poisonshroom

At least you have good weeds by the sound of it ;) manuka is a good one, and id prefer ferns to these sappy euphorbia things any day (they exude white sap even when gently brushed and seem to be impossible to eradicate and quickly outcompete whatever is in the pot). Nutgrass and what we call bindi's here (i think actually a type of Alternanthera -Alligator weed- but tribulus, which is more commonly known as bindi's are also around, but not a 'problem' usually) are the other big problems here - also impossible to eradicate and takes over ordinary lawn anywhere that is exposed.

Hahaha here (in the tropics) its more unusual for something to not randomly pop up in pots lol i think half tje weeds in my garden have arrived by hitch hiking in potting mix or soil on the roots of plants iv ordered in from somewhere else. Theres this one thing that is like a poinsettia (those things with the red bracts that you see a lot around christmas - euphorbiaceae) that hitched a ride in from plants from across town, which id never seen in our yard a couple of years go which now pop up everywhere -in every pot, crack in the cement or patch of disturbed soil

I too have noticed a change in taste and subjective effects from cigarettes over the last couple of years. I have smoked cigarettes for about 5 years, with a steady increase in the amount i smoke over the years. I normally smoke rollies (which iv also noticed a change in how well they burn and the taste), but on the occasions i smoke tailors i notice the smell of burning plastic (regualr tailor smokers dont seem to notice it oddly enough) and iv also experienced chest pain and the flu-like symptoms/feverish feeling from smoking tailors (especially when i smoke too many - rollies dont seem to do it as much). Iv also noticed the flaming ashtray phenomenon a lot lately too when in the past the only time it happened was when it was intentional. Also the plain packaging is a bit concerning too because even the cigarettes look different and have generic numbers and letter instead of a logo or something, and a few people i know have noticed a difference in taste between plain packaged tailors and pre-plain packaging ones Edit: maybe its time to quit (or go somewhere where its legal to grow your own) - if i quit now though, to the government itll look like plain packaging did it (in case you cant tell i think PP is complete BS lol, but thays a different matter)

Might need to wait till the seed coat falls off and some true leaves appear before it can be identified. Is the pot outside (or has it been)? A seed could have blown in from somewhere (i often have randoms popping up in otherwise clean commercial mixes straight out of the packet)

Are you sure they are actually dead? All of my psychotrias have lost their leaves once or more (and even a lot of the branches on some have been fried to a crisp), but after a few months you can see new growth, and until there is a dramatic change in conditions it shouldnt happen again. Certain other species from similar habitats have done the same thing several times too, and they can die back to the point of appearing completely dead, but as long as there is green wood under the bark there is a good chance it will come back (even if all you are left with after pruning away the dead wood is a stump). Id try pruning the dead branches off and cutting the main stem back until you see living wood, put it in a bright, shady area with high humidity and flood them (seasol and powerfeed wouldnt hurt either). I agree with the others though, that if that isnt the case its likely something to do with the soil you are using (nematodes are a good guess for the culprit, but Iv had problems with root mealies on psychotria and brugmansia, which both often have problems with leaf mealies and other sap suckers)

Hey everyone Big few months coming up, so time to start peddling some of my wares So far I have: 2x B. caapi 'stiffy' variety rooted cuttings (a mutant from tucanuca seeds from herbalistics with thick leaves that are smaller than usual - slow growing and appears to be more prostrate than a vine and would probably suit rockeries and things that still get a decent amount of water. Mine has stayed around 20cm tall and wide, occasionally sending off long shoots -which dont seem to last long because they grow along the ground and get mowed or exposed to too much sun etc and I bought it probably close to 2 years ago when herbalistics released a couple) $25ea Several Opuntia macrocentra pads (purple prickly pear - mine show purple colour even in a tropical climate and the pads are usually an interesting aqua blue/green colour with purple edges and brown tufts of glochids. It also gets long red and black spines on the tops of the pads. Mine have never flowered, but should have yellow flowers with purple centres and produce smallish green or purple fruit. The pads look suitable for eating too - thin, nice colour and shape and young ones are quite soft) $5ea Ill be adding more later, but thats a start. Pm for more details, pictures etc because apart from adding more stuff I rarely come back to these threads Thanks P.S some rooted Iboga cuttings may be coming up soon too ;)

Next time I take some cuttings I'll keep you in mind. Its actually very easy to grow from cutting (easier than its mother, which Iv never had any luck with). Iv thought about bonsai for this one too - its pretty much perfect by the looks, its a strange mutation.

Maybe its some kind of hybrid? Looks strange, but definitely resembles lophophora in a weird way, could even be the progeny of a hybrid that looked completely like a loph (ie the person who grew it didnt realize it was a hybrid, then it produced seed and thats what came out) How big is it?

True about the strange life cycles of ferns. Other more ancient lineages of plants have similar tactics (algae and ginkgo for example), and it can make propagation tricky for some species. Transplanting ferns can be difficult (i think especially if the rhizome is small to non-existent). Id say leave them in there until they are bigger and take some better pictures so you can have them identified. Close ups of reproductive parts may help too. Once you know what species (or genus) it belongs to you can work out how/if you can transplant it

Not the best picture, but its night time lol

Both stiffies are taken, but you can still put your name down in case someone backs out or what ever. Just for you Zaka (and also eatfoo who asked for a picture), Ill post a picture either later tonight or in the morning =]

Theres also an Android "app" for it. Its not really an app tho - its just a search engine that links you to the page on the browser (like the white pages app). Its an awesome resource though, but there appear to be a few mistakes (co-ordinates entered wrong, so specimens show up in the middle of the ocean and stuff) - theres usually enough other entries to get an idea of the range and exact location of individuals of species, so it can be really helpful

Spraying under the leaves (with the a hose with a spray nozzle or something) is a good idea too - they like to hide under the leaves where the water doesnt usually hit. If you are treating with oil make sure its in the afternoon or morning and kept somewhere out of the sun for a week or so - the oil can magnify the sun and burn the plant. Its also a good idea to wash the oil off a bit after 24hr (especially if you arent using a commercial preparation, which are usually designed so they have a finer mist so they dont damage the plant as much)

Not a tea, but with bacopa I used to chop up a good 6g of fresh leaves and stems and put them on a sandwich (with salad) - it tasted a bit like celery or something - watery and not unpleasant, but sometimes the stringy bits of stems or small bits of leaves get stuck in your teeth and stuff

Mine is still going strong and is the only one of my psychotrias (I have viridis and carth) to have flowered (no seed though), and my viridis are two to three times its size. It does well in full sun and shows some wavy leaf margins and leaves which are wider than viridis, but still a bit elongated - viridis has smooth edged longer, more narrow leaves and quickly dries out despite being in almost complete shade and in larger pots with lots of compost. Nexus seems to sprout back well after its leaves get completely dried out and fall off - which happened after i moved mine out of the shade, but my other psychotria's seem to do this almost as well. Surprisingly I wouldnt say its growing any faster than the others, but it has almost died a few times, which hinders growth for a few months, and its been in the same small pot for quite some time EDIT: got it mixed up with my carth lol

Beat me to it if eatfoo doesnt end up helping hit me up - I can take cuttings or I have some S. varians seed (apparently gets a thick taproot and has a more salmon pink/orange flower). I think my S. tortuosum was originally from eatfoo actually (a good couple of years ago now - I always manage to save a few cuttings or a single plant over summer when they tend to die off from the humidity)

Darren from Herbalistics is in SE QLD, which is where some of my seed has come from. He has a few plants plus some hybrid D. hopwoodii x myoporoides, which I think are in the ground somewhere, so its obviously not impossible, but yea humidity was a big problem for me. I got mine to sprout early winter i think, and the day and night temperature were pretty far apart (Id say they respond to that in a similar way to a lot of succulent seeds, which germinate best with lots of temperature fluctuation), but i think humidity in winter here is still up around the 60-70% mark. Taking them inside on rainy or excessively humid days might work or putting them somewhere that gets a good breeze at least. I dont think germinating is the problem though - its keeping the buggers alive. Also I'd suggest a deep pot - they have a tap root

Myrtle rust is quickly becoming a problem in australia - If you were considering Lemon myrtle (or any other native or non-native myrtaceae) I would be seriously careful of where the plants come from and would NOT allow visitors onto the growing area and use clothes that dont leave the site, as well as those feet sterilizing things you see at a lot of zoo's and things like that. Apparently the myrtle rust identified in cairns came from plants brought from bunnings (in townsville I believe) and is already starting to spread around the area - I think less than a year after it was identified up there. Im pretty sure its also been reported at Cape Tribulation. Most of our iconic trees (eucalypts, malaleuca, syzygium etc) are in the family myrtaceae and are at serious risk of this pathogen, which once spread is almost impossible to contain and even more difficult (if not impossible) to eradicate completely. I personally would avoid trying to farm any mytraceae in the interests of our ecology and also because if the rust spreads to your area it could destroy your entire crop very quickly. Ginger would be a good one - besides selling the raw product you could value add by making ginger beer (especially if you live somewhere hot - nice and refreshing), ginger lollies, travel sickness preparations, even drying it and selling it ground up ready to use would be a good way to make more from it. Its easy to grow, cheap to start off and thrives in conditions that normal crops dont (boggy, shady places)

Code black is the one I was talking about a few posts ago - I had half a cone of that and the same thing happened (paranoia, fear of 'going too far', difficulty moving etc). Whatever is in that is BAD, and some of my friends are showing signs of dependence too. Not seriously bad, but things like using it to get to sleep which can lead to worse dependence.

A bit off topic, but wasabi these days is usually made from horseradish. Apparently real wasabi tastes quite different. I hear it likes (almost complete) shade. Herbalistics had 1 I think not too long ago, but not sure how much it was and if they still have it though

Nah - you just went for the things everyone is looking for. I doubt you will find Kava seeds by the way - the plants rarely flower and Iv never heard of them producing seed. Most of them are clones from a particular collection. All rare herbs and herbalistics usually have some in around january, but they are usually about $40 for a small plant

They are still available in shops in NQ - Iv seen the northern lights in cairns (they have all that stuff on display in shop fronts there), as well as these new 'party powders' or some crap that you're supposed to snort and some shops in Townsville have new ones that are often brightly coloured and smell of bubblegum sold in tobacconists and sex shops. One of which I tried once (a small pinch in a water pipe) and found extremely unpleasant almost dissociative. Everyone else who tried it said the same. I have no idea what's in any of these new ones and how they are still available (and in the case of cairns displayed so even people driving past can see). I remember reading in the local paper a while ago several townsville businesses were raided because of these products, but the new ones still seem to be very popular (every time Iv been into one of these businesses there has been at least one person who was buying some).

I have one thats as tall as me - theres some pictures in my gallery (and I'll probably upload another later on). Also my favourite out of my collection. Its also my fastest growing - its grown to nearly 6 foot in a bit less than 3 years. Its one of the ones herbalistics has.

Is there a bit still in the ground with roots? It may shoot back from the 'stump'. Im not sure about cuttings though - I dont think they'll strike somehow. All my pituri died at the end of summer after a long battle with the high humidity I have more seed though, so I'll be trying again next year when it starts to cool down again or if I get more GA-3, asap and see if some are survive summer.

Apparently there are big black cat (of some kind) sightings on Magnetic Island in Townsville, and my sister saw a huge cat jump out of long grass (4-5ft) behind our house to catch a bird when we were kids. I think she said it was black and would have been nearly as tall as her (we were kids - probs about 7-10) and it was out near the dam in Townsville. I wouldnt doubt the theory that they are just really big ferals, but you never know. I find it odd though that all these almost legendary creatures (big cats, hairy man, manbearpig etc) have been reported for so long but no bones or any other evidence for there existence has been found. Surely over the last 50-60 years one would have been hit by a car or something