Glider

If you are looking to have more insight into what sort of day length you'll have at different times of the year, you might try this: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html It doesn't take into account terrain. If you are on a mountain peak sunrise and sunset are further apart than if you are in a valley, just because of your altitude and how quickly the horizon clips off the sunlight. But it gives you an idea anyway. -G-

In my experience some degree of leaf drop is inevitable when removing from a high humidity environment. As long as tips remain healthy, and the plant is fairly robust to begin with, new leaves, this time much more low humidity tolerant, should grow quickly. I've heard it argued, quite convincingly in my mind, that the plant grows leaves with more densely packed, or less densely packed, stoma according to the environment that exists when the leaf grows. That would mean, and seems to be true in my experience, that leaves have a somewhat limited ability to adapt, and that the plant as a whole adapts by shedding leaves and growing new. -G-

Old thread, but.... A big Texan cowboy stopped at a local restaurant following a day of drinking and roaming around in Mexico. While sipping his tequila, he noticed a sizzling, scrumptious looking platter being served at the next table. Not only did it look good, but the smell was wonderful.. He asked the waiter, "What is that you just served?" The waiter replied, "Ah Senor, you have excellent taste! Those are bull's testicles from the bullfight this morning. A delicacy!" The cowboy, undaunted, said, "What the heck, I'm on vacation, I'll have some!" The waiter replied, "I am so sorry Senor. There is only one serving per day because there is only one bullfight each morning. If you place your order now, we will be sure to save you this delicacy for tomorrow" The cowboy placed the order and the next evening he was served the one and only special delicacy of the day. After a few bites, and inspecting the contents of his platter, he called to the waiter and said, "These are delicious, but they are much smaller than the ones I saw you serve yesterday" The waiter shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Si, Senor ... sometimes the bull wins."

Shameless plug for my own website. http://www.gliderspen.net/glidershanger/mediagar.html I put that page up something like 10 or 11 years ago, and I've never needed anything more than the first three recipes. Other than that, the only thing I've ever done differently from what is written above is that I've actually used agar prepared and packaged for petri dish use. Health food stores around here rarely carry it, and want so much to order it in that price wise it is a wash, and the stuff for petri dishes seems to have more grace in set time and firms up a bit more solid. If I had a ready, inexpensive food grade, I'd use it. -G-

So exactly how does this work? Dip the cut end in honey, and then into rooting medium (perlite, vermiculite, etc?)?

I have a great deal of faith in SAB.

I'll second the HPS. They are the best choice for total (plant) usable lumen production for both the initial cost of the lamp, and the day to day electrical cost of the lamp. I'd recommend a 12 month bulb change over 24, but to each their own. Outdoors you won't need to worry about light spectrum to any great extent. -G-

Oops. I quoted you. Sorry. ;)

I'll second this. Painting the fence white will reflect a good spectrum of light without hot spots. It doesn't give control over the direction of the light, but it is a simple approach, and if the fence is close to the plants it should give good results.

I remember some posts from back at the old edot where it was described that they fine roots off of the main rhizome where significantly more potent than the rhizome itself. When we were kids, we'd chew on the dried rhizome. I assume you've seen these links: http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=8800 http://www.herbcraft.org/calamus.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorus_calamus I like this plant because it is quite easy to grow in a cold climate like mine. However I tend not to consume much of it, as it grows so well in buckets of water logged cow manure.... Letting the buckets run dry a couple of times a year, or adding a goldfish or minnow per bucket, dramatically reduces the mosquito population that otherwise results. Not to be a worry wort, but calamus has a toxic look a like or two, among the irises if I recall correctly. -G-

Most food grade poppy seeds here in the north (hemisphere) will sprout. They don't seem viable indefinitely though, so if it has been on your spice rack for a couple years, don't be shocked if it is just tasty condiment. I'm not aware of any poppy seed in the food trade other than P. somniferum, as I believe it is the only poppy grown on a commercial scale. P. rhoeas, orientale, and argemone are common in landscaping / gardening, but they simply are not grown on the scale that makes P. somniferum cheap as a condiment.

Yes, that's me, a Northern Hemispherian. We're just easing into summer now. I tried a large number of things, including something like 700 gallons of water as thermal mass. The problem always came down to the portion of winter where I needed to maintain a minimum temperature of 30C above ambient. At that point I was burning so much fuel trying to hold the temperature above freezing that it quickly became not worth the effort. I could have fallen back to growing indoors over winter under lights, but by then (after the third winter of trying) I was disgusted with it and wrote it off as a bad deal. It is my personal opinion that the plant in that picture is much closer to B. candida than to B. suaveolens. http://www.brugmansia.us/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=67 I understand that B. arborea is particularly interesting in that it can, sometimes, cross with the suaveolens / versicolor / candida group. Thus it might be possible to lift the red from B sanguinea into an arborea and then bring that color into the white / pastel laden suaveolens et al group. Personally if someone told me they knew that it was possible to breed a bright red B. aurea, I might be tempted to dust off my grow lamps and have at it again. -G-

I've never grown caapi to that size, so please take my advice with a grain of salt. My caapi plants all succumbed to over-watering and / or cold before I got them anything like that. The plants look decently healthy to me. If you haven't fed them recently, I might suggest a bit of fertilizer. If you have, you might want to think of just a bit of lime. That'd be horticultural lime, save the citrus fruit for your drinks. -G-

I've heard of Second Life, but I know my limits. Something like that could suck in my soul and chew it up like I've never seen a plant or chemical do to me.

Yeah, what he said. I'm not a chemist, I only play one on the internet. -G-