teonanacatl

I know the link has been posted in a few threads but I think it deserves its own! Its a great article, the author has done a lot of thinking and whilst he struggles to be concise (I think its translated so thats probably why) the advice and views in it are a must read. The authors view point is very level headed, he makes suggestions (very valid ones) but recognises at the end of the day different people want different things from their cacti and no soil mix is perfect. I do like how he suggests one go about working on their soil mix though. One could consider his article as guidelines and philosophies for determining the right cactus soil mix for you. He suggests that a 100% mineral soil mix (no organics) should be the starting point for any cacti, adjusted by adding organic material to increase growth, or limestone to decrease growth as desired by you. The 100% mineral soil is a freely-draining, low-rot, low-moderate growth but healthy growth soil. It is also a long term medium and fertile medium. He touches briefly upon mycorrhizal associations and soil microbes ability to "mine" the nutrients from the rock for the cacti but there are much better sources for information on this. He gives great advice on a variety of components of a medium and suggests where one could get it from for cheap. I strongly agree with a lot of his statements on the treatment of cacti and their resistance to disease and pests. Basically he makes a case that cacti are adapted to low water, low-moderate available nutrients and high sun conditions, some are furthermore adapted to higher pH conditions. Adaptation to these conditions allow these plants to survive when other perish. In cultivation there is a trend to push the plants growth and whilst the plants respond with lots of flowers and large size they are not necessarily healthy (think obese people) and suffer from pest and disease problems. Lastly the pictures of the natural habitats where some of these cacti grow are amazing. Likewise the "scenes" he does in his pots are cute and look great. Hope those of you who havent read it enjoy it! http://xerophilia.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/The-Stone-Eaters.pdf

Here is somthing Ive been working on, still not finished so dont distribute and will be updated when im done and then after that when somthing new comes along. All i need for this is step by step peres grafting and wedge grafting pics which I will take when I do some grafting, this copy is just for people to give feedback, like any other sections youd like included or any other info, find my spelling and grammar mistakes too please :D And anything else like nomenclature or classifications. Respond here with the bits to edit. http://files-upload.com/395598/Teossmallbo...OPY.pd.pdf.html I will delete after a few days.

Bought some petri dishes, thought Id ordered smaller, turns out I was wrong. Who wants them? Make an offer.

Good hunting! Impressive. If anyone wants to trade let me know.

Make an offer for each. All in good condition. Vacuum pump has never been used.

Pump is gone, pihkal and tihkal have an interested buyer. The rest are available.

Make offers. All books are in good condition. The vacuum pump is new and never taken from the plastic.

Haha MG I literally have never read them since I got them, keeping the ones I do use though just hoping they go to someone who will use them. Joshwaa mate I think I bought it for $70.

Oryzalin is a much less toxic alternative to colchicine for inducing polyploidy in plants (including cacti). Using appropriate safety this chemical can be easily used by the home plant breeder to induce polyploidy. Its also used as a pre-emergent herbicide, but I bought it to induce polyploidy. Ive got 10mL bottles of 40.4% Oryzalin in propylene glycol, $5+ postage. With the concentrations required 10mL of this solution will last for ever. For more information see: http://members.tripod.com/~h_syriacus/oryzalin.html * I disagree with his calculations. The MSDS: www.southernag.com/docs/labels_msds/Ms1240.pdf And the attached paper. PM me. Chromosome doubling in cacti.pdf

Yeah CrayZ they are for sale, pm me on here or go to www.facebook.com/larridinyacarvings

Some carvings of mine. Hopefully they can inspire some of you to try your hand at carving After all you dont know what you can do unless you try. Im happy to provide advice too.

Here is the Kmz file for most of the Lophophora locality types I could find, open it and it will run in google earth. These are not the GPS locations where the seed/ plants were collected but rather the towns identified in the locality names. As you can see a lot are found quite near each other so its unlikely there is any considerable difference between some populations. I think the most interesting thing would be to grow individuals from the northern, southern, eastern and western most populations. The northern form is said to be located around Saltillo, the southern form around Huizache. The La Perdida locality (a caespitose population) fits between the two. What I think is noticeable is the lack of seed from Texas, texana is obviously from Texas but Im unsure where. Likewise some sell "big bend" locality seeds from the big bend national park. The remaining cultivar is the echinata cultivar which I believe is from west texas somewhere. Feel free to add to it and repost it. http://www.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1357863434

Nice, where at in Tas, good cheap land there

Some new stuff, realised I hadnt posted here for awhile! The chrysalis and loph are works in progress.

Still have some available.

Small hives are $40 for a single brood chamber or $80 with a honey super. These small ones are designed for the little bees (3mm) that live in your house walls and steps. Great pollinators, don't produce much honey though. Large hives are $120 and come with a honey super. These are made for the larger native stingless bees (5mm) that mostly live in tree hollows and sometimes in houses. Great pollinators, attract bird life and produce up to 2l of yummy honey/yr. These are new empty hives. postage depends on location but max is $50 southern nsw. *picture is of hives with bees in, small one is single chamber, larger one has honey super on.

I need help, some of my purple yams this year grew lots of shooting stems but not many tubers, and the bulbils and tubers produced are not purple. I'm wondering if they need two years from bulbils to produce tubers? Or if some suffered bug damage to the roots? Or perhaps some are not purple yams? I did some keying whilst they were growing and they all keyed out to be Dioscorea alata, so I'm perplexed as to why the different growth. Pics attached. Purple yam with good tuber development Not purple yam, note the many shoots forming but limited tuber (there are multiple plants in this picture)

Edit again- if you or a family member have cancer and want to try these then send me your addy and which packet youd like and Ill send them out for free. Just want them gone to good homes.

Ive got the following extracts for sale they are made by oriveda- please read their product descriptions and do your own research before buying. I ordered these to help my gf with her cancer, she died before they came and as they cost a pretty penny Im looking to sell them. They are all unopened and just arrived. Turkey tail PSP-50 180 caps $90 http://www.oriveda.com/coriolus_psp.php Reishi extract 120 caps $80 http://www.oriveda.com/reishi.php Agaricus blazei extract 180 caps $70 http://www.oriveda.com/agaricus.php They are all b-glucan extracts though the reishi extract contains some triterpenes as well. PSP has been clinically trialled in a number of countries and I encourage you to do your own research around these extracts. Oriveda will provide certificates of analysis upon request.

Discounted price- pm me with an offer if its still too exxy.

Ive grew yams in this bed last year and they were all normal purple yams. I dont fertilise, but I planted pigeon peas around the edge of the garden this year but doubt that has increased the nitrogen that much. The "purple" yams are growing intermixed with the other ones, so I guess it might be age.

I've got a mate just moved to Perth who is interested in picking edible and other mushrooms in the Perth region for uni. Lovely fellow who has a clue and is a quick learner and an apatite for knowledge. If anyone is heading out anytime and would take him please let me know by pm. Peace to you all and hope maybe one day I make it to Perth to meet you folk.

Ps look forward to see you up this way.

The further north the better it gets, I live in the most northern house on the Australian mainland and it's great. Yeah sure everything bites, stings or has teeth here but the winter min is about 18C and that mostly cold enough for me. There are some really cool mushrooms that can be cultivated where it's hot, Volvariella, Calocybe and some oysters to name a few, and many more that are under explored. Dunno what industry you're in but I have to try hard to not get work, though I'm not fussy with what my work is and I don't have a family to support.

You can make knives from old tool steel and a wet grinder pretty easy.