Ephedra sp. cultivation notes and discussion

[Ephedra sp. cultivation notes and discussion]

My 6 E. fragilis cf. Greece seedlings:

 

And my lone sinica:

[Purple Trichocereus: Those posted of mine are from Zelly's seeds]

Interesting stuff Inyan, I have a few suntanned grafts that really look purple but I don't think they qualify.

It might be of interest to you that another way of increasing production of anthocyanins appart from cold temperatures is magnesium treatment (e.g: epsom salt).

It was found that magnesium can increase anthocyanin production between 15 to 70% and "had a stronger effect under elevated temperatures", which could make this method more suitable for cacti than cold treatment.

 

See this study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14620316.2007.11512262

[Ephedra sp. cultivation notes and discussion]

On 12/15/2017 at 0:51 PM, sagiXsagi said:

Meangreen its useful to know that officially we dont have fragilis in greece, only foeminea, distachya and nebrodensis. But this plant really resembles what is described as fragilis. Amateur botanists dont seem to think there's a any difference, but I am quite sure they were not looking/interested enough... There also could be that fragilis is an invalid species overall. For what is worth, it would be more appropriate to tag this "foeminea CF fragilis greece" to remember that we are not supposed to have it in greece. I could also send you the regular "foeminea" seed to compare.. 

 

Thanks a lot for the information Sagi, I will relabel them this way. They are finally starting to noticeably grow again, my biggest one, the sinica has really exploded with new growth. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

I repotted a couple of the E. fragilis cf. Greece today. I wanted to sprout more and try my luck again with the E. foemina seeds you kindly sent me back then, but to my dismay I realized the baggy of seeds of both fragilis & foemina started to rot... I had not removed the remaining seeds from the berries like a dumbass I salvaged what I could, hope I'll still get some sprouts.

 

 

[What species would you say this is?]

Thanks a lot mate, those spines do look similar indeed.

While browsing for more pallarensis pics I stumbled upon this plant from Cajamarca by Chavin Herbalists, looks very similar to me as well: http://chavinherbalists.com/produto/trichocereus-pachanoi-caxamarca-cajamarca/

[What species would you say this is?]

 

 

Hey, so I've had this fatty for a bit now and I'd like some opinions on what species/variation this could be. It's a good 8+ cm across and extremely heavy, over 1.6kg for a 40cm cutting.

 

I realize it's most likely a hybrid. My guess from the spination is it has some bridgesii in it. I was told this plant was found growing near a cliff in the wild in Spain.

 

@Evil Genius I'd be particularly interested in your input on this one if possible

[the 'TPM' thread]

Nice thread and gorgeous plants everyone!

Here's what I got:

 

- Pachanoi monstrose, sourced from Italia. Looks similar to the Altman clone? The guy sells PC labeled as such so it's likely:

 

 

- Crested pachanoi, sourced from europe. Last pic is from last year, it grows fast:

  

 

- Sausagy/caespitose/monstrose T. peruvianus, it literally pupped from every single areole on the bottom half or so:

 

- Caespitose pachanoi or maybe peruvianus, some of the pups aren't normal pups as in they didn't emerge from an areole, but rather that areole started swelling and morphing into a pup, as seen in the middle of the last pic:

  

 

- Pachanoi seedlings from Koehres seeds, seemingly doing some funky stuff. They'll be grafted soon:

 

- If hybrids count, here are some. First I have this magnificent Oscar x Helen grown by PedroPark. I might soon cut one of the tiny pups off and graft it:

 

- TPM x SS02 crest, a thing of beauty. Sourced from Spooge like all the following plants: 

 

 

- TPM x Pachanoi Monstrose:

  

 

- TPM x Pachanoi:

 

- TPQC x TPM crest:

 

 

[Cactus of the month year day thread? Which cactus is really shining for you right now?]

Congrats Matt! Grab the seeds and give the flesh a nibble, it's a tiny but tasty treat 

[eBay/Gumtree finds]

Hot damn! Are those even trichos? (The 3rd one I'm sure but the first two idk, the listing doesn't even say what genus they are). Sorry not linking it's cheap af right now I will try to snipe one haha.

  

 

This seller is a gold mine, just snagged this crazy 11cm L. diffusa cv. "Big Breast" or maybe cv. "Kikko" degraft for 16 euros, areole grafts galore ahead!

 

[Cactus of the month year day thread? Which cactus is really shining for you right now?]

Damn, congrats!

Still, this crazy Chinese nursery is selling those hylo grafts for just 8€ a piece, might have to snag one up.

[Cactus of the month year day thread? Which cactus is really shining for you right now?]

Did you get it from China? Looking at some similar pieces right now.

[Cactus of the month year day thread? Which cactus is really shining for you right now?]

Not sure what I'm looking at but it's fucking beautiful!

Crested godzilla ario?

[Epiphyllum anguliger as grafting stock?]

Thank you zelly, that's a beauty! 

[Epiphyllum anguliger as grafting stock?]

Good point, thanks a lot. I didn't know this species of Selenicereus, judging from the pictures it definitely could be it.

I believe it has already flowered a few times, I'll ask her what colour the blooms are.

 

edit: "The photosynthesising stem of this plant produces small adventitious roots along its surface that allow it to grip on to trees and climb as high as possible to obtain maximum light"

Ok that's definitely it, thanks a lot for the ID HalcyonDaze!

[Epiphyllum anguliger as grafting stock?]

 

 

My mother has this huge Epiphyllum anguliger which throws those round  almost spineless shoots that readily root while still attached to the plant.

It seems to grow very fast and since Epiphyllums are related to Hylocereus I thought it could be a nice stock for seedlings.

So today I cut a few of these shoots, potted them up and used a couple to graft some random tricho seedlings onto. Also grafted one to a shoot that's still on the plant, just for fun.

Anyone here used or heard of Epiphyllum being used as grafting stock? Any reason it wouldn't work?

[[ENDED][GIVEAWAY] Fresh Kratom Seeds From Malaysia (Mitragyna speciosa)]

Sorry for the delay I was working out some logistics, the seeds are going out today.

[Coleus - can we use it medicinally beyond psychoactivity?]

Very nice, I like the idea of adding some to salad. It should make any old salad nice and colorful if anything. I've got this all purple variety called "Black Dragon" I started from seed, maybe I'll try to revisit this plant once it gets larger.

 

[Coleus - can we use it medicinally beyond psychoactivity?]

I've always been very sceptical of the reports of traditional use in South America "for centuries" because of the fact the plant originates from SE Asia.

I believe it was from R. Gordon Wasson or maybe in Plants of the Gods that the whole myth originated, and I think it was found that the plant was actually bought by the shaman's daughter at the market because she liked the looks of it and it was a novelty in the area at the time.

 

Quote

Leander Valdez III has stated informally that the Coleus spp. is inactive and any percieved effects are the result of a placebo effect. He has tested the leaves for the presence of potentially psychoactive diterpenes and found nothing. Speaking of the Mazatec curandero Don Alejandro in his 1983 paper from the Journal of Ethnopharmacology entitled "Ethnopharmacology of Ska María Pastora", Valdez says "The curandero also had several horticultural specimens of Coleus spp. growing near his house. Wasson has noted that the Mazatecs believe Coleus to be a medicinal or hallucinogenic herb related to S. divinorum (Wasson, 1962). However, Don Alejandro said the plants were not medicinal and his daughter had bought them at the market because they were pretty."

 

[Complete List of Trichocereus Clones]

Great idea Gimli!

 

I would add: 

 

Bridgesii:

• TBM
• TBMC
• Variegated TBMC
• Brad
• Helen

Pachanoi:

• Juul's Giant
• Ogunbodede
• Landfill
• Oscar

Peruvianus:

• Gawler
• MT05 / Chavin

[Experiments getting better sleep.]

6g of kratom and a nice joint will put most people to sleep pretty quick. Agitated, vivid dreaming sleep, but sleep all the same.

Certainly don't recommend it everynight though.

[Mitragyne propagation]

I've had 100% success on about a dozen cuttings so far using an aeroponic cloner and some IBA (clonex).

If I understood right you say your trees are blooming? If they set seeds that's a great way to go for propagation. I envy you if you live somewhere Mitragyna grows wild.

 

Here's a successful tray of clones I took from ~5 months old seedlings:

 

 

PS: If you are the kadakuda from kada's garden I just want to say thank you, wish you site was still up and god bless thewaybackmachine

 

[P. Viridis scale? And now ID request.]

#1 & 3 definitely looks like Alba to me, the long petiole and wavy margins are a couple factors.

 

#2 Could be viridis, not sure. Please take a look at the undersides of the leaves and look for weird vein growth like on this 1st pic: 

 

 

It's not always visible on every leaves but viridis usually does that.

 

Here's a couple alba leaves in comparison:

 

 

And another type of viridis, var. narrow leaf:

 

[Plant Induced Sleep Paralysis]

Thanks for sharing. I've never sleepwalked as far as I know.

That pisswalking problem sounds aweful, and hilarious at the same time, not gonna lie haha. Do you remember any of it when you wake up, or qny of the dreams you had while this happened?

 

I read many similar reports about seeing someone in the room who is supposedly there to harm you, fortunately this hasn't happened to me.

I almost always fall asleep with a youtube video on, I often put on any random Terence McKenna talk just for that purpose, I find his voice and tone sort of hypnotic. And when I get sleep paralysis I can clearly hear the talk, this has allowed me to roughly time the duration of my paralysis by remembering the first sentence I hear when in SP and rewinding when I snap out of it.

 

I have used and abused many prescription and illicit opiates but this had never happened to me before kratom, I really think one of the many minor alkaloids in it acts on sleep in a weird way.

[Plant Induced Sleep Paralysis]

That's a very fair point about this being a shortcut, and I think it's also why it's so scary for the people who have this happen spontaneously without working towards it.

I mean if you worked for month to try and achieve sleep paralysis, when you finally succeed the feeling would probably be more of joy and astonishment than fear.

 

That's why I intend on learning more about this, I bypassed the first step but I'm willing to work for the next one.

[Plant Induced Sleep Paralysis]

Thank you, it's good to know I'm not the only one this happens to. I will definitely post some updates whenever it happens, I had one this morning waking-up which is what prompted me to create this thread.

 

I do get somewhat proper sleep, at least in terms of hours, but sleep on opioids in general is not as restful. Since I work from home I often take naps and I feel like this might contribute to the paralysis, like it messes-up my circadian rhythm or something.

 

Either way I honestly do not want it to stop at all, I hope to take advantage of the situation by grabbing my balls with both hands and train myself to resist the urge of waking up.

 

First off there's this sound, that goes up and up and louder and louder, it has to reach some sort of climax at one point I feel like. What happens then? Probably my head imploding, but you never know haha.

 

And then there's this astral projection thing which is really interesting to me. I literally just found out about Robert Monroe, and it's freaky how much his accounts of sleep paralysis and OOBE match what I experience: http://www.lucid-mind-center.com/robert-monroe-out-of-body.html

 

I'm very intrigued by this state, and hey, who doesn't like free, natural, endogenous and surprise psychedelic experiences that you're able to snap out of at will?

[Plant Induced Sleep Paralysis]

Since the past 5 or 6 months I have been experiencing extremely frequent sleep paralysis, sometimes more than 5 times in a single day. And at least 3 or 4 times a week.

 

I am almost certain kratom plays a big part in that, and on dreaming in general. I have been using kratom daily for over a year, following 8 years of heroin then methadone addictions.

 

I am also a very heavy cannabis user, and prior to using kratom I absolutely never ever would remember any of my dreams. 

When I began using kratom I started having extremely vivid dreams several times a night and was able to recall them very well when I woke up. I even kept a journal for a while.

 

About 6 months ago is when I was at the peak of my daily intake, at around 35g a day. I have since managed to taper down to about half that.

This was when the sleep paralysis started happening.

I also had a shitty sleep schedule at the time and had one of the best batches of sedative kratom I ever found, a red "Bentuangie".

 

Most of the time it happens while I'm nodding/falling asleep, and always while on my back.

I get this sort of electrical surge throughout my body sort of akin to extreme fear/startlement but not really, a buzzing sound in the ears which amplifies and amplifies, and this feeling of falling a bit similar to nitrous oxide. It is extremely powerful.

 

I am completely unable to move, appart from slight finger movement when trying to move my arms, opening my eyes and gasping/breathing loudly when trying to produce any kind of sound. I can clearly hear myself gasping and I feel very much awake and conscious when this happens. It usually lasts about 15-30sec if I try very hard to make it stop.

 

At first it would last only a split second and the adrenalin from not knowing what was happening woke me up immediately, but I would get it like 5 times in a row when trying to fall asleep, spaced by a few minutes.

This was completely new to me at first and I was very worried it was some sort of neurological issue until I identified what it was.

 

I do not get the paranoid hallucinations that some people report, like feeling a presence in the room or feeling someone is pinning you down and choking you. 

 

The interesting thing though, is that I have been able to do slight decorporations/astral projections/whatever you want to call it while in that state, if I try to not wake myself up and let the experience happen.

Which is pretty difficult because the experience is so strong and overwhelming and really makes you panic no matter what.

 

But for example, I clearly remember feeling like I was being pulled by my right leg in an upwards diagonal direction, and definitely feeling my whole body slide along with it. I also had my eyes open and the room was exactly my room.

At this point I was too overwhelmed and "woke up", and I manifestly had not moved at all or I would have been on the floor and dropped from about 1m in the air.

 

Another time I remember trying to let it happen, and when it got to the point I chicken out I tried lifting my chest to get in a sitted position and it worked.

I had my eyes open and my vision shifted perspective just like it normally would when going from laying down to sitting up, but it also sort of felt like my chest and arms were emerging of my actual body that was still laying down, like a ghostly double of my upper body. Woke up shortly afterwards.

 

What is very weird is that although I feel completely awake and conscious when this happens, and my eyes and ears perceive things the way they actually are, there is still some sort of waking-up process, everything stops abruptly and even if my eyes were open a second ago it feels like I'm opening another layer of my eyes if that makes any sense.

 

I really feel like there is something there, and I'm somewhat happy to be able to experience this state and facet of my psyche.

 

Any of you guys are familiar with sleep paralysis? Let's hear your stories!