gneumatics

ahhh..... bend in, not out. Cheers!

The room would be around the 18 degree Celsius mark without the heater. One thing I forgot to mention, I have the humidifier blowing over the leaves all of the time so a lot are almost constantly wet. Is this a bad this you think? ... G

Stillman: Do you think it might be too much or too little? SallyD: Yes, I do stick my finger into the soil but i also use a moisture sensor and water when they are at number 4 (1-3 says 'dry' 4-7 says 'moist' and 8-10 says 'dry'). This is because i assume with my humidifier blowing over the plants the top soil is likely to be wetter then the soil down at the roots. The heater is an electric fin heater that heats oil in the fins. Fertilizer seems unlikely to be the case as I've only seasol'd them once so far in about 2 weeks. Will go easier on the amount of ferts all the same now. ... G

Hey all. So I've since had my p.viridis's delivered and at first they seemd quite happy to be placed in the indoor environment I have going. The top leaves have been growing bigger and bigger each day however the lower leaves are all starting to drop. They also have black edges once they have dropped. My question is if this is normal? i mean are they just getting used to their new home or should i be doing something drastic to make sure they live? The details of the setup are as follows... Plant size: 6 inch/15cm mark. Soil: Soil mixture comprised of %40 perlite, %30 humus and %30 cactus soil. Growing area: 2ft x 2ft (60cms x 60 cms) enclosed space with painted white walls. Light type: 2 x 55w T5 6500k fluorescent tubes with a 60cmx50cm metal reflector placed 10 inches/25cms from the tips. Light Intensity: 500 lux at the tips of the plants. Light Cycle: 16hrs on and 8 hrs off (set by a timer to ensure cycle is constant from day to day). Watering Times and Type: Twice weekly with filtered tap water. Once on Monday which will be a full watering (Adding water, allowing it to drain and then adding water again this time with fertilizer) and again on Thursday night which will be a half watering (simply adding water and allowing it to drain). If little growth is happening the watering schedule will be reduced and humidity levels increased. Fertilizing: Liquid fertilizer to be used once fortnightly with the full watering (using half the strength of the direcions on the packaging), and Seasol once fortnightly (alternating with the liquid fertilizer, this time at 3/4's of the strength dierected on the packaging). Once plants are established Osmocote will be applied at 1/4 the recommended amount on the packaging. Humidity: Humidifier to be used. Fungicide will be sprayed on the walls and plants once a month. Temperature: Aiming to keep as close to a constant 25 degrees Celsius as possible with the help of a small oil heater. Pot Size: Standard plastic 6 inch pots (14 cms). Any help would be much appreciated..... ... Cheers... ... G

Cheers mate Love having more links! I have actually found the following lights suit my purposes better due to the more even lighting (for shade loving psychotria) and atm %30 off for anybody interested... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/T5-FLUORO-PROPAGATION-LIGHT-4-X-LAMP-55W-HYDROPONICS-/220871863648?pt=AU_Home_Outdoor_Lighting&hash=item336cfd2d60

woof woof woof: What are your thoughts on humidifiers vs misting?

Great to hear from someone who's going through the same process as me and good thing you posted here as I'd pretty much given up on AE as the response rate isn't anywhere near as high as here at SAB. How do you gauge the best time to water? soil dampness? As mine aren't actively growing I've been instructed to humidify more and water less so thats what I'm doing. I've also had large differences in humidity reading from locally bought Hygrometers. Some say %60 and others say %95 (I have three so far). I think its time to bite the bullet and actually spend some money on something that will give me a reasonable amount of accuracy. ... G

Ok, so I've been put onto a product called Greencure, see the link... http://www.greencure.net/ Sounds safe but not too sure about effectiveness. Apparently the way it works is by sucking water out of the air which starves the fungus. I'm just a bit concerned that this may mean the poor psychotria's don't get the humidity they are after. Anybody had any experience?

Is there a reason I shouldn't just use bleach to throughly clean the room every month or so? Cheaper and I'd imagine a lot more effective then neem too. Or wouldn't my plants like that very much? ... G

sethomopod: Is it safe for indoor use though? especially when a humidifier might be causing it to become air-born (no idea if this is possible, just being cautious). Applesnail: I'm liking the idea of neem oil more and more the more I read. I'm intending to get a %100 concentrate in a 1 litre size (around $40 with postage) and mixing it with baking soda. I'm guessing I will have to spray the plants and walls more often (once fortnightly instead of monthly) though as apparently it breaks down a lot quicker then chemical based fungicides.

Nice info Applesnail Where do you get your supply of Neem in victoria?

SallyD to the rescue again ;) Pre-emptive. Everybody who has suggested a humidifier so far has forewarned "use a fungicide on the walls and plants once a month!", so I'm planning on doing just that. There seems to be a few 'organic fungicides' on the market but who knows if this means 'safe' as well. Applesnail: Can you expand on what you mean by 'to an extent'? Will once a month spraying do the job of keeping fungus away you reckon? From my research so far I'm planning to use lime sulfur on the walls only of the 2ft x 2ft x 2ft area (as it burns evergreens apparently if used directly on the leaves) and something else on the plants themselves, perhaps Neem if it turns out to be effective enough? Link to lime sulfur product http://www.yates.com...pray-fungicide/ ... G

So I am planning on using a fungicide for an indoor area which will have pretty high humidity due to the use of a humidifier however I am a bit worried about the toxicity of the products. I currently have copper fungicide but was wondering if anybody was aware of a safer product for indoor use available within Australia? Cheers... … G

Yup, Psychotria nexus. If you can find any info on the best way to grow these little guys it would be great to add to the collection here, for myself and others who might be interested in following the same path as me. The thing is that this forum (as well as forums.ayahuasca.com) are really the ONLY place that I have come across that give detailed and reliable information (at least on the net). I'm sure anybody with a good education in tropical plant cultivation would know this stuff inherently, but I certainly do not fit into that category. The humidifier: This is my first experimentations with using one but my thinking is that I would like to mimic their natural environments as closely as possible. I do worry about keeping fungal growth at bay and also at the state of my wooden closet after the this little experiment but I'm prepared to make sacrifices if I can get a deeper understanding into how psychotria ticks. ... G

Excellent news. Good to know I won't have to risk damaging the little guys by re-potting ... G