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The Corroboree

CβL

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Posts posted by CβL


  1. Bread Filter, I swear you've had more than your fair share of rotten luck. I think I can recall at least two other incidents of similar things you've been involved in. It makes me sad. :(

    Please don't buy in bulk from strangers again, is the only outsider advice I can give. Unless they're old people (who you've seen with your own eyes) - old people are legit. :)

    Secondly, grafts being upside-down do indeed work. They're not ideal, as the vascular tissue doesn't seem to like being upside down, but if the graft was done correctly, then they would have taken. But the fact you say the grafts were slices indicates that they were much less likely to take, especially if they weren't pre-calloused (i.e. let the top of the slice callous, before cutting the slice off. ) - then you can expect a lot of shrivelling, and for it to fall off. Some pictures would be really helpful to diagnose it further if you can suss them.

    Anyway, keep your head up man, and things will get better. :]


  2. bogfrog: I have used one, but I don't own one that would fit into my cacti pots, hehe. I also prefer to pull weeds up by the roots, as I find that stops them from stealing all the soil nutrients, and then I feed the dead weeds to my "compost patch" after they've sat in a bucket for a week or so.

    Today I repotted 18~ seedlings, and it went pretty well. I will probably do some seeds later on today. :]


  3. I think your maths is correct Stay Puft. But such a clock would only be useful if you knew how "off" it was getting (either the second a day), or if you had other clocks during the day to compare it to (if you left according to your clock at 8am everyday, and continually arrived at later and later times, you would get an idea of how far it was behind). If you were home alone, and that crappy clock, and were not an expert horologer, then I think it wouldn't be useful for much more than a silent egg-timer (that is to say, it's hardly useful). Still, I guess that it's indeed ever-so-slightly more useful than not having a silent egg-timer (the broken clock), and both clocks could still be used as frisbees.

    Secondly, the speed of light is not invalidated by your argument Stay Puft - the so-called 'speed of light' is actually the limit of the speed of light in a vacuum. It's just called the speed of light, despite being the speed limit. Apparently quantum entanglement can manifest over distances instantly, thus circumventing the practical speed of light. I can't really explain much more on this, as I'm still highly confused on the subject myself (and still a bit suspicious). But apparently it's highly confirmed by experimental evidence.

    But under the laws of entropy and physics, nothing is lost by describing it as the reverse situation, where the receiver is transmitting backwards in time and the emitter is effected by those diverse rays to change it's constitution.

    Kinda makes you want to synthesise the 2 perspectives to develop a theory that information isn't "transferred" at all in the first place. At least that's the theory I'm developing for my book. Information IS the co-dependent origination of subject and object, not a measure from one ding-an-sich to another.

    The laws of entropy do not exist in the strict sense. They are manifested only due to the most probable quantum state changes occuring statistically at the same probability as the state change probability. It is possible for the least-probable quantum state change to occur every time, and this would manifest as entropy decreasing. A concrete example would be room temperature water spontaneously forming into ice - however the probability of this event is low enough that it could probably be regarded as "still so unlikely that even if there was further universes, each as ancient as this one - for each and every particle present in this one, we would not have found this behaviour". Astoundingly low probabilities. :P

    But allowing the 'laws of entropy' to be laws - then actually the description of macro-events as running backwards would be thwarted thwarted. The "law of entropy flow" says that events cannot flow backwards, due to "entropy must increase in a closed system".

    Secondly Stay Puft, the estimated age of this universe (17 Bn years), is nowhere as ancient as some atomic processes take to occur. Check here: http://en.wikipedia....tude_%28time%29

    430 Ps: the approximate age of the Universe

    The half-lifes of certain things are more than 1,000,000,000 times (as in 1,000,000,000 * age_of_universe) longer than the 'age of the known universe'. As in after this ultimate long time, half is still there - just chilling out.

    Then there's a whole ton of thing that take way longer than the age of the universe to occur. Then there's the whole question of certain nuclei being called "stable", but can probably tunnel into a decay state. I think that this timeframe - when all stable nuclei have decayed (I suspect that quantum tunneling is the cause of radioactivity) - that the universe will either die or rebirth. So we're nowhere near that timeframe, so it's futile to assume that the current state is any indication of what the universe is up to.

    OMFG I just had a brilliant idea, brb


  4. What the fuck, this has to be some kind of nefarious scheme. I cannot support this type of testing for something indeed as frivolous as party pills. Give me a waiver form, and I will test the limits. This just can't be serious - there's no way that the politicians have 180'd from "no tolerance" to "let's kill all the dogs, yay legal highs!". Maybe they want the public outcry directed such that they never test any drugs - making the legal route of releasing these chemicals - an orphan floating on a piece of ice in the arctic.

    Calmer Additions: The LD50 will not help to set a safe limit whatsoever. It's well known what the LD50 of ethanol is for example, but knowing it has done nothing to prevent its abuse and resulting rising death-toll. Obviously a 'safe' limit needs to be determined, but we don't need to kill half of a group of animals to find one. The moment that one animal dies is probably the moment you've gone way past where you needed to. How about the moment 10% of animals have dangerously high heart-rates? How about finding that limit, and testing a factor-adjusted (for weight, and enzymatic pathways) amount on humans. Something like that would be a lot more useful. Besides, the LD50 is not even useful. It's not as if you can say: Safe = LD50/2, as the therapeutic index (http://en.wikipedia....erapeutic_index) varies for each chemical.

    After reading that article, it says that it's not even used in practice, and that the human trial version based on toxicity is better. I don't think it's worth selling a legal high saying "If you smoke just less than a brick's worth, then you won't die" while excluding the fact that your alveoli will still pop like pop rocks if you did [smoke that much or less].

    I think it's justifiable to deliver only the Protective index (the level you can consume without toxicity, which is well before the deadly level), as the people who will exceed such a dosage [safe dose] willingly, will willingly exclude the fatal dose too (i.e. with alcohol, prescription medicine, etc).

    • Like 2

  5. Well, I don't actually see a reason that there can't be two groups formed, if someone wanted to form the complementary group, and then these two groups together, hosted a direct campaign against this particular legislation - then the net of support would be cast a lot wider, as people could choose the organization to their taste, but still support the same campaign.

    • Like 1

  6. Hey man, welcome to the board. :)

    Your seedlings appear to be doing quite well indeed - have you grown seeds before? Are you been watering once every third or fourth watering with some extremely dilute fertilizer? This speeds the growth up, as the same compounds that dissolve so easily in your water jug will be the same ones that wash straight out of the soil. As I understand it, Lophophora have some special mechanisms to break down the soil by themselves, but I have no idea how.

    The Trichocerei do have beneficial micro-organisms though, and their "job" is to break down the surrounding soil compounds (these cannot be absorbed by the cactus) and "chuck" it into the roots of the Trichocereus. Maybe you already knew this.

    But where I was going with this, was that in coarse sand, the micro-organisms have nothing to break down, and don't really provide much benefit to the plants, so you have to provide the nutrients in "easy-mac" form. For the Lophophora, as long as some of the matter in the soil contain the vital nutrients, it'll be okay. Sand is mostly quartz (natural glass), and it's really the other constituents that would benefit the Loph, so as long as there's some way for it to get at the main nutrients (Nitrogen,Phosphorus,Potassium [N,P,K] and the trace elements) it can stay in sand. But I don't think this is so with just ordinary sand.

    Secondly, that pachanoi with the black spots should be okay. Just make sure you let it dry out somewhat in the sun, without letting it get sunburned (large bright yellow patches appear in the green parts facing the sun). The squishyness you are mentioning comes from the plant being nutrient deprived (probably phosphorus, as this one is directly involved with cell wall integrity - this doesn't mean your soil is bad, it just means the roots haven't gotten hold of what phosphorus is in the soil yet), and it breaks down its own cell walls to get into its nutrient supplies. Healthy plants should be firm to the touch all over. In cuttings that have sat for a long time; it's normal - as the plant recycles itself to make roots.

    You also shouldn't need to mist a Trichocereus at night either. There's usually enough vapor in the air, and misting it might actually slow its absorption down (just guessing here). I also seem to notice that extremely hot days (where the hot air raises a lot of moisture into the air), then a cool night where all that moisture drops down - seem to make the cuticle wax grow on my plants.

    Lastly, what type of soil are you using for your Trichocereus?

    Kind regards,

    -CBL. :)


  7. That was cool. Those birds reminded me of two other cool birds. The birds looked a bit like Hoopoes, and their nests reminded me of the Hornbill's nesting habits.

    777px-Upupa_epops_1_Luc_Viatour.jpg

    Hoopoe

    The nest is in a hole in a tree or wall, with a narrow entrance;[16] it may be unlined or various scraps may be collected.[11] The female alone is responsible for incubating the eggs. ....

    The Hoopoes have well-developed anti-predator defences in the nest. The uropygial gland of the incubating and brooding female is quickly modified to produce a foul-smelling liquid, and the glands of nestlings do so as well. These secretions are rubbed into the plumage. The secretion, which smells like rotting meat, is thought to help deter predators, as well as deter parasites and possibly act as an antibacterial agent.[18] The secretions stop soon before the young leave the nest.[15] In addition to this secretion nestlings are able to direct streams of faeces at nest intruders from the age of six days, and will also hiss at intruders in a snake like fashion....

     

    Great-Hornbill.jpg

    Great Hornbill

    Female hornbills build nests in hollows of large tree trunks and the opening is sealed with a plaster made up mainly of feces. She remains imprisoned in her nest until the chicks are semi-developed relying on the male to bring her food. During this period the female undergoes a complete moult. The young chicks are devoid of feathers and appear very plump. She is fed by her mate through a slit in the seal. The clutch consists of one or two eggs she incubates for 38–40 days. The female voids feces through the nest slit and young follow the same nest sanitation behaviour after they are two weeks old.Once the female emerges out of the nest, it is sealed again by the chicks.

     


  8. Those black areas look a bit dodgy, I wouldn't rule out black rot (black rot, or weeping rot is a rampaging fungus that can kill the entire plant without much effort). If those spots are squishy to the touch (as if the skin is just dangling on what feels like chewed-up grapes), then it very well could be. I would still rub (gently) some sulfur on there (as those areas were possibly opened via bug bites or scratches), and wait a few days to see if the blackness spreads. Don't water the plant, and give it as much bright sun as you can during the day (try to let it dry out a bit).

    If it starts to spread, that's when we up the DEFCON. :]

    EDIT: Just noticed the OP from Europe, which probably suggests that it's cold damage this time of year - in which case, it should be fine. Just try and let it dry out some more, as that'll stop any possible infection spreading, and give more cold hardiness to the plant in future. :)


  9. Hehe, well I actually always had a secret long-term plan to re-meet the Lophophora and Trichocereus genuses/genii in Matucana or something related. Bring selected genes into a middle-plant that could then, after stabilizing, begin back-crossing to both. Of course this would take decades to get off the ground, but could be either hilarious or great. Maybe even there's a minute chance of directly crossing the two, or is that heresy?


  10. All plants should be freely available to all aye.... seems like that's the kind of loophole that will finally let me get my own nuclear power plant! Muhahaha

    Sorry to open with such a bad joke. But my point is still kind of in there, and it is: "be very careful with the wording." Don't just examine what the words roughly say, but what they allow at the extreme. Your association implicitly says that everyone should be able to grow Cannabis with such wording. Is this a horse you want to bring along?

    While I think that it's obviously a very important issue, and one still dear to my own heart - I get the suspicion that bringing it along for the ride (with that particular wording) might slow the reactionary value of the group, and lessen its reception at such a critical time (the passing of this legislation).

    For example, this might reduce the support of plant clubs (knowing the average age of my old plant club [above 55] - I think that the support of the club would not be there, while the support of half of the members might. Many though would be afraid to support anything more than an anonymous petition).

    In other words, some people might be more comfortable joining a group which only opposes proposed laws, rather than standing in defiance of old, well-established laws. This is related to the so-called chilling effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_effect_%28law%29

    Anyway, if there's anything I can do - then I will try and help too. :)

    • Like 8

  11. Yeah man, for sure go for it. I'm sure you knew better than anyone, that there's no "final goal" when growing plants. Just because your plants might not have had as long to grow as they would, does not make it not worth growing them. Growing is about much more than having gigantic plants, but rather more about the actual growing of the plants itself. SO GROW!!!

    • Like 2

  12. I would love to rent a barge and bring all of you besieged people and your hit-listed plants to somewhere safe. Unfortunately, I probably couldn't afford a ride on a barge at the moment. But nevertheless, I hope you guys find the strength to survive this absolutely unfathomably evil new law. Warm fuzzies. :)

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