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The Corroboree

Ace

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Posts posted by Ace

  3. Posted

    And I've just seen your second post after typing my last - thank christ that was a joke, I'm here freaking out that I've let an old mate down without realising it or he had me confused! :P Ya bastard hahaha :wub:

  5. Posted

    Woah Naja, I hope that was tongue in cheek? I know there's been some average traders here lately and you are right that I've been away from the forums for some time, but I've never let anyone down with a trade. And I can assure you I've never dealt with anyone here in sums over the $50 mark. If you were serious, I'm more than happy to chat via PM, but I think you have me mistaken for someone else?

    Those who have sent PMs, I will respond shortly on a first in basis. At this stage, all items are sold pending payment.

  9. Posted

    :wub: I totally love the panorama Lord Mayo.

    BTW the ACT has been sprouting plenty of subs for around a month now. Some great specimens to be seen, but mostly solitary and rarely clustering. Finding a raft shaped cluster like that is awesome and a great photo opportunity.

  13. Posted

    The easiest to recognise would probably be Saffron Milkcaps (Lactarius deliciosus). I had a feed of them (with olive oil, garlic, parsley and cream) on crusty bread for brekky. Orgasmic.

    FYI, I just collated the following lists from 'Mushroom' by Johnny Acton & Nick Sandler. This is a book from the UK, so some may not apply, however I can confirm the agaricus, lactarius and also (not included) is of course Suillus granulatus (ringless Slippery Jack). Got a box of Slipperies in the fridge and am yet to try them. I can also confirm the death cap in Oz - I've come across quite a few of these this year (first season to id them).

    Edibles of Autumn:

    - Agaricus campestris (field mushroom)

    - Amanita caesarea (Caesar's mushroom)

    - Armillaria mellea (honey fungus)

    - Boletus edulis (cep, porchini, penny bun)

    - Cantharellus cibarius (chanterelle)

    - Coprinus comatus (shaggy ink cap)

    - Craterellus comucopioides (horn of plenty)

    - Hydnum repandum (hedgehog fungus)

    - Lactarius deliciosus (saffies)

    - Lepista nuda (wood blewit)

    - Macrolepiota procera (parasol mushroom)

    - Sparassis crispa (cauliflower fungus)

    DEADLY Poisonous mushrooms of Autumn:

    - Amanita phalloides (death cap)

    - Amanita virosa (destroying angel)

  15. Posted

    Billions wasted on 'revolving door' jail system

    Criminologists have slated the nature of Australia's prison system, saying billions of dollars are being poured into jails that fail to reform offenders and improve community safety.

    Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal that almost 60 per cent of people in prison last year had been in jail before.

    Alternatives

    Professor of criminology at the University of New South Wales, Chris Cunneen, agrees that unless the causes of crime are addressed, Australia will stay on a "revolving door cycle" of people going in and out of prison.

    Professor Cunneen says the ABS figures show how limited the prison system is in deterrence, rehabilitation and ensuring long-term community safety.

    "And this is only looking at the extreme end. It's not even talking about people who have reoffended," he said.

    "There would be a much higher proportion of people who have reoffended but weren't necessarily sentenced to imprisonment."

    He says about $2.6 billion is spent on Australian prisons each year.

    "It's a significant amount of money that's spent on locking people up and I think we could quite rightly ask for better results, for the lowering in the use of imprisonment or for better alternatives," he said.

    "With people with mental illness, there needs to be better community-based treatment facilities for them rather than simply locking them up.

    "If we're talking about people who have literacy and numeracy problems, who find it very difficult to get work because of those problems or lack of skills, there are issues there that need to be addressed.

    "And there are very significant problems around drug and alcohol abuse, which are not dealt with in prison at all."

    Punitive response

    Professor Cunneen agrees with Mr Collins that governments rely on what they see to be popular demand for a punitive response.

    "But if we actually want to deal with the problems and causes that lie behind offending then we need to look at other avenues of tackling the problem," he said.

    "Prison is not something that's effectively dealing with the social problems that lead to crime or individual problems that might lead to particular individuals committing offences."

    He says treatment of mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction are two areas in which investment needs to flow to reduce both prison and reimprisonment rates.

    The ABS report found Northern Territory prisoners had the highest reimprisonment rate - 48.2 per cent - with Queensland and NSW not far behind at 42.1 per cent and 39.3 per cent respectively.

    I was discussing this with my partner the other day and low and behold, here it is in the news. All we need to do is have a look at what our prison model is based on - the dismal failure that is the USA's system. Given the fact that the reoffending rates are so phenominally high, is it time to look at an overhaul of the current prison model? If you could change the current system, how would you go about implementing a more effective system? Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

  17. Posted

    Sorry to hear Harry, it couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke :( I agree with WT - take things easy and try to keep your head as clear as possible before making big decisions. Always keep in mind the most important person of all, your little dude. Thinking of you both, Ace.

  18. Posted

    First death linked to Avatar

    Man that was a great flick. Very unoriginal (ferngully eat your heart out), but man was it fantastic. You can see why people are depressed about our reality when you live in such a wonderful landscape for those few hours. The death that was blamed on Avatar (linked just above) is nothing more than sensationalism trying its best to grab a reader, but interesting to see the effect of these sort of 3D things. One in a million no doubt. Looking forward to the day that 3D flicks are the norm and available for the home theatre!

  20. Posted · Edited by Ace

    Take the cavendish (common) banana for example. Every plant cultivated today is a clone of one another, yet they still grow with vigour.

    To be honest, I haven't done that much reading on it aside from in relation to mycology and certain plants. There is much talk of senescence in relation to mushroom cultures, cannabis and salvia (salvia in particular is often the target plant in senescence discussions because it is very rarely grown from seed). I don't know much about mass-farming though, only speaking of what I've stumbled across. It may be that certain organisms are more commonly affected by it? I would imagine it taking many, many cloned 'generations' before there would do anything noticable. Kinda like taking a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy ad infinitum. Theoretically, the genes begin to deteriorate in much the same way. It is quite an interesting area of genetic science.

    I often wonder how things like PC pachanoi would be affected by it. It is one of the most common ornamental cacti that is almost always started from cuttings. Will senescence affect it eventually?

    Edit: i don't want to see you copy & paste this into that thread you linked now ok tut tut tut

    which gets me wondering just how many forums you have this conversation going in... looking for answers so you can look smart in the next forum?

    It's annoying as hell, isn't it? The cutnpaste king strikes again. I'm sure all those other forums all think he's a pain in the butt too :)

  21. Posted · Edited by Ace

    if mushrooman were to cut the scion, (loph) whilst it's still attached to the stock leaving a few areoles on the scion, (taking enough of the loph to regraft) then cutting out the regrowth of the trick, (stock - meristem) would the loph pup and continue to be a happy graft?

    No - the scion was not properly grafted in the first place (by the look of it) and leaving any would result in it just shrivelling up. You can certainly do this with a happy, healthy graft and rapidly expand collection numbers, but I doubt it would be successful with this particular one.

    To do it with a healthy graft, just cut the top of the scion (enough to root on it's own or to use as another scion) and the remaining scion will callous at the wound then pup, forming new heads which can also be degrafted/regrafted.

    Edit - just saw mushroomman's post. On second look, I'm not sure if you will have any luck regrafting being so dehydrated and calloused. You may be better off degrafting and trying it on its own roots. It may survive as a regraft, but I'm just a little wary of the split, callous, dehydration and the size of the scion. Never know your luck though :)

  22. Posted

    It appears that the stock tip was not cut low enough and the apical meristem has continued to grow through the scion. Unless the scion is regrafted elsewhere, it is likely to be terminal. Did you ensure the stock was cut a few inches from the tip, or was it cut close to the tip when the graft was done? It just doesnt look like a pup - moreso a tip coming through the scion.

  23. Posted

    what are y'all's thoughts?

    About what? The advice above is pretty sound, if that is the question.

    As far as human cloning goes, over an elongated period of time, cloning of clones will weaken each set of genes to the point of causing negative mutations and severe health problems.

    I wonder what happens w/plants...

    It's called senescence. It affects all organisms from fungi cultures through to plant cuttings.

  24. Posted

    Should I just cut the very tip off and graft to that, or would it be better to cut them in half, graft lower down and replant the upper halves?

    I always let the stock cutting get to around 30cm, then chop around 10-15cm from the base. This gives you a decent stock and enough of a cutting to make a steady start and ready to do anoth graft in a month or two.

    Can you graft to an unrooted cutting?

    I've never tried it, however I think it has been done by other members with success. I agree with blowng in that it is always best to use an actively growing specimen and it is best to work with a rooted stock.

    Once grafted, is it better to leave indoors or out? Does it need humidity to take?

    I put a wet drinking glass over the top (ensure enough room so it doesn't crush the scion and there is no gap around the base of the glass/soil) and sit in a shady spot outdoors. The idea behind wetting the glass (using ordinary tap water) is to ensure a nice humid enclosure so the scion doesn't dry out and helps to form a clean graft.

    Finally, when placing the scion to the stock, all you need to do in ensure the vascular rings overlap, correct? Is there anything else I'm missing?

    That's pretty much it. Use a clean, sharp knife (wipe with metho and let dry before making each cut). Bevel both the stock and scion to make sure the grafting surfaces stay connected. Overlapping rings is vital to a fast growing, successful graft. It is always annoying to find the scion isn't doing anything after a month or so - this is almost always due to the rings not being properly aligned. Also, make sure you don't water the fresh graft until about a month after it has been done. If you water too quick you'll find the scion rotting due to water build up between the stock and scion. To hold the scion on during the graft, use clean strips of stockings/pantyhose. They work a treat and are easy to hook over stock spines - just make sure they are tight enough that the scion will not move and not too tight that they restrict initial growth/swelling of the scion once it has taken. The stocking strips can be removed once the scion has begun swelling up - generally around a few weeks to a month and a half (depending on species).

    Lastly, don't expect every graft to take however after one or two trials you should find close to 100% success rate as long as you stick to the simple grafting rules. It's a great way to enjoy cacti cultivation and you'll soon have a hell of a collection when you get grafting nailed :)

  25. Posted

    Wouldn't think it likely that mites could do that sort of damage so fast, but if there were a large population that had maybe been located in the potting mix or something, it could be possible. Such an odd scarring - not quite sunburn, not quite mites, not quite rot, but possibly any of them. Very curious to see what did the damage :wacko:

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