Micromegas

T. Tersheckii T. Pachanoi T. Spachianus One or two other unidentified trichs, clumping and columner, a few days off I'd say... C. Peruvianus montrose

Hey can anyone help me out I'm looking for seeds and plants of Calliandra angustifolia, otherwise known as bobinsana. This is an Amazonian rainforest plant. Thanks, Micro

Hey YT the botanic gardens had some for sale for $5 last weekend from a little stall near the main gate on plane tree drive. I went to buy it but couldn't find anyone to take my money there's a good chance the stall is still there... and that there's still no one to take the money!

Yeah big thanks to Kenny, really beautiful, healthy specimens indeed definately worth getting up early for!

Yeah big thanks to Ronny and the EGA crew for putting on such a phenomenal event, from the setting to the talks to the stellar gathering of people. This was a very positive event indeed, it's great to know so many people are out there working to uncover the knowledge of the plants and their revolutionary message. So many different angles and approaches with such a common intent. I would absolutely love to see more of these events in the future and further strengthening of the community!

Yeah totally except when we find them we take their plants away and disturb their culture Interestingly there was a patent on ayahuasca until a few years ago and the appeal made by indigenous people in the Amazon ended in an interesting legal case and the cessation of the patent. You can read more here if interested http://www.ciel.org/Biodiversity/ptorejection.html I really enjoyed seeing this San medicine man as well, his connection to the land and the simplicity of his way of life. Make me want to grow some hoodia for sure! Micro

Thanks for the heads-up FF this was an extremely interesting documentary IMHO...

Yeah what IB said. My mother chopped one of my plants with the whipper-snipper, which made a similar type of gash... but now the plant looks healthy and has two or three pups growing from the base. They are tough little buggers. lol!

The name says it all:

Whereabouts do you need a lift from?

Hey, can anyone help me out regarding the cause of this scarring on my cacti? Frost bite from early spring (growing while frosty?), snails, excessive sun? Mostly predominant on the pachanois, main columns and pups. Cacti are grown in heavy soil in a very exposed area... sacrring seems to grow out at some point (judging by last years growth)... hopefully... Also any indication why my plants are pupping so profusely - to such an extreme I sometimes wish they'd do it a bit less Thanks, Micro

I caught a few in the trap - they took swimming lessons too... but unsucessfully A few stumbled into a ice-cream container buried up to the surface with a few cms of vegetable oil (apparently they like that too)... but catching them is by far the most effective method... Rain, wind and cold meant only a meagre offering tonight... I thought for a while about the ethics of it; then what sort of lesson it contained for me, catching earwigs. I find it strangely exhillarating. Better than going to bed not having made an effort to protect the flock so to speak... Yeah I like where you are coming from with this, maybe i'll select the biggest toughest ones and read them the gospel. But how can I proclaim that eating San Pedro is a sin, punishable by death? Overall I get the impression they have a 'feasting season', seems that's what the rings indicate.... Micro

One new addition and one recently flowered, beautiful scent!

Yeah this is a tricky one, I'm 50/50 as to whether it is a trich or not. I'd love to see a similar plant with flowers. Thanks, Micro

Caught at 11:30 p.m... this morning only one plant had fresh bites, as opposed to 4 or 5 as usual. Little buggers were just sitting at the top chowing down... hard-core organic pest control... Too stormy tonight for another assault...

Nice post creach.

Thanks again... After some research turns out this pest is the European Earwig, whose diet is 60% carniverous but also likes to feed on the fresh growth of plants, vegetables etc. (i.e cacti tips are perfect). Incidentally there are about 60 species of native australian earwigs which are apparently beneficial for the garden, if present. The term earwig seems to have come about due to a folk legend that the insect could crawl into the ear while a person is asleep and bore itself into the brain. How delightful. Control of earwigs ranges from spraying with insecticide (which I'd rather not do, partly because of the large number of plants needing protection) to laying bait/traps such as containers buried to the soil level containing vegetable oil, or carboard/soaked newspaper with oatmeal, to capture the eagwigs for future execution... I've set up some traps to see how it goes. Earwigs live for only one year, coming out of the ground in June/July and maturing in early spring after 70 days. This might explain why their are old rings indicative of past infestation are present... perhaps they diminish in the middle of summer due to the heat, wind and dryness (which my garden has in spades) and the plant can regenerate... Finally, I wonder why the pedros in particular are the tasty morsel of choice?

I'd prefer unblemished plants of course, but it is interesting... However frost seems not to be the issue after all... unless it was frost last year and a new problem this year. This morning I have found actual bites on the tips of 3 or four cacti, as in the photo attached... these apparently callous over and become a scar... I think So any ideas what is going on? My thinking is earwigs, given the size of the bites and their presence last night... but the little white bugs could be doing damage as well... But the interesting thing is, why would they have only a short period eating the tips of the plants, then letting them alone. Some plants that are scarred badly are starting to outgrow the problem; others scarred less now seem under attack, like some infuriating earwig rotation system... But why the ring? Is there an earwig or insect festival season? Is the beginning of summer banquet time, like chirtsmas holidays for nefarious bugs... Any suggestions what to do? Be patient, or bite back? Thanks in advance, Micro

*see above*

Here's a couple of examples of the old-growth ring of scarring... the majority of cacti that have been the ground for two growing seasons or more (this being the second for the majority of plants) have a ring like this for each year, to varying degrees of damage and thin-ness, and from the same time period...

OK, well, intially thinking humbug to pests (since I never saw any in daylight) these posts however got me thinking, so when i got home about 11 tonight I went out to the garden with the torch... and my oh my what a paradise for insects The main candidate was a minute grey/white bug maybe .2 (smallest) to 2mm (largest) in size that was all over the top of most of the cacti that I looked at (in varying quantity, sometimes a few, sometimes quite a lot), some of these cacti have the scarring in the above photo and scarring on the tip, some don't. More don't than do, unfortunately. (BTW, tip scarring doesn't seem to corellate to pup production with any consistency) The second was a small brown millipede/caterpillar about 1cm, but over about 35 plants there were only two. The third candidate for destruction was the earwig. About a fifth to a quarter of the plants had one to four earwigs on or near the top of the plant. They seemed to be sitting on the top - where the small bugs were - and, dare I say it, munching the top of the cacti!!! perhaps eating the smaller bugs... Fourthly, many cacti had a resident spider... So that was my unfortunate discovery does this halp narrow down the causes for the scarring? Incidentally last year's growth (during which time I was absent) is marked by a ring of scarring anout an 1 1/2 inch, followed by about 6 - 12 inches of healthy material, and now scarring again - is there a busy season for pests? Overall the plants look plump and healthy, ready to grow... I really appreciate the advice and any more will be gladly taken on board... Thanks, Micro

Thanks, frost was my main candidate due to the lack of any noticeable insect infestations... bit strange it is happening on some of the plants now in the middle of summer though, while others are out-growing it. I think perhaps with the number of pups, it slows the gorwth of the main column and gives it more of a chance to receive damage. I'll keep an eye on it...

I was wandering about in my garden last night admiring flowers and I thought I wish I had a time-lapse video of these... and now here it is! That's awesome. Interestingly, it's the exact same trich I was watching flower in my own garden... Thanks for that...

It's fairly easy to get around Peru by public bus and plane, although it can be arduous at times. I have to say, however, that I travel with a guide and interpreter which makes things easier this has given me access to understanding and local knowledge I would otherwise have had to work harder to acquire (especially without knowing a word of spanish past hello). My motivation in travelling to Peru is pretty much as you would imagine for someone on an enthnobotanical forum, and yes I love the cacti, Andes and the coast but the amazon is equally special and together they form a magical mystical matrix which, seen from the right perspecive, simply boggles the mind. What marvels nature has for us indeed! At home in Australia I can sense and feel the energy too, equally profound but different, complementary. That Peru has helped me get in touch with my own country is a paradox of sorts, plants being great teachers and healers when free and legal, but after all it's really a state of mind. I guess that answered your question in a roundabout sort of way, I'm sure you get my drift... Micro

1,2,3: Chiclayo, Witches Market 4: Tucume Pyramids, Lambayeque 5,6,7,8,9: Salas (Northern Coastal town off the tourist map, famous for San Pedro shamanism) 10,11,12,13,14: Chavin de Huantar, birthplace of Andean civilisation I had some other great trichocereus photos from Huancabamba near Las Huaringas where there were some wonderful stout Peruvianus' but after my camera took a dip in a stream the memory card - taken out to dry - was thereafter lost in the back of a taxi... camera works fine now! Driving up the coast to the Andes there are remarkable cactus forests with non-trichocereus varieties, but hard to photograph from a public bus. From a glance at a book (attempting to make myself look cleverer than I actually am ) and from memory i'd guess Haageocereus sp., Neoraimondia gigantea (certainly at Tucume), Espostosa, Browningia, Armatocereus sp. and seemed to be quite a few old man cacti around (oreocereus). I'm far from an expert though, but I sure did want to get out and have a look... The valleys around Huarez (11,000 feet), leading up to galciers and snow-capped peaks are just full of stunning Pedros, but the most magnificent are those growing at Chavin... I've added a photo of the mountain at Tucume, which is home to all the cacti growing in picture 4 and especially Neoraimondia gigantea... amazing place... Yeah I got home about a week ago after a 7 1/2 week adventure in Peru... Glad you enjoyed the photos, I enjoyed taking them Micro