the trip from much cheaper, easier to grow , easier toget plants... moreover roots are very interesting yeah I got that from the begining, and its so funny I never expected to see man shaped root but I found a woman shaped root, and also a woman in a sexy pose for that matter !!! tbh I was a little surprised noone commented... a lady gaia , the archetypal woman in a root and noone freaks out.. I am amazed... I wonder If I should cut the thin roots to make a more proper photo session, before re-planting, or should I sell it for a ridiculous amount of money in ebay? I dont really get this mystic thing also, I dont know if its that I handled the roots while undigging and all (havent smoked tropane leaf for loooong time) or the new superpotent pot thats been circulating here , but I really had increased hard-ons lately... I think I will try to sell it... some 150 Uk pounds 200 euros would be an archievable sale... or should I got more? but is this wrong? considering, the spirit inside is as close to the devil as no intoxicant plant .... tropane alkaloids in safe doses are social inhibitors, but in a different way than alcohol the combo, boy the combo of low dose alcohol and low dose tropane alkalods (smoked, for safetey) is really another dimention of social inhibation and inhibition in general.. still havent really experimented with this but I still consider Hyoscyamus my fave of the family , for a variety of reasons. But I admit that mandrake cultivation is extremely interesting and challenging , it proves! PS: some people are more prone to use alcohol, amanitas and tropane plants sensibly and we are sure to be a minority within the minority of the ethno-scene which is more around the classic psychedelics PS2: This is a thread about growing mandrake. DO NOT EAT any part of those plants as they are very toxic! (unless you know what you are doing which is another thing overall)

mandrake growing thread project This thread is packed with information in regards with growing mandrake. Its also a log to how mature Mandragora automnalis behaves in pots here . I will answer to you, but please also re-read the whole thread. In time I will probably write a more structured + improved experience log as I gain more experience. I have compiled and included in this thread's posts what I thought was the best info on the topic both in here, SAB, and in the www about growing mandrake. There are also some notes on starting from seed. Now, I have said this before, will repeat : the reason I am doing so great in just 2,5 years of growing them is that I started from roots I took from habitat. Root cuttings with rosettes, if you like... I did not start my plants from seed. I take pride on the fact I had this awesome idea and executed it.. I dont even think I killed any of the 60 plants I took the top of , of which 1/3 survived the transplant and first summer. I do have some casualtties each year, but the success in propagation via cutting has me optimistic. Plus I learn from mistakes. since then some 1000+ seeds have been sent all over the world, sold, gifted or traded and one root sold away (to oz, and it made it through, btw) these in the last two years. The ones I did start last year from seed I just threw them away on some pots and the tray... did not do anything.. fresh seed, thrown on soil in the right season for the northern hemishpere, which is around mid september more or less. Work wonders for me, since I got plenty of seed to spare. Now the ones in the tray I doubt they made it through summer (too shallow tray which I did not protect to a shadier place, so I am quite sure they dried out) , the ones that sprout in some deeper pots I tranplanted them eventually (they where very shocked by this) and a couple made it. now here are some of the main points of successful mandrake growing IME so far.. 0. the photoperiods of the plant the plant seems strongly photoperiodic (both words are greek by the way, phos, periodos) and it has periods it is inactive (OFF) and active (ON) ... Its the periods the plant is OFF that is the most sensitive to wrong handling by the grower. When the plant in ON, it seems to enjoy plenty of water. And you can judge by the rosette.... WHen the plant is invisible, then its more tricky. Unfortunately the plant can go OFF (inactive) more than one time, during the season, until it will finally rest in summer. Plant will go OFF each time the root reaches the bottom of the pot, reports say, and it seems to confirm. That is rosettes stop, and stop growing for some weeks. Later they re grow from the smae rosette or another rosette sprouts, and so on... It seems these short idle periods of the plant , when its OFF, inactive, are the ones, one should be careful and probably avoid watering. remember this can happen if the root hit the bottom of the plant. Thus, deep pots is very good idea. When the rosette is growing and fresh , though, it seems very easy plant... 1. keeping the root alive during the resting period (summer time, for north hemisphere) its obviously more difficult to do this with a 1 year old seedling , as this is a succulent plant in its behaviour and it stores girth, energy, water in its root complex. a smallish cutting or 1 year old seedling might dry out, bake during summer. Of course I am in zone 9 or something. Elsewhere, f.e. zone 6, you might have to watch it during the freezing period, which seems like a harder trick, since I dont know how it tolerates winter low temps.. Point is, the larger the root is , it seems, the hardest it is to make mistakes and kill it.. But that is not to say that a bigger root cannot be killed or damaged by wrong handling. I suspect the best practice is to stop watering the roots completely when the rosette (leaves) disappear around may, and place in a shady, relatively cool place for the summer. washing the roots in begining september allows the grower to check the root out, and place/plant in the optimum pot and positioning to ensure the best growth for the next season. So, a watering program following the plants needs seems essential.. no hasty waterings, no watering during summer or at the end of the season (end may) , especially when the rosette has finished its cycle and/or is not visible. Bad watering habits could result in death or damage in 3 different ways a) small root, too much heat, root dries out (partly or completely) b ) relatively frequent watering with little water could cause the upper part of the root to rot. It the soil doesn;t dry soon it might rot more root, or all of it. c) soaking watering in the wrong season , that is summer : it can kill a root completely, even a relatively biggish one... it can rot the bottom parts of the root, leaving some upper part alive.. all these are from experience, but since the root is underground, they are somewhat suggestive of what might be happening. 2,more things to consider even if you got a decent sized root or a decent cutting, you dont really know how deep to plant, unless you gain experience... and of course, as I am suspecting, root behaviour and form strongly depend on watering habits and zone. Unless the root starts forming a rosette BEFORE you plant it up again ( it happened last year when I uprooted laterin in mid septempber, and it hapenned this year in just one of the biggest roots), its more tricky to decide "how deep" but there are also new buds in the root (check out the pics, its the more whitish spots, pretty sure its new growth) indicant of root activity.... ENEMIES my mandrakes are attacked by ant-helped mealies... rosettes can hide a very strong colony of mealies, so note to self, next year, clean them up, as the stressing of the rosette should inferere strongly with the health of the root especially in the grow period. the soil is certainly something to consider... you should use a more free draining material in zone 6 than I do in zone 9... and still I have decided to plant them in a more freedraining material myself (more perlite, nothing fancy) myself.. 3. To sum up * deep pots * controlled waterings and schedule for the resting period, according to yr climate * watch out then the rosetter stops and gets in idle perios for couple weeks * protect the plant in winter (its an active period for it) since it comes from warm areas *maybe consider growing m.officinarium, as it is known to exist in mid europe countries which get freezing temps in winter *when a newbie - consider checking the root during the growing period, even though its sure gonna stress the plant

had to google homonculus.... nah I am all right with archetypical type big breasted woman roots I missed the joke of yr last post yep these bugger can grow big, even though I think I made several mistakes this last year in watering. so they are not as easy as I thought they were, but not nearly as difficutl as they say. I am begining to get convince that the root shape and its immense variety is linked with watering habits (rain habits) of a grow one root died, but most of them have become very beautiful and big indeed.

THE WOMAN!!!! OTHER ROOTS

and I am seeing the true blue there , as well... some icarus? or something, but its a true blue alright!

hey if I dont report back i probably died by undigging too many mandrakes from their pots and messing with them you know they are quite sensitive... bis die nachste Tag

lots of stories and weird old men or semi-crazy partakers in some places where its native... sure, mandrake, sure due to its root shape and not only is one of the most famous 'mystic' plants, from the myths that sourround it , point-of-view.. ginger has some similar myth around it, and they center around the so called "human shape" of the root-formation.. I am pretty anxious to whether I will uproot a man shaped root tomorrow, nah, I am a cynic, their roots are beautifull, I just hope they have fattened up and not been hit my mealies or other pest uprooting tomorrow most likely

nice to see its alright still maintain my ID - its a wilkae amazing sight there with the clay pots and all

wouldnt rule out pasacana just yet,.. speed of growth will be much more telling.. you say its not really doing something -- if it put width it probably is a pasacana, being candicans would make it go columnar sooner, or just wait a bit more

oops that's an older post... did it make it? is it alive?

Psyentist 1st one is trichocereus taquimbalensis var wilkae (the nicest form) and definately NOT a Stetsonia (just make sure its still alive!) 2nd one is probably trichocereus terscheckii ebene, I doubt the left one is t.peruvianus... its something else

Very beautiful specimen, OP specimen... I see it as a hybrid scopulicola X knuthi... (scop being the mother) I really cant see any bridgesii in it, except the tip's glaucusness colour. Michaels pic is showing a pure scop showing some tuberculation because its dehydrated, they can do this.. but Ohlones/op's cactus doesn't seem to be unwatered, nor it seems to have lost the spines due to mechanical or other stress. Granted, I haven't grown my OZ knuthianus for long but it doesn't look like this one... I will be looking for falling spines from now on.. The specimen I am seeing here is different, its very boldly tubercled (something only seen in knuthi that intensely) and it seems to have spineless scop's areoles, that is tiny, submerged areoles.. Note that the combination of a phenotype with submerged areoles (spineless scop, common in oz) with a tubercled phenotype (knuthianus cuzcoids, regular in oz collections) COULD theoretically enhance the tubercled pattern, like in this special specimen... To sum up, this is AMAZING, and in my eyes NOT a regular knuthi! be sure to update with pics when it grows and even open up a new thread about it in the main cactus section...

wow, thanks for sharing.. marking this to read later, as as not to forget... again, thanks for sharing new research

neglected unferted pachanoi, likely a pc... lots of heat plus unwatered can cause this extreme yelowing too

not a tricho, looks like a black spined cereus some other posted couple months ago... handsome!

Hmmmm I got a 3-4 year old pilo palmeri its much spinier , at least when young... At first thought cereus, but then again the hairs... for such a big specimen, doesn't it flower?

my crest eventually did the same thing: made 3 growing points, one is still crest though,....

Malverde >>> which country? Is it Isreal? I would love to trade some seeds from over there with some from my country, Greece if you like! shonman>> I dont know why you are asking if I am growing them well. Sure they get mealies and the leaves/rosette is stressed as some point (didn't use protection ), bit what is correctly? the roots are routinely uprooted and they always increase in size and the seed production was somewhat 3x this year that of the previous year so, if they roots are becoming bigger and the number of fruits and size of fruits increases and cuttings take then I guess I am doing okey growing them I guess we will see: I plan to uproot them today, will put up pics they say (growing mandrake) its difficult... well it might be difficult for colder places or southern hemisphere .. maybe people in colder climates should try with mandragora officinalis/officinarium but I cant help with this I think m.automnalis is pretty straight forward for my climate to grow...

G.jumonius yeah, looks like that

well if you're some kind of punk/rock/hardcore fan, then you're lucky... ask me for some certain genere of music awesomely melodic modern oi punk song One of the best modern punk-rock bands, if not THE best , active from as old as 1990

More are awesome puck-rock 1993-1997 2 songs from arnakia (=sheep) first song = KILL THE COP YOU GOT INSIDE second song = YOU LIVE TO DIE ΕΚΤΟΣ ΕΛΕΓΧΟΥ (=OUT OF CONTROL)

While we are at it, here some awesome legend pop-rock shit . fuck the youth this is 35+ year olders wow I hadnt seen the clip of this!!! (some could hear some shit I have sampkled for my raps here yo)

hey, dont let my shit confuse ya I am an original , not a regular greek, not a regular sabber as well I am raving idiot , and that's something to be proud of! Okey I will say it: Australia is not a real country actually. its like USA without the prestige. greece is as old as india and peru .... so lets be proud for a random event

see, if you like this you might be considered a marxist communist for christs sake... dont let your folks catch you listen to this if they're right wing politics always politics well its easy to make a point for leftwing artists since there are not really right wing artists... no? love this sound, effected my perception of music love march and polkas