Sola

Yep, three were very easy to see the fourth was more faint but still visible. Thanks for the heads up.

I love the crested and monstrose, don't even need the name, I think it's awesome. Also the Euphorbia trigona crestate and E. ammak's interesting too. The variegated Agave's look awesome as well, I do already have a couple of them so not such a priority but if you want lots of pachanoi I could definitely put my hand up for one of them as well.

Thanks for showingn the transition through time, how long roughly do you think it was from the first to the last photo? I'm just interested to know how long one can expect to wait when things go well I'm going to have to have another good look, just finished some work and went to the site for some hard earned R & R when I saw this, It's truly awesome, I love it You should be proud Oops.....just saw the 2 year period in the subtitle

I agree with Quill, it's not worth the risk.

I get acacia's to germinate in all but the coldest periods of winter, keep an eye on the weather and make sure you've got at least 4-5 days of sunshine and they should be alright. You can keep a pane of glass ove the pots to maintain warmth if you're worried and of course a greenhouse/ glasshouse/ cold frame is ideal. There are many designs and they can be knocked up from cheap material, salvage stuff. Then you can germinate all year round regardless of the weather. But of course if you're worried you can always wait til it warms up.

Sounds good to me, you should get heaps of little cacti seedlings. I wouldn't worry so much about bottom watering when they're germinating though. I like to open the lid to inspect what's going on and exchange the air, I usually give them a spray with water then. Also you would've probably done it anyway but make sure you let the soil cool before putting the seed in. Personally I like to be there in case they need watering, or drying out if they're too wet, fungal problems etc. but if you're treating with fungicide you might not have any worries.

I think I've just been unlucky then. I go hunting quite regularly.

I'm very interested, can you post some pics?

Thanks for the info, we had too much cloud to see it here last night but maybe in the next couple days I can get a glimpse.

I fold an old towel over many times and pick it up with no trouble, but nothing is fool proof, you always get at least one. And yes, I still use gloves with this method

Thanks amazonian, I'd forgotten that since I read it some time ago. It would be really difficult to keep the water boiling anyway. Unfortunately I don't have an esky but it is something I've been meaning to get. Mine was lost/ stolen years ago and I haven't replaced it. It may sound strange but the 44 gallon drum may actually be easier to source where I am, plus there's definitely no shortage of wood. Thanks again for reminding me, can't wait to get the mycelium up and running. Cheers

It must have always been like that cos that's how it was everytime I went. Loved the instruments as well. Who knows we may have shared a joint in there It's very disappointing, if I won lotto I'd open a place where you could still smoke and drink, chill out and play instruments. But until then it's just a pipe dream All you'd have to do was have say roller doors all around the outside of the place so basically no walls when there were patrons. No walls=legal smoking area, of course peeps with joints would just have to let it blend in with all the other smoke.

I really liked that place, it seems another interesting and different source of entertainment in Adelaide has bit the dust. I'm guessing it was some change in legal status and not the patronage dropping off. I can't say I helped, living too far away now to frequent any Adelaide business. Next thing you know all the bong shops on Hindley Street will be shut down ......... oh wait, that happened too. Sorry it's no laughing matter I know, just have to make light of it or it really gets me down. Reminds me of why I left the city, there's very little left there that interests me, although you do seem to have far higher quantities of shrooms. Very sad to hear about The Kava Hut, sorry, I can't get any pics

Awesome pics dundee, thanks for sharing. I think you're lucky Quill, I've been looking for years literally and have yet to come across one in the flesh so to speak. It's drier where I am so possibly that's why they are more rare here, also I can't always get to the Adelaide Hills or Kuitpo where they seem to be more abundant. That would definitely require staying in town the night, quite a long round trip , I am planning on staying in Adelaide for a week or so ITNF so hopefully I can find my first then. I did look through The Barossa in a pine plantation, found some slippery jacks but no agaric's but might have just been unlucky. That's not nearly as far to drive. You can be sure when I do find some I'll be posting about it

I wouldn't have picked the Coryphantha, good one. I'd agree with Mac on the Gymnocalycium mihanovichi, the tufts are interesting. Could be variation in the species or it might be about to flower, mine doesn't get tufts like that though.

I'm pleased you like the pics, I thought they were awesome as well. It's good to hear they're quite prolific in some places. Can't wait to have the time to go and check it out first hand when I have the time.

I was thinking of pasteurising bolk material in a 44 gallon drum with the top cut off. I would have a wood fire underneath it and the material in a wire mesh basket submersed in the boiling water. I saw a photo of a similar set up in one of stamet's books and thought that this would probably be the easiest and cheapest method for me. As many of the drums I already have were previously used for storing chemicals I would buy a new, unused one. So basically is it necessary to have the pressure one would get from a proper pressure cooker? How long would I have to leave the material submersed in the boiling water? And do people think this is really a viable option? As I saw it in stamet's book I thought it would be alright but no doubt some of you have some thoughts or ideas that may be of use. Thanks Sola

Good, I thought this guy was talking out his arse. Thanks for clearing that up

I'd have to agree with Bluntmuffin, my pachanoi grows really fast here. Have it in a few different locations but that doesn't seem to matter. Even some I have in pots outgrow my bridgesii, spachianus and cereus that all grow reasonably quickly as well. It may be because I got quite a few pach's from a nearby enthusiast that has probably used generations of seed grown to acclimatise them to this area. I have a fairly high clay content but that doesn't seem to phase them.

I was just wondering whether fungus had been observed in Antarctica and came across this . Thought there might be a few interested people here, the mycelium feasting on petroleum waste could be particularly useful. The actual article is much longer but I thought this bit summed it up pretty well. Hope others find this interesting as well...... Before Blanchette, no mycologist had documented any wood-degrading fungi native to Antarctica. After all, fungi generally prefer warmth, and no trees have grown on the frozen continent for millions of years. But when Blanchette compared the DNA of the fungi discovered at the explorer huts with a database of known species, he found three types of fungi that were clearly distinct from any temperate species that the explorers or later visitors might have brought with them. It appears, then, that the three huts are being attacked, in part, by native species. Scott, who commanded the first British-led expedition in 1901-4, built the oldest of the three at McMurdo Sound. "The discomfort of the hut was a byword on the Expedition," recalled Shackleton, who served as Scott's lieutenant on the ship Discovery. The group came within 530 miles of the South Pole, but had to be rescued by ships dispatched by the British Admiralty when Discovery got trapped in ice. Shackleton had higher regard for the base camp that his own 1907-9 expedition erected at Cape Royds, 23 miles north of Scott's hut. "Here the whole shore party lived in comfort through the winter of 1908," he wrote. In early 1909, Shackleton's party left the shelter for the 850-mile trek to the pole but stopped 97 miles short when they grew low on rations. (A Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen nearly three years later would be the first to reach the pole.) Scott built the third hut at Cape Evans during his ill-fated 1910-13 expedition, when all five members of his team perished from cold and starvation. It would prove crucial for Shackleton in 1915, when some of his men became stranded. "The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten marooned men," Shackleton wrote. Blanchette and his team have traveled to Antarctica each of the past nine years to collect hut samples and test ways of preserving them. Back in the lab, the researchers put bits of infected wood into petri dishes filled with a nutrient-rich gel that coaxes the fungi out of the wood and encourages growth. Blanchette then transplanted the growing samples onto pieces of pine, birch and spruce—woods used in the Antarctic huts—to see if the lab wood would similarly decay. Then, comparing DNA from the Antarctic samples of fungi with that of known species, Blanchette and his team deduced they had found three new species. He will carry out additional taxonomic study to make sure. In any event, Blanchette says he's delighted to be studying some "really tough fungi," capable of eking out an existence in one of the planet's most inhospitable environments. He speculates the fungi lived off penguin guano, moss, lichen and material in the soil until the explorers arrived and provided a veritable feast—the first wood Antarctica had seen in eons. Blanchette and his team have advised the Antarctic Heritage Trust about protecting the huts. Because fungi need moisture, the researchers recommended clearing out a century's worth of accumulated ice under Shackleton's hut (revealing stores of whiskey in the process) and removing 100 tons of snow and ice that accumulate annually behind Scott's hut at Cape Evans. Blanchette, meanwhile, made another observation: one species of Antarctic fungus appears to be feasting on petroleum spilled from leaky fuel containers that Scott left behind at Cape Evans. If so, Blanchette speculates that the fungus—or enzymes extracted from it—could be put to work digesting petroleum spills. That's what Blanchette says he loves about his work—the unexpected developments and the surprising resilience of life. No matter the environment, he says, "we're always finding great fungi." Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Digs-Finding-Feisty-Fungi.html#ixzz1LkcieS4N

I'm pretty sure it's micro-organisms of various kinds, i.e. bacteria, it would be awesome if spores did arrive on a comet that would prove there are sources of mycelium food elsewhere in the universe. Whether that's wood or guano or lichen as in the Antarctic example there would still have to be a food source, I'm presuming, for the mycelial life to develop and live on.

I'm interested in language and obviously plants as I love using this site. Recently I picked up a dictionary to check a few words out and found myself getting distracted looking up different botanical words. Here's a few I found interesting: sative: in cultivation peregrine: to go on a journey muscardine: a silkworm disease caused by a fungus colubrine: snakelike officinal: belonging to, used in, a shop: used in medicine: recognised in the pharmacoepia: sold by druggists. officina/ officinalis: a workshop, later a monastic storeroom specious: beautiful, showy nuciferous: nut bearing tomentum: a matted cottony pubescence Feel free to add any other you think are interesting, I'm sure there are loads.

I think you're right with the Turbinicarpus names but not sure about the Mammillaria, don't have any reference material for that. Awesome plants though thanks for sharing.

Yeah, chooks work well as weed pullers/ eaters. Also putting a thick layer of another mulch over it to bock the sunlight would work. Even old newspaper, whatever you can get. The paper has to be held down though as it tends to blow around. Mycelium would work well as well, then you can get another crop. On another use of peastraw like this, I use it as a temporary retaining wall on hillsides. I secure it in a square shape, place good soil in it and plant out fruit trees. When it breaks down it's good for the trees you just have to watch it drying out as it's raised the water tends to drain easily.

I was talking to a mate over the weekend and they thought you needed a licence to grow hops? Do you really? I didn't think you did but thought I'd better ask.