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The Corroboree

Illustro

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Posts posted by Illustro


  1. It's a hybrid, proper red khat is RED, like some kind of candy.

    If you want it to grow tall, keep pinching out the axillary buds to force all the growth to go to the top; however these plants are very capable of growing too fast for the stem and/or roots to support, so be mindful. If you want it to become a bush, do the opposite (pinch out the top buds).


  2. An interesting little fact about most leafy cacti: they employ CAM photosynthesis in the stem and C3 in the leaves! Meaning, when in relatively mild growing conditions (moderate temps and water regime): as well as making use of CAM psyn. (less 'productive' but far more water and carbon efficent) in the stems, the plants also employ C3 (the far more 'productive' but less water and carbon efficient method) in the leaves. When the weather warms/dries up, they simply abscise their leaves and rely solely on CAM.

    <3 plants

    • Like 2

  3. Y'all rude! I didn't see nothing but a cactus till yo dirty-ass mofos started popping off that noise. But on that note: if I were you Ceres, I'd make sure she really loves you before you flop that nasty-ass thang out! Mhmm.

    And hey gurl, I thought I already told you 'bout them monstroses! They UGLY yo. Mm.


  4. Interesting doco man, I <3 VICE.

    I wish those pushing these laws would actually go out and experience for themselves the actualities of what they're fighting against, khat seems like a fairly marginal 'drug' from what I've heard (at least physically). I talked recently to a traveler, who said something along the lines of: "In Yemen I once spent the afternoon chewing all the tips off dense a >4m branch, it was over double my height [>6ft], must have been several hundred grams of tips at least. The khat was fresh, it was harvested in front of us, but the effect was not at all any better than a good yerba mate or a strong tea, different only in being far less convenient and user-friendly to consume."


  5. Most conventional crops aren't gonna be that profitable unless you can produce them are large scales, or you come up with some way to drastically boost efficiency. But, conventional crops are dependable, you will always have a market no matter what the economy is like. This (as well as being great for laundering money) is actually one reason why the Italian mafia owned so many grocery stores and restaurants "people always gotta eat", they'd have a source of income no matter what happened.

    If you want to make $$$ from something with little overhead investment, you gotta break the market with something new that there will be high demand for. For example, in New Zealand, the company that first started growing CHICKPEAS for fucks sake made millions, the market was there, and people were willing to pay a premium for locally produced chickpeas. The guy who introduced Yukkas to New Zealand is also reported to have made millions propagating them up and selling them for whatever price he wanted (no competition) to nurseries, gardening centres, and home depots. You just gotta look at the local market and demographics, identify any empty niches with potential. It can be bit of a gamble though.

    • Like 3

  6. I think it might just be a tad too cold for Pereskiopsis here, they don't seem to grow so fast outside.

    You can grow Pereskiopsis like water plants...had them in a bucket of water for a year and they thrived! Ecuadorian Trichos take a lot of wetness but i guess Peres play in a diffrent league. I guess Trichiocereus Candicans is a pretty reliable Stock as well as it takes a lot of cold.

    Ahh yes! Great point! Tropical Trichos :D I'll have to give that some more research.

    Not all tricho's are wet tolerant. Bridgedsii is usually the first one to rot. Patchanoii go next,.... Peruvianus seems to be the most humidity & wet tolerant of them all.

    Cerues are definatey more tolerant. They should be able to withstand 1200 mm in the sub tropics and tropics.

    Hylocerues is a definate winner when it comes to humidity and or lots of percipitation.

    There's a freekin huge Cereus in my hometown, growing in peat soils near a bog. Had to do a second take when I first saw it.


  7. I've got a couple large plants, ~2 y.o., they haven't fruited yet, but I expect them to either this summer or next - if I remember I'll let ya know. Really cool plants tho, love the HUGE leaves...surprisingly hardy too, I know a lady who lives in the mountains who has a plant taking over some trees! They don't seem to show a mid-winter funk like my P. edulis either.


  8. when i was about 14, me & a mate got off chops at a party. after the party we walked back to another friends place. in her next door neighbors yard there was a 6ft tall Cereus peruvianus (didn't know that at the time), for whatever dumb reason we picked up some sticks & went & bashed the hell out of it, lopping off the limbs.. i remember it fairly clearly & yes it was fun at the time.. the next day though our friend told us that an old man lives there & he planted that cactus to commemorate his dead wife. we felt like the biggest pieces of shit you can imagine :/

    from that day forward i vowed to never harm a cactus again in my life. sometimes i feel it must have been my punishment to contract the cactus bug & dedicate a large chunk of my life to adopting & taking care of 100's of cacti like an obsessive nutcase.

    happily within a year his cactus had obviously pupped like crazy & looked bigger & healthier than ever, but i still feel bad when i think of it..

    That was my hypothesis at first too, as I too participated in simply fucking stupid vandalism as a kid. It's the mindless beast inside us all. But I suspect whoever destroyed the garden were more than mere kids though, it seemed like an act of someone passionately stupid, unleashing pent up rage earned over decades of fiery inadequacy.

    I remember one time a large number of 3-4m tall oak saplings at a park were gradually destroyed by some complete fuckups, the saplings were strong and healthy, it must have taken much more than some scrawny kids to destroy them. Adults most likely.

    Ugghhh, this kinda shit actually makes me almost wish for a totalitarian police state where these people end up removed from the gene pool effective immediately.


  9. Damn bog, that sucks.

    Funny that though.. I actually put someone in the cells lastnight. Heard some odd noises and noticed my bike was gone a few minutes later. Got in my car and found some muppets trying to get away with it a few hundred meters down the road. Put the guy who was on my bike in an arm lock and got a passerby to call the cops. He really wasn't a happy camper, kept trying to get loose, saying we should settle this with a fight; the fucker kept stomping my bare feet as hard as he could on the frozen icy footpath, and would kick at anyone that tried to get close... Was kinda funny, he was pretty well dressed while I looked like something straight outta south Auckland; cheap-ass track pants, thermal top, and bare feet, sporting a fucking ridiculous fuzzy afro as well. Passersby thought I was the criminal, that I was beating him up haha. Even the cops gave me second take at first.

    Aah good times.

    • Like 6

  10. Didn't read thread, but I needed a wee greenhouse on account of living on the edge of the Bering Strait, or so it seems...went to the local building recycler and bought an old glass door for $50, leaned it against a sunny wall, stacked some bricks at both ends, then voila, magnifique! When the harsh polar winds blow at night my plants don't end up icicles, and during the day gets into the 30's; the plantie plant plants love it. They all grin like Carl Sagan I swear.


  11. ,.... another relationship issue,.... sometimes it's better to just end in your own mind. It's like as if you are afraid of the future, because that other person is the only constant (mental grip) you have,...... let go,.... and rediscover yourself in new ways. Be wild and free and don't let anything tie you down unless you really want it.

    Yup, totally intend on that. Should be interesting having a free summer!

    If the tears and tantrums were so frequent that they outweighed the good, stable and boring times then it can't be sustainable long term. Combine that with distance, then in my eyes you should definitely be 'ditchin that gash'.

    I've been with my partner for almost 7 years now and although we've had our ups and downs, we only really have big fights a couple times a year which is healthy in my eyes. I've seen too many friends involved in unstable relationships that is just constant drama and misery, and after having intense and emotional relationships personally in the past which were just draining I'm glad to be in a comparatively boring relationship.

    The drama was mostly down to being long distance, she is actually ridiculously stable and low maintenance (almost 'self-maintaining'), one of the traits I love(d). The long distance bred the problems, long distance amplified the problems; it wasn't a reflection of her really. ....But fuck it, spent the day in a psilo somnolence, analysed everything, missed the shit outta her, but realised I had to let go; all I care about now is making sure she is hurt as little as possible by my next moves.

    • Like 1

  12. Incog: now I think about it, I really have grown so much from this experience, especially as she was my first serious long-term GF. I've grown in too many ways to list, but I guess the key one's sadly kinda cynical, is that love really is just an emotion; I am amazed at how much I thought I loved her but how well...easily...this emotion blanched. Kinda feel embarrassed at myself for letting my emotions deceive me. I always so strongly believed and pined for 'the one'; this girl totally wasn't it, knew it from the beginning, yet somehow I spent over a year trying to convince myself otherwise.

    Bog: I think you're right. I'd split up with her right now if I knew she'd be OK, but she's homesick in a foreign city and at least until recently, she was ridiculously in love with me. She's got no family or BFF support over there, I'm just scared she might do something crazy if she's not prepared for the finality and actuality of it. Given that information, still think I should break it now? Ooh yeah, I am definitely sad, no denying, there's things about her I'll always love and miss, the fact she was really into my crazy plant collection being one. And she taught me a lot. I will always cherish what we shared, I won't ever try and discount it, I'm really not that kinda guy. But the relief was real, and I think it actually stems from this, from myself being too emotionally involved; I invest myself emotionally into everything way too much for me to handle sometimes. I think about things way more than I should.

    Thanks :) Yup, totes gotta catchup!

    Thanks errone! This has actually helped me clear my head space more than I thought. Now to try and let her down gently.

    • Like 1

  13. Me'n my GF had a pretty up'n down relationship the last year or so...long story short, we had a 'summer love' a few summers ago now, and due to the different universities we study at, have been in a long distance relationship since. It's been tough, a massive roller coaster ride...tears, tantrums, semi-break ups, cheating (both of us); all the fun stuff...thought she was worth it, but I'm worn right down now, it simply pains me to keep this up. I've been more and more of an asshole to her, which I hate, but I just can't help but be so frustrated. Part of me really fucking loves her for some fundamental and rare qualities, another part has serious doubts about her, and another is completely tired of the drama of being long-distance. ...I think I finally turned her off, she sent a really sweet, but annoyingly naive email nearly two months ago, I took nearly a week to send her a short grumpy reply. Since then I've only heard a couple times from her (after me prompting her, and she usually emails me once a day), she was super positive and happy in her short replies...but almost too happy. She disabled her FB page around the same time also. ...So I assume we're off, she just doesn't want to say it. About 1/4 of me is kinda sad that it may be over, but the rest is totally ecstatic...feels like I've dropped such a massive burden! Never thought I'd be so sincerely happy over it; its strange, the feeling is almost spiritual, feels like a massive storm cloud that's been darkening my world for the last two years is gone. But, I don't wanna rock her boat any more, just wanna let our relationship fade away, let her move on gently; so that means I don't wanna email her and bluntly ask if we're over (or is that a really bad 'guy mistake?'). So, before I move on fully in my head, would y'all think that given the circumstances, we're unofficially broken up?


  14. Me'n my GF had a pretty up'n down relationship the last year or so...long story short, we had a 'summer love' a few summers ago now, and due to the different universities we study at, have been in a long distance relationship since. It's been tough, a massive roller coaster ride...tears, tantrums, semi-break ups, cheating (both of us); all the fun stuff...thought she was worth it, but I'm worn right down now, it simply pains me to keep this up. I've been more and more of an asshole to her, which I hate, but I just can't help but be so frustrated. Part of me really fucking loves her for some fundamental and rare qualities, another part has serious doubts about her, and another is completely tired of the drama of being long-distance. ...I think I finally turned her off, she sent a really sweet, but annoyingly naive email nearly two months ago, I took nearly a week to send her a short grumpy reply. Since then I've only heard a couple times from her (after me prompting her, and she usually emails me once a day), she was super positive and happy in her short replies...but almost too happy. She disabled her FB page around the same time also. ...So I assume we're off, she just doesn't want to say it. About 1/4 of me is kinda sad that it may be over, but the rest is totally ecstatic...feels like I've dropped such a massive burden! Never thought I'd be so sincerely happy over it; its strange, the feeling is almost spiritual, feels like a massive storm cloud that's been darkening my world for the last two years is gone. But, I don't wanna rock her boat any more, just wanna let our relationship fade away, let her move on gently; so that means I don't wanna email her and bluntly ask if we're over (or is that a really bad 'guy mistake?'). So, before I move on fully in my head, would y'all think that given the circumstances, we're unofficially broken up?


  15. Me'n my GF had a pretty up'n down relationship the last year or so...long story short, we had a 'summer love' a few summers ago now, and due to the different universities we study at, have been in a long distance relationship since. It's been tough, a massive roller coaster ride...tears, tantrums, semi-break ups, cheating (both of us); all the fun stuff...thought she was worth it, but I'm worn right down now, it simply pains me to keep this up. I've been more and more of an asshole to her, which I hate, but I just can't help but be so frustrated. Part of me really fucking loves her for some fundamental and rare qualities, another part has serious doubts about her, and another is completely tired of the drama of being long-distance. ...I think I finally turned her off, she sent a really sweet, but annoyingly naive email nearly two months ago, I took nearly a week to send her a short grumpy reply. Since then I've only heard a couple times from her (after me prompting her, and she usually emails me once a day), she was super positive and happy in her short replies...but almost too happy. She disabled her FB page around the same time also. ...So I assume we're off, she just doesn't want to say it. About 1/4 of me is kinda sad that it may be over, but the rest is totally ecstatic...feels like I've dropped such a massive burden! Never thought I'd be so sincerely happy over it; its strange, the feeling is almost spiritual, feels like a massive storm cloud that's been darkening my world for the last two years is gone. But, I don't wanna rock her boat any more, just wanna let our relationship fade away, let her move on gently; so that means I don't wanna email her and bluntly ask if we're over (or is that a really bad 'guy mistake?'). So, before I move on fully in my head, would y'all think that given the circumstances, we're unofficially broken up?


  16. I was researching PGPR for cacti a few years ago, some real interesting stuff! Apparently some PGPR help cacti dissolve sand-, silt-, and lime-stone; creating a hole for them to grow in and making nutrients in the rock available to the plant.

    I keep saying it, but you don't need toxic chemicals to grow your plants! I've found that promoting a healthy ecosystem in ya pots makes plants so much easier to look after! I even put fresh thriving garden dirt in my desert cacti mix, the roots just go mental in it - I've never seen anything like it. Some of my Mammillaria's pots even got completely taken over by this dense yellow fungus, their root systems were so extensive after only a year they were nearly impossible to re-pot, and they were by far the most vigorous looking of my Mammillaria's - exploding with growth.

    • Like 1

  17. Damn that's cool! I've fantasised about having glowing plants to light my house for some time now, but I figured the closest I'd ever get to my Pandora-esque dream lounge is a bunch of huge terrariums containing glowing Mycena spp. fungi and some glow worms.

    Also, I don't think the GM is inherently bad, it's all about the context, who uses it and why; it's such a huge shame monsanto have destroyed the image of GM - it has some really amazing potential applications. I completely and utterly agree with with bogfrog on the point that we keep developing these elaborate technologies to fix problems stemming from overpopulation, that all these problems could be averted so much more easily if we simply stopped breeding like rabbits and being so greedy for resources and life. The problem is the trap of idealism; I too wish for nothing more than for people to use and breed less, I share the exact same soul-crushing sentiments as bogfrog, but with basic human psychology for the time being what it is, tragically this simply won't happen - we as a race are inherently appallingly greedy and that will only change when things get truly dire. We simply have to come up with ways to reduce our impact with the inevitable way we're heading. Sad but true. GE has the ability to revolutionise our world beyond what any of us can possibly imagine; the possibilities are limitless, we just need to treat it with the utmost respect and diligence.

    I guess what gives me hope is knowing that the birth rate in developed countries is dropping quickly, from the WHO report I was reading, in Europe and Japan at least, the native populations are already in decline while as a whole the western world is becoming more and more environmentally conscious, the change has been HUGE in the last 100 years. I guess the problem is developing nations whose population booms are literally reaching plague like proportions, who are hungry for western consumerist lifestyles, and have scant environmental conscience at this time - I believe the actions of developing nations will be the makers or breakers of our and our planets' future.

    Humans need to get life to spread off of Earth too - we're possibly the only chance that Earthkind has to survive an eventual cosmic cataclysm (it's practically guaranteed), so we'll need to do something. I'm reading a rather kick-ass book called 'Crescent City Rhapsody' that deals with all of this - it's one of those horizon-expanding books. It gives perspective to a future that appears bleak. :)

    Damn, that sounds like it has an incredibly similar theme to a novel I'm part way through writing! Only the context is different.

    • Like 1

  18. Don't even mention fungicide to me! Fungi are my babies! They are so crucial to plant health, it blows my mind people would want to actually kill them with these disgusting toxic chemicals! Most fungal problems are simply the result of poor cultural methods, ie, human laziness/oversight/ignorance such as poor draining mix. The two major species which cause the majority of damping off actually come from tap water! Pythium and Phytophora literally live in water reservoirs, and despite chlorination, you still introduce them to your plants when you water them. That's why I'm using tap and rain water treatments, as fresh rainwater is free of damping off, as well as being a lower pH than tap water (frees cations from exchange sites in the soil = good for plant nutrition).

    • Like 1

  19. Intriguing stuff gwalchgwyn, I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd love to see some pics!

    Ha, holy crap, just re-read my post above, I should really avoid posting while under the influence!

    Update time:

    Well, apparently it turns out the source of Pablo's problems was actually a lack of water...he checked the mix and it was actually dry, despite appearing moist on the surface. After a small watering, most of the seedlings came right back but some were stunted by a collapsed hypcotyl (the seedling stem) and never recovered fully. The first leaves are beginning to appear on the ones that came back fully, will keep y'all updated. Also, with his remaining seeds, in the next few weeks Pablo is gonna start a wee experiment with different substrates (alkaline mineral vs acidic organic) and water sources (reticulated vs rainwater). Again, will keep you posted on his results!


  20. Interesting interesting! Well, Pablo thought he was somehow above the problems of others, appears not as he just got bitch slapped by reality; only after a few days some seedlings have anomalously flopped over...catastrophic damping off it appears. The mix was shit, weather too shit, the water shit too. It was a whim mini experiment, nothing cereal. He has decided to try again once the weather warms up, and use rain water(!!!). Pablo clicked that maybe its the water which is giving our lil rue buddies a bad time? As its well established, well, its well rabbled, that rue is highly susceptible to fungal pathogens, then water is one glaring oversight! So, breakthrough! Instead of using full strength water, Pablo mixed his instant water sachet to 1/10 instead of 1/4 strength. Ha, nah, just being a dick... :D

    But yeah nah yeah, Siriusly, that reticulated shit (i.e. tap water) comes from reservoirs LADEN with scummy crap like water molds (i.e. Phytophthora, ie 'damping off'), maybe them damn commie bastards are a cause of trouble? Luckily, rainwater is free of water molds. Is that the variable correlating with success? Using rainwater? Hmm.

    • Like 2
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