THCixx420

January 10, 2013

Hi All,

Anyone got some Quiabentia they are prepared to sell or trade?

I'm keen to get my hands on some to see how it goes next to the peres in the hydro setup.

Cheers

ixx

January 9, 2013

Seeds need to fall in an area high in nitrogen and phosphate I think. Thats why sheep and cattle yards usually have a blanket of the stuff. Even around farm house septics. Same for hiigh animal traffic areas around the farm - lots of dung seems to mean lots of nettle, dock & horehound close by. Nettle is pretty hardy - you can mow it off and ground level and it comes straight back. I'm sure there is nettle seed in some bird seed - I've found it growing in the bottom of the cage but then again this stuff grows anywhere.

January 9, 2013

Sounds like I might need to go collection for a few people.

Cover post and I'll go collecting a few live plants and see what the seed situation is. There would be thousands around my veggie patch at the block and millions more spread all over the place at this time of year. I have tried nettle in salads, soups and stews, drunk as a tea with a sweetner and rubbed around aching bones. It tastes a bit like spinach I guess and worked a treat rubbed on aches - I don't know if was something in the sting or the stinging sensation itself but it offered some relief from locked up joints when shearing/crutching sheep. An old shearer actually put me on to the uses.

January 9, 2013

I can knock up a box with a few stocks as well as some odds and sods to go on top of them if interested?

January 9, 2013

I have never collected any seed but I have plenty growing around the stock yards and farm. Bad weed which I hit with chem on the weekend.

If you are close to a cattle or sheep sale yard or know a farmer close by - go there for a look around the yards and fenclines looking for live plants. Animals have most likely walked and rubbed seed off in these areas and plants will be growing. Stinging nettle is everywhere.

Make sure you get yourself some dock weed to rub on the stings if required. 9 times out of 10 dock will be growing with or close to the nettle. Big round leaf - cant miss it.

I'm interested in how you are using it? Eating or drinking?

Good luck with your hunt.

January 8, 2013

Well, early feb isn't great for me, but I am not going to miss this.

*prepares clone.

I don't mind if two (or 10) dates need to be set for people to come chill out.

I actually wish I proposed this earlier and made it an Australia day long weekend bender and recovery. Mayby next year and every year after that :-)

If anyone is keen - Bring an interesting plant or two and we will get a community garden going on the island. I personally don't care what your plant is or it's status in the community :-) Be good if a garden of the most requested plants could be established for redistribution amongst members. If a plant isn't frost tolerant or requires special conditions - I have a place for those too. While I'm at it - if there is something you want to produce on a decent scale quickly to get out there I'd be interested in helping out there as well. I just like growing stuff. By the time you guys get here for camping I should have quite a few seedlings established from the AEA auction and other interestings plants members have sent me seeds for.

Also, due to the water levels going up and down like a yoyo it is most likely only 4x4 will get onto island. Dont stress if you don't have one. I will have mine and a trailer to ferry people and gear across. If it's too high we will either wade across or all be loading boats and kayaks to get ourselves across - all part of the fun. Vehicles left at the crossing will be safe on the property and within eyesight.

If there are a few people coming I will organize a side or quarter of beef. I'd ask for $ to cover this. $7.50/kg once it comes out the other end of the abs at the moment which is alot better than the $20-30/kg supermarkets rape you for the better cuts of their shit meat. I'll just need to know how many kg total if you want to do this.

When I think of more I'll pop it on here.

Looking forward to meeting you guys. All the best.

January 8, 2013

Comets are great - One of my fondest memories was a sleep over at my primary school in '86 to watch Halley's comet - I held hands with the girl I had a crush on for 2 hours!

Fond memories for me too. Must of been some love dust floating down from the tail of Halley's comet... My primary school camp was at the base of mt Bogong when the comet was at it's best. The teachers had organized the camp around hiking to the top and viewing the comet through a big a55 telescope that got carried up on the hike up. I got partnered up with the cute newish kept to herself girl at school for the hike and turn on the telescope. After we had our turn she planted a big one on me and didn't stop until the teacher dragged her off much to my dismay and the cheers from my mates. We decided that night to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Sadly the next day someone pointed out she had one brown eye and one green eye - relationship over. Just a little boy and already an asshole.

January 7, 2013

I'm easy mate

January 7, 2013

Hey d00d,

Package arrived today. I was so excited opening the box I dived right in searching out the seeds and got spiked multiple times on those awesome cuts! I wasn't expecting a third cut in there and got myself on it as well lol

Good work organizing this fundraiser d00d.

Big thanks to you and everyone who gave the above goodies and all the extras not above that made it the awesome pack it is.

Cheers!

ps. ta for holding off on the postage for me too.

oh and thanks for getting that cutting going! nice.

January 7, 2013

Do you own a patch of the land ixx? or is it park?

All that land is family owned. No one person owns it or can sell it - forever to be handed down.

We got sick of dickheads turning up at public spots and ruining things for our family and friends with bad behaviour so we found this.

BTW your welcome to bring your tinny as long as I get a ride in it with my own tinny in hand

January 7, 2013

^ Was it winter when some of those photos were taken?...looks like water in areas where it normally wouldn't be

7 and 8 are winter pics of early morning fog. The rest are this spring/summer I think.

I'm not very far down stream from the wall. At this time of year they let lots of water out for irrigation and the water levels rise and fall up to nearly 2m in a day sometimes depending how much they want down stream. In winter there is bugger all water about in the river because they are saving it in the weir and I can walk, drive or ride down the river almost all the time unless it has been pissing down for a week and then I can only drive or walk it.

The photo's with water over the track 12-13-14 are from the start of spring when they started letting the water out. Pic 15 is the crossing to the island where you need to drive across the old murray flow if you want to camp there. - In the morning the water wasnt even flowing through the crossing but by lunch time it was around 2m deep.

January 6, 2013

Here are a few pics from around the island

Plenty of Cod, Yellow Belly, Red Fin and bloody carp caught around here. Bird watchers paradise - Eagles, Hawks, Swans, Ducks and god knows how many unidentified. Also turtles, platypus, water rats, possums, koalas, lizards, snakes, roos, wallabies and cows - bit of everything really.

Almost anything goes here except pretty much no circle work or glass bottles. Family, Pet, boat and motorbike friendly. Facilities are lacking but you will get over it lol

There are lots of other activities and places to explore nearby. If anyone wants a 4x4 tour or a hike around the region I'm happy to lead a convoy. Beechworth, Yackandandah and Stanley are rich with history and there are many awesome places to explore If you know where they are hidden. No need for a 4x4 but there are some very serious tracks if thats your thing.

Just putting it out there. Pretty keen to meet a few like minded people.

All the best.

January 6, 2013

Is this camping trip still going down?

If your in need of a spot I can offer up 'The Island". Located down stream of the Hume Weir wall on the Murray. 3 hours North of Melbourne and 6 hours South of Sydney.

"The Island" is a 50 acre Island in the middle of the Murray. Nice and secluded, good fishing and a kick ass sound system up in the trees. I can get some pictures up If you like of the area.

Also anyone passing through Is more than welcome to hit me up for a camping spot for a couple of nights.

Cheers,

ixx

January 4, 2013

I'm keen.

PMd

January 3, 2013

Nothing taken the wrong way mate. Other peoples view and input gets me thinking outside my little bubble. If you spot something that you think is rat shit or just plain stupid tell me and If I dont have a good reason for doing it i'll change it up.

I dont want plants that grow like they are on steroids, just good plants. I dont want a loph for example to look like a tennis ball - I want a real hard grown one. All I'm doing is using a different "soil" and micro managing what they get to eat, drink, sunbake in and when lights go out.

They still take a long time to grow unless I graft them to something which I only do when the plant has been messed up or its life is threatened - like on the 1st of Jan when the bloody chooks decided to eat at 17 little buttons. I removed them quick, sliced em in half and got grafting onto some trichs.

I've kept all my knowledge and special plants to myself for a very long time. It wasn't until recently when I tried to save a young bloke that crashed his bike into a 4x4 in front of little school kids at over 200 that I decided to start sharing after a soul search.

I'm just here to share a bit, learn a lot and enjoy life a little more.

January 2, 2013

Growing up on a farm and an expensive education here http://www.marcusoldham.vic.edu.au/ and a love of growing stuff has got me to this point.

None of what I'm sharing here is new to me. Nearly 20 years of trial and error with many failures with many plants. I expect some to die off - thats the game when you push things beyond their natural limits. Plants are very adaptable if you work them up to it and dont just start pumping stuff into them.

I don't do anything the normal way.

January 2, 2013

At the 14:00 watering today I will try get a photo of the nutes traveling below the root and show how dry everything is.

January 2, 2013

HAve you got lophs on there own roots in the channel? I'm not sure if thats a good idea, things like you little desert central Americans have a tap root that can be precarious of natured, moderate watering isn't a problem in hot weather in the right soil mix but be watchful as the temperature cools down and uncontrolled humidity of a channel may promote fungal issues etc. Interesting experiment but I'm curious to see the results.

Yep, own root. Those ones are only in there for a week or two to firm up and recover after some bad sunburn. Yesterday the temp was 32 deg and the medium dried out to 0% 30 minutes after the dose with the new watering schedule. They will be right. If they sat in too much moisture for weeks i'd be woried but not worried when Its less than 15% moisture for an hour or two a day. I watch them like a hawk - most days from 6am till 10pm I'm working in and around the nursery with a break during the hottest hours of the day. If they lose their firmness or start to discolor in any way they get pulled and sat on a tray of dry perlite for a while - this hasnt happened for a long time. Most of those lophs were rooted and squishy like sultanas. I was going to get most of them grafted but I threw them in there a few days ago and they have firmed up nicely.

Each of those lophs is placed in the medium so just the tip of the root gets a lick of nutes for a quick feed and dryout. The other assorted cactus are placed in the medium the same way depending if they are deep or shallow rooted - again for a quick lick and dry out. Yesterday I set one channel for a 14:00 watering and the other is 06:00 and 14:00 to see how they go.

How often do you water your cactus? Are they in pots? I bet If you checked your pots for moisture for a few days after watering you would find it is alot more moist in the pots than what this setup is. I've had more problems with plants in pots than In hydro coz you really dont know whats happening in the pots unless you probe them or pull them out for a look. I can pull a plant from the hydro without damaging the roots, inspect it and get it back in there in seconds to keep growing happily.

Everyone worries too much about the water. If they arent soaking in it they will be fine. I've grown lophs in heavily aerated water and fish tanks full of fog/mist under lights with no problem. As long as there is plenty of air exchange everything will be sweet. I might tip some fish out and get a tank going again to make another point.

This isn't an awesome setup - just a very basic version of the shipping containers - just one to make a point which anyone could make for around $100 in materials and $50 for a 100litre bag of perlite.

Over winter all the succulents will be back in the containers or in the nursery so the keep growing well.

January 2, 2013

^^^

I think its funny. Thats why I do it.

Thats all.

January 2, 2013

Isn't putting THC on a envelope a bit dodgy? Like common that's just asking for them to be opened.......

THCixx420 is a name/tag/label I've used for 19 years. Some people may view it as a drug reference but to me It's just a name. I've sent hundreds of packages with stuff I've sold online with exactly that in big bold letters printed on every box with no drama's yet.

Nothing naughty would ever be posted anyway :-)

If it really is a concern I will stop doing it for forum members.

January 2, 2013

I waited until today for the post office to re-opened before sending letters. They were happy to take the letters as they were but they cost an extra 60c (total $1.20) to send. The post lady said letters cost 60c and any small unknown articles in an envelope under (i cant remember) so many grams and thickness cost $1.20 - letter or no letter. Must be padded though.

anyway.... they are all posted.

Happy growing!

January 2, 2013

I'm still fine tuning the waterings.

Moisture was still around 10-15% at the beginning of the 15:00 dose of nutrrients.

Air temp 28-32 for the period between waterings. A bit to much on the moist side of dry for me.

I'm aiming for 0-10% moisture in the channels for 2 hours before the 15:00 nutes to allow time for excess moisture to be drawn away from roots - either by gravity taking moisture back down through the channel to the sump or through evap.

I've added a few more plants by chook selection process (chickens got in greenhouse and knocked a few over).

I have tagged all of them up with numbers and have started taking measurements for my diary. When Ive finished that I'll take new pictures and include measurements.

January 1, 2013

I've been stuffing around with the setup this morning and thought It was a good day to put a few in and start a bit of a grow diary.

I've spaced it out a bit and left plenty of room for more. Check the pictures and fire away.

Nothing flash but it does the job.

Watering for 1/2 hour at 08:00 and 15:00 to allow for dry off in between waterings and before dark. It takes 15 minutes for the water to travel through and moisten the media/roots before it makes it back to the sump. Every couple of feet I have used slighty different medium mixes from just straigt styto balls, perlite, verm, succulent mix and peat as well as blends off all.

Light for the system comes from the sun. The lights are for cuttings, bringing seeds up and a bit of a splash on the not well ones I stuff in there.

I've left room between the channel for tubs of pereskiopsis (when I get it) which will be fed from the same sump.

December 30, 2012

I'll give the Nicotinia rustica a shot

December 30, 2012

I always do that on the cheap.

They want $3+ from me if I do it properly as you can't put anything other than a letter in an envelope. I used to work on a mailing machine and we'd tear open at least 2-3 letters an hour.

Thanks THCixx420

Really? I dont normally send mail so I have no idea. Am I supposed to fork out more in stamps for these ?

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