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poisonshroom

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Everything posted by poisonshroom

  1. poisonshroom

    Voacanga seed germination

    I had a seed pod germinate accidentally. I collected it from a local botanic garden off the ground and forgot it was in my backpack for a while then just threw it into a pot and covered it with potting mix and forgot about it until a few months later seedlings appeared (it took me a few months to realize what they were). I think just like iboga, fresh seed still in the pod with the pulp is beneficial, but they take a long time to come up.
  2. poisonshroom

    Gumbi Gumbi Diaries

    Wow, I miss him - I don't check in here much these days, but this was the first thread I opened and it reminded me of him. Off topic, but I recently inherited a couple of what I think are Dracena draco a friend saved from his collection after he passed, so a part of him lives on. As for gumbi gumbi, Bunnings stocks them in their tuckerbox collection, but who knows if they have the medicinal properties if the speculation that the host is the important factor is true (or if they even are really hemiparasitic).
  3. poisonshroom

    Whats wrong with my Iboga?

    Hey guys I have two Tabernathe Iboga plants, one nearly died about a week after i recieved it, but it has recovered and is a nice strong looking plant now The other however, is not looking too good. its in a much bigger pot and didnt have any problems adjusting to my climate when i first got it. recently though (last couple of weeks) its got this yellowing on the leaves, which are not well formed and a lot smaller than on the first one. Im thinking its some kind of nutrient deficiency, but i dont know an awful lot about plant disease. Both plants are growing in pretty much the same conditions except the sick one may have gotten a bit more sun (i moved it into the shade last week, but it doesnt appear to be improving). Both are fed fortnightly with seasol and powerfeed or equivalent, except lately because its been raining for about a month now. anyone have any ideas? these are probably my favourite plants in my garden, so not only do i not want to kill them, but any other info on cultivation (tips etc) would be greatly appreciated. thank you
  4. Hey everyone - I'v been working on this for a couple of months now and I think its time for everyone to see my results so far =] All up I had a bit over 50% germination, with 4 of the Duboisia myoporoides and 6 D. hopwoodii surviving. The D. myoporoides seeds were from herbalistics, and the pituri from ferret (apparently collected in eastern S.A). 12/4/11: 12 D. hopwoodii and 12 D. myoporoides seeds were soaked in 1000ppm gibberellic acid (50mg dissolved in 50ml water) and covered in foil. The dishes were marked because the seeds are almost identical in appearance. 13/4/11: Both lots of seeds were dried on paper towel and planted into punnets of 6 (2 seeds per cell) approximately 5mm deep and the punnets were labeled and placed inside next to a window that receives some morning and afternoon sun. Daytime temperatures were around 30*c and about 20*c minimum at night. Regular commercial seed raising mix was used for both species. 27/4/11: 1 of each species had germinated - the seedlings were tiny (aprox 2mm high) and fragile looking with the seed coat still attached. D. hopwoodii could be distinguished by its dark red stem (D. myoporoides was whiteish green). 8/5/11: 7 of each had germinated. Some of the seed coats had fallen off and a couple were carefully removed manually to determine whether it would have any effect on the health of the seedlings (apparently it didn't). 9/5/11: Both punnets were moved outside under shade cloth, but still received lots of morning sun (until around 11am when the sun moved above the shade cloth. 24/5/11: 1 of each species perished. 1 of each still had seed coats attached. 5/6/11: Disaster the punnet containing the D. myoporoides fell off the table it was on but I managed to save 4, and planted them into larger individual pots with premium potting mix (commercial) 30/6/11: Repotted the D. hopwoodii seedlings into the same sized individual pots as the D. myoporoides. Interestingly during the transplant one of the pituri lost most of its roots, but I planted it anyway - it didnt seem to suffer any ill effects except for slight wilting. I wasnt expecting it to live long, but its still alive now (it may be the smallest one though - I cant be sure because I didnt bother with marking it to keep track. The pituri was repotted in a mixture of equal parts premium potting mix and sandy garden soil, along with 2 handfuls of medium grain, smooth fish tank gravel. 10/7/11: 2 D. hopwoodii were moved into almost full sun to test whether they can handle it. Minimal wilting was observed during the day and temperatures were still in the high 20's- low 30's during the day, but down to around 15*c at night with the occasional cold snap (as low as 7*c for a couple of nights). Also during these colder periods the days would be windy usually around 25*c or lower (wind chill). 3/8/11: Remaining D. hopwoodii seedlings were moved into the same position as the 2 that were placed in full sun (which were thriving). Sometime during august one pituri was repotted into the deep terracotta (unglazed) pot thats in the picture, and it seems to be growing much faster and branching more than the others. The reason for choosing such a deep pot is because after putting the others into the individual pots they quickly started to poke their roots through the drainage hole (by quickly I mean a week or two), indicating they probably have a taproot, which is consistent with what Iv read about how they live in nature (on top of sand dunes, with deep taproots to access underground water). The soil used in the deep pot was much sandier than the smaller ones and course river sand was used for that purpose along with extra (sharp) gravel. I was actually pretty surprised at how easy it was to germinate the pituri and keep the seedlings alive - also surprising was how quickly they germinated... most reports Iv read they have taken months, with very poor germination rates and even lower survival rates. I put my success down to a few external factors (as Im by no means an expert, and have my fair share of failure with other species - even ones that are considered easy to grow) - for example being late autumn-early winter when the seeds were planted would have replicated their natural environment fairly well (I live in Townsville, North QLD - winter is very dry with often blistering hot days and cool -even cold out my way- nights, usually with cold snaps that last around a week or so, and even the occasional light frost). The seeds were probably also very fresh, which would have helped. All along I treated both species pretty much as I would any other seeds/seedlings, with no special watering regime. Seed trays were watered daily (sometimes more than once), but dried (at least on the surface) occasionally, and seedlings are watered most days, with fortnightly applications of seasol and powerfeed. I was considering attempting a graft (pituri as the scion), but they dont seem to be having any trouble despite periods of heavy regular watering as well as occasional neglect for a few days (those small black pots get extremely hot in full sun too and even that doesnt seem to be doing any harm). I will be purchasing some eggplant and tomato seedlings to try out grafting some time soon, in case I decide I do want to try grafting the Duboisia's (Iv only ever grafted cacti before and not had all that much luck, so id like to try it out on something more expendable first). This is them a couple of days ago: The terracotta pot that the big one is in is about 40cm high Thanks for looking everyone - all questions, suggestions etc are welcome
  5. poisonshroom

    Interactive Metabolic Pathways Map

    I have a huge printed version of this on my wall - I got it printed for one of my biochem subjects, but I often still look at it and find interesting bits i missed. Pretty amazing how complex basic metabolism is (not to mention the all the other pathways that arent on here)
  6. poisonshroom

    Winter clean up

    Hey all - now I'm on holidays I'm doing a winter clean up now that everything is dry and going quiet. So far just some cacti that are too heavy to move again or have been pre-cut and I havnt had the time or resources to do anything with, but I may add to the list as I go. So far I have: 3x 30cm pieces of SS02XJuuls Giant 1x 20cm tip of the same 5x 30cm PC pachanoi including a tip Both of these plants have been under shade cloth for the last couple of months since the cyclones that came through here earlier in the year (one was on its side the entire time because it fell over in TC Ita), so they are a bit etiolated and the SS02XJG is a bit yellow (see picture) - both will still do fine once they shoot some roots. 2x 15cm TerscheckiiXPsycho0 one is a pup off the 30cm mid piece below 1x 30cm " " mid These have been indoors for months after I cut down my big guy (see my gallery) and didnt have time to plant out, so they are very stressed and quite light in colour. The 30cm piece is still dark, but very thin and one of the 15cm pieces will have a bend at the bottom - the parent was cut down then cut into two logs which were laid on their side indoors, one sent off a pup and the other continued growing 'upwards' towards the window making a 90 turn I also have a couple of Voacanga africana seedlings ~15cm tall All cacti are $1/cm and the V. africana are $20. Prices dont include postage, but if you want multiple items they will be sent together PC pachanoi on the left SS02XJG on the right Thanks
  7. poisonshroom

    Winter clean up

    Update time =] I still have heaps of T. pachanoi (including a tip) and 3 pieces of the SS02XJuuls Giant (all mids) I now have 4 brugmansia hybrid cuttings that should start shooting roots next week - the are grown from a seed and all taken off the same plant (I think its a yellow aurea crossed with a pink or white sauveolens). Havnt seen it flower yet, but the surviving plants I have from the last batch of seed I planted have survived a lot of neglect, so they are tough. 3x ~25cm tip cuttings T. peruvianus 'Gnosis' 1x ~20cm T. peruvianus "Medicine garden red spine' 2x unnamed T. bridgesii (bunnings variety) ~1m of Senecereus grandiflorus $0.50/cm ~1m (maybe) pereskiopsis $0.50/cm A couple of Opuntia macrocentra (purple prickly pear) pads Thanks - respond by pm, prices for the trichos are the same as above
  8. poisonshroom

    Deleting Old Trade and Giveaway Threads

    I agree with torsten - I dont see any point, all the new ones are at the top, so if you go back more than a few pages its unlikely any will still be active. Although I think people should refrain from posting "plant arrived today" type stuff in the sale thread and put that kind of thing in the member reputation section or by PM
  9. poisonshroom

    Hylocereus/epi palm grafts (tasted my 1st dragon fruit)

    Mine rarely produce fruit here (id say its not a self-fertile variety), but there is one fruit on it at the moment - conveniently 10m up a gum tree -_-. The ones I get from the farmers markets are much better than the supermarket varieties, but I have had some decent ones from coles before, including a yellow skinned, white fleshed hylocereus variety. I agree with woof, that the yellow selenecereus have the nicest and strongest flavour, followed by the red fleshed hylos then the white flesh. I find the white ones to be more sour tasting than the red ones, which have more of a kiwi/melon flavour. I havnt had the chance to try many other species, but the ones I have tried have ranged from sweet but insipid to just plain flavourless (they were all small species with pea sized fruit though) Its a bit odd that cacti fruit (especially the dragon fruit and prickly pears) arent more popular in Aus, because we have such a huge amount of land thats suitable to grow them on (evidence by the huge problem they cause as weeds in many places), but admittedly most species are hard to prepare due to spiney plants and fruits and not suitable for long distance transport
  10. poisonshroom

    Germinating finger limes

    I find they germinate readily just planting the washed seeds straight into some well draining seed raising mix or potting mix. The seedlings are prone to rotting, so they need to dry out a bit between watering, but they are pretty hardy (albeit slow-growing) otherwise. They also dont seem to like root disturbance when they are young.
  11. poisonshroom

    Mushroom seeds

    Im having a go at the golden oysters now - pasteurizing some straw as we speak. Im not too hopeful but figure its worth a go - especially oysters, which are usually regarded as the easiest type of mushroom you can grow (apart from maybe cubes, but I wouldnt know anything about that ). Whether they work or not its an interesting idea, but I agree with what someone said above - colonized dowels would probably be a better way to sell this kind of thing, but I think they are aiming for long shelf-life rather than high success rates.
  12. poisonshroom

    Free Waddi tree seeds (Acacia peuce)

    lol I also went to Boulia to study the waddi tree. I have a few seedlings from seed collected last year. If I can find the ones I have left ill put some up here =] Very interesting tree, and the wood is incredible - sinks like a rock and the pieces in my fish tank are still leaching tannins after nearly a year and going thru the dishwasher twice! Nice colour too. Also they randomly get flushes of soft reddish coloured foliage (also a mystery as to why) and the green leaves are more flammable than dried ones, which is odd in a fire dominated ecosystem like where they come from. I could write a report on this species (oh wait- i did ).
  13. Agree with HD - interesting, but I dont know if Id risk getting them in from overseas. There is also at least one at the Botanic Ark in Mossman. Didnt get a chance to try a ripe fruit though unfortunately
  14. poisonshroom

    Western QLD plants

    Hey all - I'll be heading west for a week over easter for a uni field trip. The focus of the trip is to study the waddi tree (Acacia peuce), which is a threatened species only known in 3 locations Australia wide. We will be in the Boulia region (~900km West of Townsville) for about 4 days not including travel time. What Im interested in though is if there are any species I should look out for? I know Duboisia hopwoodii may grow in the area, but other than that I dont know a whole lot about our native arid zone species. Im interested in not only ethno's but pretty much anything. Whenever I go on a field trip or just a trip to somewhere I havnt been (or havnt been to recently) I like to have a mental target list for species I should seek out. In cairns it was tabernaemontana, native psychotria, and a few others, and I managed to find all of them as well as some others I didnt expect (I also found most of them here in townsville after i came back, which was good because most of the seeds I collected failed to germinate). I'll probably put some pictures up when I get back if I happen to find anything interesting. As a side note, Iv seen a picture of a leaf from A. peuce that went under the microscope, and there are noticeable crystals of some kind in the cells - I wonder what they could be? So far they havnt been analysed as far as I know, but whatever it is there appears to be plenty of it Thanks
  15. I find fresh seeds germinate best (they grow locally here), and by soaking you can see which ones are most likely to germinate because they tend to swell up and the seed coat starts to come off. Iv had them randomly come up from 'duds' too though - one of the duds i just pushed into a box with vegies growing in it and it came up too (much later than the others). I find once they get a set of leaves or two they are pretty difficult to kill - very drought tolerant and semi-deciduous, they also come up from suckers resprout after complete defoliation from neglect. One of my favourite natives
  16. poisonshroom

    T. terscheckiiXPsycho0

    All gone =] Thanks to everyone that showed interest. If you really really want a piece you may be able to con me into parting with a small bit, but otherwise there should be pups in a couple of months, and I might put some other stuff up soon too Thanks you
  17. poisonshroom

    T. terscheckiiXPsycho0

    I have 2 or 3 20-30cm pieces for sale from my big one that had to be cut down (see my gallery for a bit of a pictorial of it's growth over the last couple of years). It was sad to have to cut it down but it was becoming a bit dangerous and I didnt want it to fall over during a storm/cyclone etc. All pieces are mid sections and very fat, its also my fastest growing cactus - rivaling some of my other non-cactus plants in terms of growth rate. PM if interested. I may add other items to this thread later. Thanks
  18. poisonshroom

    T. terscheckiiXPsycho0

    Not sure - it came from herbalistics a few years ago
  19. poisonshroom

    Impacts of plant invasions become less robust over time

    Interesting. I have heard about something like this before (probably in a lecture) - you can notice a similar thing here in some weed populations, like Lantana, which is still an invasive and widespread weed, but its negative impacts are less than predicted/less than they were. Where I live you rarely see Lantana except a few places, and further west where it is a big problem its mainly older plants, which are probably going to die soon. Chonky apples (Z. mauritiana) are the same - you mainly see mature ones (but there are still plenty of seedlings/suckers). Unfortunately, as they pointed out in the article, it may not be a good thing because either way the soil composition changes (possibly permanently) and becomes unfavourable for the weed and consequently other plant species - the weeds are successful usually because they can tolerate or thrive in the same type of soil as the natives prefer, but the native species tend to have more specific requirements (hence why they are only found in certain locations within their native range). Although I dont think it will be seriously bad in the long term as succession will still happen, with pioneer species coming up, changing the soil back to its former condition, dying and allowing longer lived species to return (provided the weeds dont take advantage of the reconditioned soil - but weeds mainly take over places after disturbance of some kind, so somewhere not controlled by fire or regular flattening by storms etc. should eventually go back to near normal (the way it was before the weeds were introduced, but there will probably still be some remaining weeds that can survive but cant take over)
  20. poisonshroom

    goddamn storm cell

    Thats depressing man. I think a lot of them will recover though - you'll be surprised. Im lucky where I am in that we never get hail (I think it has happened, but it couldnt be called hail - more like icey rain), but we get smashed by wind and flooding. Pretty much everything I couldnt take inside during yasi got affected in some way (most of my gardens were flattened), but I dont think I lost anything completely - most of them either continued growing (at an angle) or regrew from roots, broken stems etc. Good luck over the rest of the season - as others have said, its good to learn from these kinds of events and be prepared for when it happens again
  21. poisonshroom

    high end serial trading thread

    Yep - should still have everything.
  22. poisonshroom

    Possible d.hopwoodii ID

    Yep definitely a myoporum of some kind. The flowers are the give-away that it isnt D. hopwoodii. Interesting how similar they look tho (including the purple streaks on the petals)
  23. poisonshroom

    Harvesting/Caring for Iboga Fruit

    Yep - Im talking about my area specifically (a few other people who have grown it here for many years never got fruit), as you can see a few hundred kms south and they fruit. They even seem to fruit in NNSW and south east QLD. Id say its something to do with pollination - they are self-fertile though apparently.
  24. poisonshroom

    Harvesting/Caring for Iboga Fruit

    They are the unopened flowers. Iv never had fruit on mine (lots of flowers though), although apparently they never seem to set fruit where I am for some reason. The fruit are about the size of a kumquat and sort of look similar (or like a mini lemon lol), and the best way Iv seen to post them is just the whole fruit in some sphagnum in a ziplock baggie. Thats also the best way to get the seeds to germinate.
  25. Ah yes - Iv seen that article a few times now (Im currently doing an essay on pituri actually ). There really arent too many new articles out there as far as Iv found, with the most recent being from the early 80's (I may have missed some though), and most of them seem to confirm the older articles, with the oldest ones to indicate nicotine AND nornicotine being present being from the early 20th century (1910 I believe is the earliest mention). Ill be interested to hear how it goes. Keep in mind though, from the literature the only ones found not to contain any nicotine were from South Australia (and I think NT). Its still an interesting subject even though there has been some reasonable extensive work done on it already (as far as alkaloid content goes anyway)
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