saguaro

thanks

using actively aerated compost tea seemed to enhance glaucus appearance and regenerate scarred and damaged epidermis, this is just an anecdote though

hey figman, I have some PM me :)

Have you seen those bags of mycelium that are supposed to release CO2 into greenhouses etc.? (I'm not recommending this product, I'm using this pic to illustrate what I'm talking about) Does anyone know what species is used in these bags? Second hand info I've heard is that someone threw the contents on the bag in their garden and it fruited turkey tails. The producer of the pictured ones claims the mycelium they use was selected because it produces CO2 consistently and doesn't produce primordia. Could be helpful info, in my (limited) experience, Trametes doesn't like to form primordia invitro (aka without ample fresh air exchange). anyone tried using these?

high CO2 is part of the reason why primordia formation is suppressed in this bag. excess CO2 isn't beneficial for fruiting. i wouldn't be surprised if that's why people use em. I'm only really interested in what species of mycelium is used in these bags out of curiosity.

Found this myceliated hairy caterpillar on a bushwalk. Since finding it a day ago, the mycelium grew from about 30% to full coverage. I'm guessing it's Beauveria / Cordyceps. I'm gonna put it in a humid takeaway container and see if any fruitbodies grow off it

yep, PM me

I'm probs gonna go

sounds like a good plan ! Plenty of agri chems (particularly pesticides) are endocrine disruptors, wouldn't be surprised if some phytohormes are too. That's a pretty wild anecdote though. What happened when the goofer dust wore off?

hey wc, I thought you were from NNSW, where cacti are legal ornamental plants . what law changes are you referring to? I'm in a warm area with no frost. My opinion - you can. It would be a good idea to keep the substrate from being watered and keep humidity low to prevent rot, while keeping it in enough light to minimise etioliation. I would go for a high high mineral substrate, then transplanting into richer mix in spring when it has a few roots. Have you considered using rooting hormone dust on the cut? I have seen some great and fast results from that.

Ye, could be P. papilionaceus, think I can see a toothlike frilly margin. can't hurt to focus the camera on the subject of the photo though lol

i'm not a fan of buried rootstocks It sounds like you will probably have to cut deeply or along a plane higher than the roots on the ario, because the pere will have grown up into the scion. I'd probably cut off the pere and wait until the ario was well calloused before placing it onto dry media. You're right that you can't give the ario anywhere near as much water as the pere or it will likely rot.

does anyone have advice for dealing with spider mites on cacti? I've been trying to eliminate them for months and I've tried neem oil, 'bug boss king hit', wettable sulphur and spraying down the plants often. despite all the effort, the infestation is at its worst, and even though I sprayed during the early evening when the sun was down, some of the plants have been burnt by the treatments. It seems like wettable sulphur gets recommend often, but this definitely burnt the cacti

https://identify.plantnet.org works well

I remember reading a post here a few weeks ago how grafting affects the genetics of the scion (and possibly rootstock), and how there is a thin layer of either hybrid or chimera tissue at the graft junction. I think the post was about repopulating natural habitats with Lophophora, and how horticultural and grafted lophs aren't suitable for this and other reasons. I've been searching for this post, but I can't find it any more. I'm curious if it would be possible to use tissue culture techs on cells from this layer to produce hybrids.

I am, thanks! in that study the same genus (Nicotiana) is used for both rootstock and scion. It would be interesting to see what would come from regeneration of cells at the graft junction between scion / rootstocks from different cactus genera.

this is an amazing book

thanks, I'll give it a try

I appreciate the suggestions I've looked into persimilis and californicus predatory mites, but I think using an acaricide is the best option for now considering how bad the infestation is. In the future I might use them as part of IPM when they are under control. Now that there is a residue of sulphur on the plants, does anyone know how long should I wait before applying a pesticide? I will try the 70% iso in 2 weeks after spraying the plants down often to remove the sulphur. I was thinking about using kill-a-mite (abamectin solution), although this is dissolved in a solvent that will probably damage the waxy layer. There is another product out there called broad blue protect which is apparently an 8-week systemic I've looked at, but there is no information on it. In case anyone is thinking of trying bug boss king hit on cacti - don't! It dissolves the glaucus layer and causes scarring (I applied it at night, and this was before testing the sulphur).

looks nice, it's anyones guess but mine would be cuzcoensis x bridgesii

Would appreciate help ID'ing this plant I was given I've had it for around 2 years but haven't seen it flower yet Thanks

thanks for the suggestions, I don't think it's A. triphyllum cause it's not trifoliate - it has sets of opposite leaves. Perilla frutescens looks pretty close , but it lacks the hairy stem and isn't aromatic edit: i found this site: https://identify.plantnet.org and I fed it one pic. It gave it a 92.23% chance of being Brillantaisia owariensis, which seems right. This tool is pretty good! another plant ID'ing site I used said it was an Alder tree...

i don't think it's one of those... I can't find any plants in those genera with leaves like this.

when you order Dale Pendell on the dark web :