Optimystic

http://www.thenook.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=83644 <<this was my first post ever I think lol In case you are a nooker and wanna look at the pics ... plus recent update ..

I got a quiabentia several months ago here in the states, around 5 months ago to be approximate... these guys did nothing but dehydrate and rehydrate on me for months, and then finally one just shot out some new tiny leaves just in the past 2 weeks... They did have exposure to cooler temps for about a month or so, but not less than 50F/10C, and for the past month they were upstairs here back in warmer temps... .... the new growth looks healthy, but seems much much slower than pereskiopsis... even with a good dose of micro nutes and watering on average every 10 days... It was hard as hell for me to get any info about these... and what little I did was folks telling me to treat them much more like a cereus or tricho or cylindropuntia... and not so much a pereskiopsis... they look like a mean viscious pereskie with bridgesii spines lol They haven't taken off for me, and so remind me and i'll update you... I have a thread over a nook but with not much attention at all ... but just to share, I don't think these are a great candidate for a hydro setup... I could be wrong tho :shrug:

I was having troubles with a Mitragyna which attract quite alot of bugs... Something else brought in scale and I had bit of a problem earlier in the year which spread to other plants.. I read everywhere that the mitragyna plant is too sensitive to use most things on, even strong neem... I went ahead and experimented with Azadirachtin with good results, even on a freshly rooted seedling and it worked great... I even stepped up dosage recently just as a test and found no adverse effects.. Viridis is a similar plant I think, but not sure... it also has helped keep thrips under control... and also fungus gnats... It is a neem product... labeled as an insecticide, miticide and nematicide... both foliar and systemic... anti feedant, insect growth regulator and Anti-Ovipository(eggs) as well as a repellent.... its safe for both spray and root drenching on alot of plants though personally I just stick with the sulfur powder light dusting on cacti... It says OMRI listed, and also in the pamphlet, says it can be used up to the day of harvest, and on garden crops, herbs, spices, fruits & berries... it says that anyhow check it out, I hope that helps

These plants have helped me so much with patience ... and yet I cannot wait to see one bloom in person Thanks for all the pics my goodness... Im reluctant to click "Like" on any of these cause I "Love" all of them <3

I really enjoy hearing these stories at how ppl came to discover his work (not to deify him) You would think from the majority of comments I have seen about this after posting this vid recently, that these were all the same people!!!! Go figure, most of them were on cactus forums lol I wanted to add that the one I first discovered was "The Power of Myth" a subsection of "Themes of Sacrifice & Bliss" which was a Bill Moyers interview on our public broadcasting network here in the states... I was so glued to the tv that day and I barely look at television anymore... even a year ago... I plan to purchase that vid soon along with "The Art of Living" & "Thou art that: transforming religious metaphor" Please do take Obtuses direction @ "Go now, enjoy his wisdom :D" .... Especially if fiction is not your thing as I can relate... There is so much more to this world! Somehow I am sure you folks down under, have a pretty firm grasp of this

Fascinating man... He influenced quite alot of well known people with the things he learned in his life work.. I saw him by chance a year ago, on the way out and was mesmerized ..so I wrote down the name of the vid and it was in my wallet for months until some synchronicity led me back to find some of his vids at the beginning of the year... This was not my usualy cup of tea@ anything based in fiction or mythology, but I have gained quite an appreciation for some things that I was struggling with before... If you watch I would appreciate any comments... even if you already read all of his books I would appreciate your comments:) Enjoy This stuff is deep and may inspired creativity... viewer beware http://youtu.be/QBwEKSO0dkI and here is another page with a few others to look at if you so desire http://www.youtube.c...l/HCKGHywpTvBWs

These are all TREMENDOUS posts! what a community I wanted to add to one of CBL's thoughts... I was reading a book a few years back titled "Permission to succeed"... This book was mainly about self sabotage... It went into explain , how the average Joe really already knows how to be successful, but what the average joe doesn't possess is the ability to counter those inner voices and pains.... He goes on to explain how no one can be more cruel to ourselves than we are... Think about that... Who knows your buttons more than you? Your own innervoice, which can often be perceived as a demon, can really say some cruel things that are felt on every level... for example "I am ugly, I am fat, I am useless, I would be better off dead... I can never " "... I hate myself... You can hear other ppl say these things and maybe you'll get fired up, but when you hear this in your own voice, its enough to shut you down... He went on to say how the realized that success anorexia is exactly like regular annorexia... how ppl with this disease, tend to hate themselves so much, or their appearance, that they force themselves to live on water and bread crumbs... there were examples so bad, that someone forced themselves to eat out of a dog's bowl, because they felt so invaluable to themselves.... From this book I gained a powerful writing exercise... though I only did this one time, I found this to be extremely powerful and the effects have stuck with me, come to realize it... The author says to take out a piece of paper and divide it into two sides.... now on one side... bring out your bad side... let your pen flow... write down everything negative you can ever think about yourself... and let the cruelness roll... don't stop until you fill up that page and continue on the other side if you need to... .... Then... of course.. find a positive affirmation for each of those negative ideas.... For example , if one of them was "I am ugly" then the other should be something like "I accept myself for who I am and anyone who loves me will too"... I think you can help with this, but its amazing how easy it is to come up with positives once the negatives are down on paper, it kinda kills the dogma about it... This is for anyone.. I just remembered that just now... Im not sure if this is the best for your friend, but use your best judgement, as you know him better than all of us... again, best wishes with that... Im not sure how much this all can help your friend, but expressing your feelings here helps everyone here I believe @ I realize most of us got into plants, partly as a means to help us with things...

I have been through similar to what you described... I have had it all, lost it all... been to rock bottom more than once, though I've heard tales of rockier bottoms.. anxiety is a real fucking hell... ppl abuse that word almost as much as the word love I would recommend encouraging for your friend, a healthy diet if this is not the case... the right nutes help by body make what it needs to be balanced... Pain and pleasure are lifes biggest motivators, two others that fall into that category of HUGE are creativity and responsibility... I've seen these whip all sorts of people back into the magic of life, but ultimately the hardest part is realizing they have to decide for themselves... When one is buried in pain, in those crushing moment, it seems as there is no way anyone else can possibly experience the same pain, but its the same for all of us who struggle with depression and anxiety... The reality is, the most successful, so called "happy" people, have just as much or more pain and responsibility ... and part of our duty is to transmute those emotions into our lives creatively... any negative can be turned into a positive... I know this for sure I think you must discuss with your friend about forgiving himself... it sounds like thats not easy for him, but there is a point where, once that decision is made, the individuals entire perspective of the world changes... also, if you can sorta sneak in a way to pick at their creativity, you will be a magical force in his or her life, not that you aren't already.. any type of project that requires more than one participant, is magic in itself... He is lucky... everyone forgot about me except my mom and dad and sister.. its a really dark feeling, when you are isolated and absent of that feeling of connection.. you are that flickering flame in his life.. don't ever give up! Some little one liners that I can't say were the cure for me, but actually "Stuck" were when someone told me sincerely "You are not alone"... and a recommendation that I should "Spend a day on the sidelines" if it is such the case that his mind is filled with that noise/voices... Now aside from my experience, I lived with a guy for a year.. I rented him a room,,, he was virtually homeless.. .staying in an ex friend of mines rental property with no power or utilities... no car, just a handful of "acquaintences"... I spent a year trying to help this guy... it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life to pour so much energy into that, but he was very self destructive... by the end of that year I was so depressed that I began blaming him and surely he was part of it, but I was wrong about being able to change someone... the best times we had as friends was when I wasn't trying to change him, but just being a friend.. it ended disastrously with one of his emotional fits... It wasn't til then I realized what he needed most... anyhow, best wishes for your friends health

My first seedling grafts! 1 is an albino Spachianus! 1 is Pc Pach x SS02/SS01 looking maybe a little wierdo... A couple of Ariocarpus Fissuaratus, 2 ValidxLJ, another PC/SS and a Werdermannianus I hope lol This was from my first sew ever! 12-12-12 I am feeling very luck atm Funny thing was I didn't recognize the wierdness til I looked at the pic! What a surprise! Hope they all take in any case instead of me giving them good vibes, they gave me good vibes! @ stoked. I feel really good about most of them being centered right.. one I had to recut but looked okay

I was just listening to an old Alan Watts video called "The Alchemy of LSD"... He got into how much of the science is skewed for political reaons, like for instance, they did experiments early on, with cats, but they gave doses equivalent to triple a safe dose for an average human.. so of course they would get some ugly results... He also got into the immaturity factor.. trying to outdo someone who tripped balls, or even using some substances recreationally is just outright irresponsible.. and theres plenty of those stories you hear... I know ppl whom are still perma fried from our teen years.. But I say this with limited experience with anything of the nature.. my only test of lsd was when I was maybe 17 and it wasn't all that fancy @ beavis and butthead... My two other exprience I think may fall into the realm of what some would consider bad trips... The 2nd trip of my life was in 07 I think, and I was laced by something which I may never know.. its a long story but the trip didn't really stop for about a week and wasn't completly over for about 2 weeks... I suspect maybe Ibogaine or perhaps lsd way stronger than whatever I got at age 17.. I dunno.. also I maybe smoked a shroom but I don't think so cause I have one experience with shrooms which was much different... anyhow.. the first few days of that was absolutely terrifying... I was alone too after the random ppl who came by that day took off, and a couple of these ppl have been written off for that but many other reasons.. but i have to say, I got so much from that... like a real life changing experience... It was like my shadow was trying to enslave my ass but I was able to approach this entity with my inquisitive nature and the whole thing turned around... I think alot of it was some inner darkness I had locked away inside that was finally able to exercise or something... but there was some shit that was so dramatic, that I coulnd't really call it a bad or good experience... when I came out of the trip, I was angry for two weeks and had a bit of "God Syndrome"... I was walking around like "Who took this shit away from me, im taking my shit back"... it was a very egotistical feeling that brought me alot of disgust later and induced a ton of apologies... but in retrospect, I learned so much from that and to this day I still have coincidences related to this event... Right before being foreclosed a little over a year ago, I was still latched on to a bit of materialism and well, when I was losing my home you would have thought it was the end of the world (not surprising I suppose).. but anyhow... by happenstance i was reading about john hopkins reasearch, and later than evening I went to get some herbs.. well the guy had some shrooms in his green closet and I thought, why not, after all, suicide had crossed my mind everyday that week... I was gettingn close to getting a gun and just finishing myself off to kill the misery, though part of me knew I wouldn't, i had moments of sincerity that would have been quite dangerous if I had a gun laying around... and that same guy probably would have sold me a gun without giving it a second thought... anyhow, my first experience with shrooms was odd... I thoroughly enjoyed it, but you wouldn't think so form all the pacing and crying I was doing... I literally balled my eyes out, in the backyard, inspite of a party going on next door... gee I wonder what they were thinking... But it was such a release.... so yeah, maybe a friend would have called it a "bad trip" from the outside looking in, but for me it was the greatest release i've ever experienced... a true load off my back... I was able to make peace almost immediately and all my thoughts of setting the home on fire, getting a machine gun and getting into a shootout with the cops, its just all faded... I was happy and this period is when I became interested in raising ethnobotanicals, but its kinda evolved into just a plain ol' hobby, with no other reasons, but rewarding on a much different level... Long story short, this past year has been one of the most humble years in my life, and attribute that mostly to the experience of parting with a material item, the home, and knowing that I still had love... but so much of that was the experience, right before letting go... I got so much help from the fungus.. more than I could ever repay nature for... Theres my 2... Thanks for reading!

That sure makes alot of sense CBL... someone else mentioned Peruvianus as a possible ally... I completely forgot about the spines which is maybe what confused me the most! There isn't much evidence that more then 2 or 3 fell off, but I spotted one that was broken, and I yanked it off, and the aeroles are "felty" enough that I couldn't tell a spine was there before, so its very likely more fell off... (I had to go look again).. I noticed towards the top that all the aeroles had only 3 or 4 spines, but lower ones have as many as 7 possibly 8... another thing, is the aereoles are raised and rounded in a very neat mound-like fashion and thats pretty consistent but the photo doesn't show that well... I wanted to compare to my pc's but I have them pushed up to a wall behind alot of other plants and plus is night time here atm... The aeroles sorta point at the 'peruvianus' possibility.. I have 3 different bridgesiis and none have aeroles like that, while a couple bridgesii seedlings sorta have larger feltier aeroles.. But then again, The feltier part could easily be a Pachanoi trait imo, although I don't think my PC's show any "Mounding" but are flat from what I can remember..... My larger bridgesii's however do show alot of randomness in spinage with the exception of 1 and 2 year old seedlings... Thanks so much for going in depth, that really makes alot of sense! now im more puzzled but in a good way ... My plants are spoiled at minimum, but I work on not going "over care" on them.. If I hadn't collected so many by now that might be an issue! LOL The ironic thing is that plants have always helped me a bit with my patience, yet I am so anxious for these to grow!!! The 2 with the dark spines, I am especially anxious to see as they are of just a couple that I have yet to see new growth on, inspite of at least one of them showing a little root bud before I potted them up a couple months ago... Those two have really tough skin on them, much like another pachanoid I have which looks alot like a kimnach and pups at the base alot.... and a similar light green color that fades to a dull color with age... that one seems as a thicker plant, but time will tell... It has much different spinage traits also, in terms of angle but come to think of it, they are fairly dark brown spines on those... who knows what time & patience may reveal with these... the only thing else I can say about the spine color, is the lady I got them from had several other pachanois that look like fat pc's but which seem a bit off, maybe thicker, and wavier but no sign of oxidized spines on those and plus a blonde/light brown wooly flower bud... I was sent one of those as a gift and to me it looks like a mean looking PC and I can't wait to see if it grows into the same clone or if that too has some other genetics... Thanks so much for taking the time to go in depth with your thoughts on these that is quite helpful!

I have a thing for plants that make me turn my head sideways.... and thus I ended up with these two cuttings, or three rather... The first one was sold to me as a Pachanoi... My thoughts are that its possibly a hybrid of PC Pach and Bridgesii, but thats just a wild guess... I really love the "Smoothness" of the profile of this plant... I was told its a really thick plant when mature, like over 6 inches... It looks kinda like a long spined PC Pach but i've also seen some labeled bridgesii that have similarities... one thing in particular is the spacing of the aeroles... they are quite far apart like Bridgesiis, however i've seen similar on one I beliieve to be a Peruvianus, but similarly, it also doesn't have any grooves, eagles or V notches ... lol eagles I wish I knew exactly what it was cause if im right it kinda fits into MS's theory about the PC bridgesii relation... The other two are quite unique!... Im puzzled as to whether or not they are even truly Trichocerii... They have a really neat bubbly shape kinda like chiloensis and some from that complex... I really like looking at these... what really stands out to me, and was listed when I bought these was the spines... they are black! any thoughts or leads on these? They are a bit weathered... one of them was split all the way down on one side and even had paint splatter on it (not much)... I got them in october and they haven't grown at all, but spring is quickly approaching.. and Im very anxious for spring... Lastly, I also obtained this crested plant without a name as a gift I'm wondering if there's anything that might speak to whether or not this is a crested tricho or is this just something I have to guess at too?? so far Im leaning to a cereus type but I don't expect much more than a guess on this one Any thoughts or leads on any of these is greatly appreciated Thanks for looking!

Thanks for the reply Stillman! Certainly it is some type of pachanoid! Have you ever seen a Pach with similar spines? I love the profile either way.. but I can live with calling it a "Pachanoi" Can't wait to see this plant get bigger and bloom hopefully, but then again I feel that way about all of them It came from sunny California where the donor was growing in the ground, so it could very easily be the conditions that inspire the long spines like many of them do in the wild... I do have couple other authentic non pc Pachanois with longer spines (they etoliated a bit and looks like the common ssp/pach at the tips, but they will get plenty more sun in the coming season) but they are not even close looking, other than the spines being really similar (just realized that) they're fairly thick @ 4/4.5 thick in the non etoliated base... Those are more rounded at the tip while this one has that wavy shape common to PC pachanois and seen alot on bridgesii @ the source of my initial guess What you think about the dark spined ones being a possible pach? In the N00k someone mentioned a Puqio throwing black spines... Im perfectly content w/whatever they might be, but if not trichocereus, I'd really like to find some leads on possibilities! Anyhow, thanks again!

Sorry guys... I've been mostly lurking here and active over at the nook I made 4 sews this winter and still plenty seeds for more! on 12-12-12 I sewed (labeled as) Fresh seeds: Validus x Lumberjacks 100.03% sprouts! 2 more sprouted than I thought I planted 35 out of 33 lol PcPachxss02-ss01 90% sprouted 33 out of 40 Seeds I had over a year Ariocarpus Fissuratus 50% sprouted 8/16 T. Spachianus 75% sprouted 19/24 including an albino! T. Werdermannianus approx 30% sprouted 9/33, but one looks like it dried up.. one fell over too and maybe lost roots so maybe my 1st seed graft T. Validus ... from 2 vendors 0 (with a slash through) sprouts T. Terscheckii - another goose egg On 12 -18.. a few of 2 forms of pach and bridgesii from 2 vendors plus a couple seeds I dropped in the first sew (which both came up lol) 12-21-12, several year old Peruvianus labeled seeds and Astrophytum Asterias, a Discocactus Araneispinus, which both have no sprouts Very low counts on the Peruvianus One labeled Macrogonus about 1/4 sprouted... 6/24 Peru Huancamba, 1 sprout Peru Ayacucho 1 sprout Peru Tarmaensis - g00se Peru Koehres - g00se Then on New years I began an experiment on rockwool which is going excellent..65 seeds total planted A few of each are sprouted, with 15 in total , not bad on old seeds and expecting more... 4 pieces of rockwool (1 inchers cut in half put in a baked potato domed container from a restaurant) Peruvianus 'Matucana' Peru Macrogonus from a different vendor as the previous mac seeds and the same two types of pach seeds... Plus I've got a few more packs of seeds! will update around when I sew... Im approaching 150 seedlings 146 total I think so far... so I'm gonna be working on some grafts as we approach spring here starting with the albino tomorrow! Happy Sewing and growing

@ fydesvindico NM@ what I deleted ... it actually looks more like a Pach I was gifted to me , which has slightly larger fuzzy aeroles like that, peruvianus like but maybe a little bigger tho. I should have looked closer at the other pic.. that particular vendor had some pics of theirs with flower buds and they weren't white or black but like blondie, kinda light brown looking... I suppose they could have been dirty or weathered ... but the notable thing was the way the aeroles look a bit fuzzier/feltier, like that ... I've got many of the american pc pach, and from pics I thought it was the same but maybe just different due to cali sun/temps, but I think its different and looks alot like yours also my cousin is bringing me one from peru that has thick aeroles like that (fingers crossed)

I'd really love to know where to get a nice Juuls! for reasonable price or trade and of course know for sure its a Juuls' but I'll also add any old pach to my collection (even got one on its way from peru at the eom) ... but I am unable to message or see profiles I guess cause I've been lurking too much lol I have been active over at the N00k ... Thanks in advance if you can help Trucha! same name over @ N00k but don't go outta your way... this would just about complete my collection for now since I have seedling growing out of my ears now lol (and some juuls cross seeds) and btw Im really enjoying the enthusiasm over here, alot, which I wish was more obvious over at the n00k,, great ppl in general tho