nate123

In the tradition of the Huichol the blue deer is the bringer of the world from the blue place. The blue place was the time before time, but it still exists now. It is the place of complete infinity, where everything that has ever happenned, is happenning, or will ever happen is constantly occuring. The blue deer is an animal which sings a beatiful song from the blue place. That song is the vibration or tune that makes up everything in our world and thus the blue deer is constantly singing the world into existence. That song is also what makes the world occur as phenomenon, because at one time all the gods were isolated, separate from each other and nothing was occuring. But at once all the gods heard a beatiful song which they could not resist, and so they all moved towards that song. Eventually all the gods collided and now were able to interact. This interaction between the gods is what created the phenomenal world as we know it. Really the blue deer and Kuyumari, the deer god are very separate but related. Peyote grows out of the footseps of Kuyumari. Kuyumari is the messenger for the Mar'akame, he speaks for and is almost an aspect of Tatewari. I agree that the plant in the picture is probably corn, and i have read quite a lot about the peyote, maze, deer complex. However in all my personal experience with Huichol lore i have never heard of anyone even mention this trinity. The language on the back of the paintings is jokingly called "Huicholly Spanish" beacause it rarely translates well into Spanish or English If you have any more questions about the symbols in the painting i can try to help. I'll post some pictures of my yarn paintings

Frozen tea will last forever if it remains frozen. don't know about room temp tea though.

My favorite soil mix - roughly one fifth part lava rock, one fifth part limestone chips, one fifth fired clay pellets (a type of clay pellet mixture that is only a little larger than sand particles, but holds moisture and drains great). After i've mixed this up i add two fifths combination compost and soil as a fertilizer. For many Mammallarias and other easier Mexican species i use a full two fifths compost, but i reduce it down for Lophs, Ariocarpys, and other more slow growing species. When i'm done i add a few cups of charcoal (the kind intended for potting mixes ). This soil gives great drainage and supplys plants with a good bit of nutrition. hope it helps

The skin definitely should not be black, so it sounds like the infection has come back. Maybe take Revs advice and use a fungicide.

I beleive that you're Ariocarpus fissuratus may be a Var. intermedius, but it's hard to tell from the photo. I'd look into that if i were you.

Which type of retuses is the one that is three down the right row from the point of the triangle I have that exact same cactus and it is my only unlabeled retuses, been trying to figure out which variety it is. As in the cactus in the third row, the row with three pots, on the right

Pyrithrium is one of the Safest insecticides to use, unfortunately it will burn Trich's. Most cacti handle it fine but trichocereus develop scar tissue where it has been applied UNLESS it is washed off a few minutes after application. Most san pedro at cactus nurseries around her are completely corked around the base because of greenhouse pyrithrium bombs. Won't burn them if it is washed off ten minutes after application.

Just tested- loph flowers=bland taste.

Damn i want to see those pics! Sounds amazing, please get them up soon

First i would wash the soil off of the rootball exposing the roots. Feel the roots and trim off any that are rotting. Cut all of the rot out of the roots and flesh of the cactus while excersising overkill (cut out more than seems neccesary around rot, just to be safe ). After the rot has been cut out spread sulfur (available at hardware store as "dusting sulfur") over the cut wounds and roots. Then just let it sit until calloussed and prey . Good luck to you! Edit: Ariocarpus also have a red coloration inside, it's odd but beautiful!

My biggest tip would be to really watch out for sunburn. I killed a few batches because of too much light from a small flourescent a few feet away. Now i start my seeds three feet underneath a 4' t8 shoplight ballast with a layer of tissue paper over the tupperwere. I slowly raise them up watching for redness three or four months after germ. It is really surprising how little light it takes to damage or kill those little guys, be careful. Good luck to you, hope it's a wild success :D

Like ph says,before you spend the cash, realize that inside a house with a reasonably warm temp. bottom heat is absolutely NOT necessary!

As long as you're house isn't below 70 F it should be fine without a mat. I have had great germ and growth success with no heating. It just takes a little longer to germinate, about 10-15 days.

The first photo posted is one of my plants. Like MSSmith said, this plant is crested, but during rapid growth it has a tendency to put out Monstrose/penis plant arms. However, i have several specimens of the monstrose growth put out by the crested form, as well as both a and b forms of classic TBM and i find the "crested" monstrose growth to be very different than either of the classic TBM forms.

Those are some gorgeous cacti you've got!