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gerbil

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Posts posted by gerbil


  1. Not sure if people have realised but that's written by Archaea/Gunter who used to post here, maybe still does?

    He's got a 28page pdf which is pretty much the same as the linked site, but with a few bits of other information I think. I've tried to figure out where I got it from but am not getting anywhere.

    It's titled 'Archaea's Trichocereus Guide' in the pdf, but i've it saved as 'Archaea Trichocereus GuideV5', not sure if I renamed it or d/l it as that, it may have even been updated since the v5. He's quite humble about it and wasn't overly happy with it from memory, so possibly won't like me mentioning it.

    Kadakuda's site is also excellent, Kada's Garden.

    http://www.kadasgarden.com/

    With the sister site, Cactus Culture

    http://kadasgarden.com/Cindex.html

    Lots of sections are down since mid Jan 2013 for streamlining/updating, but well worth waiting for.

    • Like 2

  2. It can happen very quick, this is one I posted a couple of years back. I took cuts and pretty much left it to sort itself, it ended up carving out a heap of the stem to the core, but stayed on one side and I didn't lose the plant.

    A combination of factors from what I interpreted, the trich was tissue damage from falling over, then I propped it back up, and rot set in. Could have been the reason for it bending in the first place, or could have come about 'cause of it. Could possibly also have been high nitrogen, and maybe it needed more potassium, grouped with heavy clay soils. I also lost large loph to trich grafts to orange rot around the same time, both stock and scion.

    From the notes and memory, it was fairly wet and windy at the time.

    http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20615&page=2#entry291439

    "Rot set in from tissue damage due to high winds during times of moisture."

    gallery_239_3_24745.jpg

    I'm getting large weeping black rot spots approx 20c piece on my in ground scop at the moment, sometimes it seems it pops up immediately after fertiliser application (this year it's been mainly chook pellets and blood and bone) but that was a fair few weeks back, though sometimes it can lag, maybe high nutrient levels and then when environmental conditions are right it hits, though oddly only a little bit showed up at the same time as the scop on some potted TBM tips (not as severe, just bubbled not weeping) but nothing on anything else, all ferted pretty much the same. The scop does get more water though as it has a tap next to it, filling buckets, washing hands etc.


  3. No worries. But don't treat them unless you actually have the problem, you might not even have mites, but they are very common on brugs.

    To clarify when I go hard on my plants, they are larger specimens, not huge, but thicker stems with lots of reserve energy and have been treated harshly for years, I wouldn't be removing much if at all any foliage from yours if they are mite infested given the size of the plants. If there is a decent mite population and had to remove some foliage, i'd probably only remove the lower left medium sized leaf that is sort of cupping down (the one that's potentially showing the potential root zone/water issue) as that potentially looks like it could be the greater infested one, you'll see it by small white sorta 'dot's' all over the leaf, and on underside you'll find very thin webs with tiny tiny pin pricks moving about. I'd be more inclined to give them a sponge bath, and if needed a light spray. But figure out if it's insects, overwatering/soil issue or both before taking action. I'd probably also stop constant seasol applications if that's what you've been doing, less is more and it's easy to get caught up in the fertiliser/tonic hardware store hype creating out of whack pH or highly salty soils, i'm still trying to re-educate myself and break bad habits from poor advice and pathetic gardening shows lol have a good one. :)


  4. When my brugs get really bad, I usually just hack them up, cut back the tips and remove the infested foliage, improve the soil and growing environment. From memory mites like a dry hot environment, so reducing drying winds, and giving the foliage a hose down can be beneficial. Knocking them off with a hose is good, and then giving them a mist with a hose fogger nozzle is good too, but if the environment is conducive, they will be back in force and it's not really feasible to be hosing the shit out of them constantly, that's not my sort of gardening, but appropriate in context.

    Have never really treated them with anything, but if I have had pressing mite issues on plants i've very rarely used yates natrasoap, which is potassium salts of fatty acids from memory. There are lots of organic, natural options these days with things like white oils, neems etc which i have no experience with and should be researched to determine the appropriateness for a given insect.

    I avoid spraying as much as possible and work on the soil, overall plant robustness and growing environment.


  5. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it does look like you potentially have spider mite, but it could just be the grainy nature of the photo.

    Seasol isn't really a fertiliser, it's generally referred by people as a soil tonic or amendment, they flog it with their nutrient powerfeed, not to say you need to use powerfeed, but if you are only using seasol, you will need to add some sort of nutrients in whatever form suits your needs and growing style, chook pellets, blood and bone, composts, manures etc. Brugs can be very heavy feeders.

    http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=118

    I think you could possibly be overwatering, tip dieback is a common symptom as are leaves drooping down, but it's not like a dehydrated droop, more of a rigid droop with washed out looking leaves with most green sitting the main growth tips and axillary shoots, your bottom one seems to be displaying this, as is common starting from the base up.

    again, it's hard to tell from the picture, but your plant does look quite washed out (hungry), it can be from overwatering causing lack of nutrient uptake/root damage/flushing of nutrient from the medium, or possibly lack of nutrient in the medium from simply using it up or a combo of the lot.

    Brugs do love water as has been mentioned, though it is a small plant and a small pot, so you are possibly keeping it too wet and starving the roots of oxygen. From what i've heard it's been really hot in WA lately so it's possible you aren't getting good enough wet/dry cycles for root development, not that you want brugs to dry out, but you don't want it anaerobic and sopping wet all the time, and a small pot and high temps can cause poor root development from the need of constant heavy watering.

    Brugs are very prone to pests, though it can also be correlated with sick plants, improve root health to improve above ground health which should reduce pest issues, be careful with feeding too heavy as this can also create weak plants even though they are vigorous and 'healthy'. If they are being done by snails and slugs (which I assume why you've got the pellets) you can use alternates like physical barriers of sawdust, copper, horticultural grade diatomaceous earth. For leaf munching fellas there are things like bacterial sprays like dipel but i think success has replaced that these days. If you want to use chems or biological / organic options, do your research and decide what you think is best, but they are best minimised in all cases, working on healthy roots and ecosystem is the primary focus, chems/biological natural or not can still kill beneficial insects, fungi etc.


  6. More than likely it is Solanum mauritianum, especially given it is in Melbourne (which is the information given at davesgarden).

    It would be highly likely there is a large Solanum mauritianum present next door or nearby, and if not there is a strong potential it will be coming from a relatively local or further off watercourse via birds etc. which in Melbourne we are all well in proximity to.

    I think you are getting confused by searching 'native tobacco'. Nicotiana occidentalis is not the one and only 'native tobacco' it's a common name and common names really mean zilch, 'native tobacco' can be any species of native Nicotiana, or any other species, native or not, dubbed 'native tobacco' even if they are not Nicotiana.

    Victoria/Melbourne is jammed with S. mauritianum, and even on the 'native tobacco' front of true Nicotiana species, we have indigenous species present like Nicotiana suaveolens in melbourne. (this is not N. suaveolens)

    If you whack the first suggestion of 'native tobacco bush' into google, first hits are S. mauritianum.

    I primarily know it as tree tobacco and the first time I have heard it called Native Tobacco Bush is from Space Cadet 101's post. Given google spits out S. mauritianum, it seems a lot of people widely call it this.

    Common names are confusing, and if possble it is always better to use the proper botanical listing.

    From the diagnostic features I can barely make out from the fairly non-descript photo, hairy apical stems, characteristic axillary shoots, i'd go with the multiple suggestions of the multiple common names in this thread and ID it as S. mauritianum.

    Not to say it definitely is that, but i'd put most of my time into looking at that species.

    'as far as i can tell the leaves aren't hairy so i'm thinking brug too!'

    To ID it, you need to actually take into account the actual physical characteristics, 'as far as i can tell' isn't really appropriate for ID :D (not trying to be a smart arse)

    edit: and brugs in my limited experience have different stem/leaf hairs to S. mauritianum, the brugs are more like persistant hairs that are hard to rub off whereas the latter will be more of a noxious powder coating easily rubbed off. Without going into taxonomic descriptions, maybe try that.

    • Like 2

  7. Yep, always had good reliable honest service from Herbalistics, with high qualtiy plants.

    Can't really confirm or deny what they are based on h'stics selling a variety of trichs.

    If you bought one of their listings as pachanoi, then that's what it'd be. (in context to whatever a 'pachanoi' actually is, i.e. people calling what is dubbed the predominate cultivar (PC) a pachanoi, where the ecuadorian pachanoi is more so recognised as the real 'pachanoi'. afaik.)

    Their current listings of 'pachanoi' have two seperate clones, one as 'el pedro' one as 'san pedro'. Both essentially clone lines of what are traded as collective 'pachanoi' around the world.

    • Like 1

  8. Hi Wt :) i'd dance around S. lanciniatum, aviculare and linearifolium. They can be difficult to ID. I think one of the references can be Solanum in Australia (1981) though could have been redone.

    You're black berry thing confused me, as you say they are staying orange later on. If you are getting darker blacks/purples you might have linearifolium. But if they are orange it's looking more lanciniatum, with some red then towards aviculare (but not strict as lanciniatum and aviculare can be browny, reddy, yellowy, orangey)

    Flower lobes are good for ID with this bunch, fruit colour and shape, stem angled or not etc.

    There's lots of different resources, with some conflicting info, without typing stuff up or scanning, maybe start with these links.

    http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/lucid/Solanaceae/Solanum%20species/key/Australian%20Solanum%20species/Media/Html/Solanum_linearifolium.htm

    http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/lucid/Solanaceae/Solanum%20species/key/Australian%20Solanum%20species/Media/Html/Solanum_laciniatum.htm

    http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/lucid/Solanaceae/Solanum%20species/key/Australian%20Solanum%20species/Media/Html/Solanum_aviculare.htm

    • Like 1

  9. Really nice ferret, what a beauty. Mine are liking the bagged native mixes too, mixing up some sieved sands, coir and innoculants as well to see what does what. Sun scorched them really bad the other day, no longer blemish free hah :D but tough buggers.

    Missed your big ones too interbeing and obtuse, looking really nice guys.

    • Like 3

  10. Well out of practice and am a little torn, the small images instantly reminded me of Gymnopilus junonius, but on closer look it just doesn't feel right. They can be really beefy to delicate little things.

    i'd look at Gymnopilus, Pholiota or Armilaria.

    Edibility of G. junonius is said to be non-edible. Found one liners from, bitter, poisonous, hallucinogenic.

    Tryptamines and the likes from memory.


  11. Things are healthy but you should be aiming for thicker stems and a more robust apical meristem and axillary shoots.

    In general I think you will be wanting to increase the sun exposure, wind exposure, nutrient availability, manage a better wet dry cycle and potentially use an alternate mix for the acuminata. (not to say they can't do well in what they are in, but barkier seed mixes tend to get more fungal issues, nutrient issues, seperate and compact easier, become hydrophobic and can make managing wet dry cycles difficult, achievable just tricky/different.)

    Regarding sun or general setup, I quite enjoyed this explaination from a novice, although you can start them in full sun, timing is fairly crucial, as full sun during parts of the year here will kill things outright.

    "The potted plants are placed in a waterproof shade structure giving 70% shade with orientation allowing two hours of unshaded morning and afternoon sun when day temperatures are below 30 degrees C, afternoon sun is shaded when temperature exceeds 30 degrees C. This is achieved by adjusting the heights of two shade cloth blinds. The design of the structure allows plenty of air circulation. The area is protected from strong wind.

    This sounds elaborate but it is only a man-made structure trying to duplicate the conditions self-sown seedlings experience growing under native trees."

    http://anpsa.org.au/APOL2006/jun06-1.html

    Not to say completely replicate it, but allow times of good strong light in comfortable conditions, then when overly hot and strong it needs to be more dappled

    Acuminata is quite prone to water issues like damping off and root rot / poor root development, so I think getting their soil and environmental factors right are quite important to a good start. Having a fertile well drained sandy soil (like sandy loam), and allow a wet dry cycle.

    If your seedling mix or potting mix is of quality, then you possibly won't need any fertiliser, like a good homemade aged compost etc, but if you buy from stores or make up coir/CSS mixes, fertiliser is needed if not essential for the latter.

    I use this to fert my acacia seedlings/saplings with great results (middle one), over a variety of mixes: straight seed mixes, various coir:css ratios, coirs:composts etc. Inoculated or not. It's essentially blood and bone, don't know what they've dont different, yet to investigate.

    http://www.richgro.com.au/my_native_garden/fertilisers.php

    There is good info here regarding different mixes, nutrient levels etc and how they made plants react, i.e. the quickest 'healthiest' growth due to excess Nitrogen isn't particularly desireable. Well worth a good read, and it is context and species specific, we need to group things, yet seperate and think logically about specificities.

    http://www.kew.org/ucm/groups/public/documents/document/kppcont_047341.pdf

    oh, and with sands, don't forget to sieve and wash them, adding 'sand' with all this fine particle dust will lock up your medium, creating a waterlogged anaerobic envionment for your roots, if you are doing that to an already difficult to work with mix, you'll be pulling your hair out playing with drainage, pH, nutrients, over and underwatering etc.

    • Like 3

  12. cheers ph!

    will make a thread, but just deciding on how to go about it so might be a little while. thanks for showing that, nice to know of success. Never know if people are just being lazy, haven't had success, haven't tried or simply don't wish or haven't shared their progress for varying reasons.


  13. Thanks for taking the time to share these fellas, really stunning shots.

    Went to take shots but really nothing good to show at the moment, we are still in a lull with quite cold temps, lots of tip growth so hopefully flowers kicking in with a bit of coming warmth.

    Must be climatic or maybe nutrition Hellonasty, your buds are well advanced on mine, at most my PC buds which are very few at the moment are around 1/4 size of your smallest, and my scop is just a couple of hairs at the tip.

    Really cool to see Eileen flowering for you Zelly, i'm not aware of anyone getting flowers besides when she went off for Ed about 5-10 years ago. And interesting she's dropped her spines for you, again could be climatic or orientation in my yard, as all mine are still pumping out spines as much as possible, even though not overly heavy.

    Did you cross her?

    • Like 1

  14. cool :) i'm sure in a few months time there'll be more opportunity for seed to be spread to interested parties, and in the coming years we will see this plant more frequently in peoples collections and tube stock on offer which is really exciting, if I run into any i'll keep you in mind. At the same time, imo it's important for people to not get too caught up in it as there are plenty of other species around that are in need of attention and have similar things happen, seed distribution, tube stock availability etc. lets cast our nets wide hey, we have a fascinating country with so much exploration and hard work to be done :)

    • Like 1
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