Leaderboard

Shhhhh..... I hope Thelegonus and the other kids don't hear this,, but at the moment the favourite is my first crested graft. Pach monstrose x SS02

Slightly off topic anecdote alert: A few years ago some smackheads tried a home invasion on my elderly dad, who was silly enough to open the front door at 3am. They hit him over the head with a bar of some kind, but they chose the wrong ex sawmiller to play with. He picked one of them up and threw him headfirst down a flight of stairs, the other one ran for his life. When the cops came it was pretty much high fives all round, there was no suggestion that my dad might be in any trouble resulting from his actions, but I guess they were "country cops". Now my dad's neighbours stand well back after knocking on the door!

Couple flowers from yesterday I was able to cross And first few Ariocarpus flowers of the season

I think the whole washing your coir comes from dope dudes who are running very streamlined setups, some poor quality coir is rinsed in salt water etc during production so you wanna flush all that. For putting into a potting mix @30% I've never had any issues with PH lockouts etc.

A few of these in ur yard ;) . .

Ducks are fantastic! I used to love our Khaki Campbells and Indian Runners. We never ate them for meat, but the amount of eggs that these breeds can lay can be prodigious - duck eggs are the best for baking cakes too. The set up required is much as olive describes. We used to lock them up at night, but let them roam around the farm in the day - our dog at the time was well-rained enough to not eat them (or too lazy), even when unsupervised. Sadly, they are not very road smart, and we had a few neighbours who would drive down our dirt road at 80-100kph, even in wet & foggy conditions - so you can guess how that story ended So, keep them off the road, and be prepared for duck poo - but if you are using the ducks as part of your gardening regime, that's all good. Note that some councils won't let you keep them in suburbia (smell etc.).

Ducks are great. Once had many Muscovy and khaki Cambells, along with heaps of other types of foul. One Muscovy duckling we raised with a puppy and a kitten. These 3 animals got on very well and all grew up to love and respect each other, they all use to sleep in the dogs bed together. Guinea foul are the ultimate imo, closely followed by turkeys, geese are a hoot too. the experience of growing birds, bringing them up to maturity and then breeding them with others and watching their progeny grow is wonderful. Very good to also have a vege garden going as Muscovy and foul in general do require a steady supply of fresh greens. They are grazers so letting them out to chomp the lawn is just like a lawn mower. Say good bye to any snails or grasshoppers. A bag of seconds wheat or barley they will appreciate too. An old bath or a pond in their cage is essential as Muscovy do certainly love to have regular baths, a lge rock or log in the bath or pond is a necessity as sometime they will get carried away and may become waterlogged and have difficulty getting out. Good idea is to fill or flush this water body out on a weekly basis as they will shit in there and also take food in their bath as well. The water does become skanky quite quickly. Had some friends that use to harvest their Muscovy as they are really good meat birds and when mature carry a lot of flesh on their bones. We could never bring ourselves to kill ours and ended up with a huge managery. Their eggs are very nourishing. Foxes, wild dogs and snakes may become an issue depending on where you are. Burying the enclosures wire a few feet into the ground, pegging it down and folding it over so it continues inside the cage a meter is advisable as this will prevent animals from digging their way into you duck pen. Nice fresh nesting material, nesting boxes and fresh straw or hay is a must. They can be susceptible to face mites and at time ticks, to remove these liberally apply marj or butter the infested area and this will cut the oxygen off for these parasites and they will fall off as these bugs breathe from their abdomens. Usually any disease in a foul inclosure is the result of overcrowding or birds that may be a bit crook or lacking in vitamins. Hope you do real well with them Halcyon.

Pros: They are gorgeous, they don't make much noise and the noise they do make is normally amusing, they don't destroy your garden like chickens, and they are so cool to have around Cons: They shit on things a bit but not too horribly. They can get a bit brave once they are really used to you and they might walk around inside your house if they can let themselves in lol, and the males are sexually deviant. (They rape each other, they group rape, they commit necrophilia, although its not a daily occurrence and you might not ever see it, its weird when you do) Ours were natives so we didn't feed them, but that didn't stop them going for the cats food. I reckon they are awesome pets

Securing # 17, will edit with a pic. Good one olive! !!!!! OK so asking me which is my fave trich is about tje same as my favourite song, pretty much anything I like I LOVE!! ! This one is super cool :-)... Peru/bridesii/cuzcoensis? ???? All 3 i reckon . Sab kk338 E. peruviana

oooh *here to see cute duckies* awww no piccies? sorry i'm not much help re keeping them but fascinated at the idea and if there's anything i come across I will post it here.. duck eggs are awesome , there's a market stall with them round here but anyway... i read a snippet just now that says eating those particular ducks you mention can save your life , which sounds v interesting , gna read it but will post the link anyway http://www.rense.com/general38/dducks.htm cuz i feel bad that i just came here to see cute fwuffy ducks with no help to bring so I'll grab a pic too and hope i got the right ones... and these if theyre any good to ya mate http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/muscovy1001.htm http://hedgecombers.com/2010/11/24/muscovy-duck/

My family use lye (wood ash soaked in water & left to settle, then pour off the clear liquid) as the "water" component. But do make sure that you have fresh water to wash off, or it will burn if left on skin for any length of time. If its left out in the weather it will need to be reapplied every year or two. On wood or fabric it sticks like shit to a blanket. I have no idea how far back this tradition goes? At least three generations beyond me is all i know. Ps. do not get it on your clothes as it will not come out, and wives don't seem to have a sense of humor about these things. The cousins use/used roo blood and or egg white along with grasstree sap but i haven't asked how or how much? I can ask the next time i see them if you like?

Spending alot of time hanging out with this one lately..T Peru Seed grown

This thread makes me chuckle

What a beautiful collection! and very warm welcome to SAB !! (for when they unlock the door) -horsey

Nice going Olive This has to be my fav at the moment, T. peruvianus 'TA01' Edited to add new name (TA01)

This is my Favourite at the moment, has 16 growing tips, Cheers Godiam.

Quickly made an addition to the Trade reputation for those funky seeds My favourite right now is this big bag of cuts I got today that I'm super stoked with, my collection is growing

Awesome giveaway Olive! This is not my plant, but I speculate that it's a Trichocereus pasacana f. brevispinus hort.: http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/23843/Trichocereus_pasacana_f._brevispinus EDIT: I'm in the USA so I completely understand if that disqualifies me. Happy to pay shipping.

Congratulations Olive! Quite a contribution indeed. My entry, Echinopsis Los Banos x Trichocereus Pallarensis.

Good to see your still at it. This guy is doing well, starting to go really blue thanks olive.

ariocarpus trichocereus chimera

Respect is the key. Don't steal...........ASK, ..........every decent farmer knows what's growing on their property. They are not silly people though some city folk may think so. Farmers and small communities have networks that any city could only dream of. Be honest, tell them (though they'd alleady know) that your wanting to look for mushrooms and will be very careful and respectful on their property. Some will flat out say no because of insurance concerns and angry cows will trample you to death, or they may have their own reasons why they don't want you eating mushrooms. Some will um and ar a bit, so bring some inducements like veggies, home made jam, eggs, a nice pork roast, stuff that will visually imply to the land owner that you are a responsible and fair person, lotsa farmers drink alcohols, have a good quality carton and a nice bottle of scotch on hand, take all this to the front door ina basket so they can see what you have bought and that you have enough forthought to consider that a farmer makes money from the land, hence the mushrooms could be considered a produce by the land owner. So you are trading produce for produce in a way. Make sure the mushrooms you seek grow on or around this property before giving up your basket of goodies. Most cubes are large enough to be visible from the road as you drive past. Also creeks are allways good sources, moisture etc and cows tend to shit when they drink You may find most creeks are fenced off from a farm and it is actually gov land. these are very good spots to check, shade is good Let them know you will close all gates and be conscientious, esp where snakes are concerned. We're gummies and jeans, arrive at the farm looking like your ready to work, leave the Armani at home. Do not arrive in a hotted up car, drive a ute or similiar work vehicle, look country. The farmer like most will make their initial decision on you within 2 mins of meeting you. If you continue to get refusals then look at what you can change to tryn achieve more success. Once refused from a property it's best not to go back, they'll prob tell their neighbours as well. Most important, if a farms gate is closed, do not enter unless invited. This is trespass. Whilst a land owner is not permitted to assault you if you are on their land, consider that unless you have a witness with you, it's your word against theirs and the local coppers will beleive the farmer. Land owners are also not permitted to threaten you in any way with machette's, knives or firearms It is illegal to this and the farmer can be charged for threatening with a dangerous weapon, of course with out a witness your gonna be pushing shit up hill, so if it gets nasty, film it. ;) Farmers and most land owners are very nice people, lots of them have indulged in the sacred so are well aware of the effects of the fungus and also the risks involved. When I went to QLD on a cube hunting trip, I found I didn't have to trespass or ask at a farm at all, there were heaps growing along a road side cows had walked down. Massive fuckers, so easy to spot from the car. This then led me to a creek that was gov land (signage) n there were more cubes than I knew what to do with, I collected heaps of the big ones for making prints. Allways tryn get your self some cow poo with mycelium in it for your garden as well. It's very possible extract good isolates from wild specimens for bath tub grows in your backyard at home. Do test this isolate before going to all the trouble of setting up a big grow as if it's a shitty isolate you will get shitty shrooms, growth rate and potency. Pans and copes are a bit diff than cubes, cubes are much easier to find imo. depending on where you are of course.

bump! to my eyes a validus and at the back a terscheckii ?? with a nasty black rot ?? infection ... or is it a validus too? time will tell from the pup becoming huge