Superglue, and How Bunnings Sells Mescaline to Children

[Vertmorpheus]

Evenin all.

A trip to Bunnings for an axe (ever want a real easy trip to the big green box on a yuppie infested sunday arvo? wear combat pants and carry a large stainless axe... so much easier!) lead to me noticing their Incarcerated Cacti Collection (k, I may have made a lil expedition to the complete other end of the store, but I was having so much fun with the axe and worried office worker types).

I like to free cacti from Bunnings, moreso since the last one I freed has turned out to be an as suspected bridge-peru kinda Trich, not certain but he's lovely if a lil thin. It's all about girth, innit? Ask your wife.

I found another almost identical one today, possibly a lil spinier, usual 3.98 job from Hamiltons but someone who's idea of good taste was damaged when they were dropped on their heads at birth has glued eyes to it. Googly eye things, yknow the ones.... with a label saying "Cactus For Kids!" with care instructions. Charming lil abomination.

So, how to get the glue off? I know some ppls use it for holding small grafts etc, but I imagine being "end on" cut tissue it flakes off eventually.. this is stuck to the ribs about halfway up, on the flat, a lil wiggle shows they are stuck on real well and I worry it'll either promote rot or cause some kind of tearing/weird shit as it grows, and it will quickly once freed from the floorsweepings Hamiltons seem to use as mix.

Solvent, sounds a bit harsh. Detergents, no. I have access to nearly infinite amounts of scalpels, and extremely steady hands, was thinking that if the glue only sticks the outside of the wax layer I should be able to shear them off with only a couple tiny "bald" spots to show for it. Does it go deeper?

What kind of person glues eyes to a cactus? Like yeah "sorry Nature/God/Oprah, you did an ok job but you forgot the plastic tacky eyeball thingies!".

Godless. Suggestions appreciated. Together, we can bring an end to cactal suffering around the world.

VM

Edited August 3, 2008 by Vertmorpheus

[apothecary]

Godless suggestion: I'd just use acetone, wash it off with a lot of hot but not too hot water immediately after.

Don't blame Hamiltons. I've been where the 3.98'ers come from and they're pristine, beautiful and well cared for (although I assume they use systemics).

All the damage imo is in transit and from Bunnings staff.

Edited August 3, 2008 by Sina

[Vertmorpheus]

I was thinking if I fed the fuck out of it then bunged it in the cold, it might wax up a lil more and shed the glue... might try that before anything chemical or surgical, but it's handy to know the solvent won't mess up the skin overly much if done right, cheers! I guess lots of cuttings get niko'd on, etc.

I've seen pics of Hamiltons, the stock looks nice on site but then in the nursery trade you KNOW your product is going to travel. I used to work at a nursery doing mainly Plumerias of all kinds, and they have a very similar rooting, watering and growing style esp from seed as the more common columnars... and the main thing is the transport mobs that shift plants from say Brisbane to Sydney are ROUGH AS GUTS and everyone knows it... so we had to come up with a mix that would a> grow a frangi well and b> keep em locked in rock solid so they don't flap about or just come out when some bogan picks them up by the stem and boots them into the back corner behind a pallet. Transport mobs should be more gentle, but yeah to send barely rooted seedlings in tiny weightless pots, mix that is granted very well draining and would be lovely if you planned on NOT trucking it 900 kilometres, and even to sell their stock thru outlets that show nothing but shitty handling and maintenence skills, it IS giving them a bad name. Who'd buy an Iphone if Apple made ipods with a paper outer case? Noone. I'm sure they would play just lovely in the factory, but keep it in your pocket for a day... Same shit, different seedling tray Every other companies stock tends to at least stay in its pot til you get home,give it to Auntie whoever, etc, and theirs as a general rule, doesn't.

I'm a fairly accepting person, perfection-wise, and I love plants of all kinds especially cacti, I shouldn't HAVE to use a word like rescue in relation to something as resilient and forgiving as a Trich hybrid seedling grown by a specialist wholesaler and sold by the "big boys" in town. Dodgy all round.

VM

[Garbage]

A picture of the cactus eyes,if you please.

[Vertmorpheus]

My cameras a couple hours away for a couple days, if that helps ya any? They're just the normal swivelly eyes, black discs in clear bubbles, flat backed, stuck onto rocks to make pet rocks, finger puppets etc. Couple splats of superglue, one a 4 or 5 cm Trich hybrid, stuck to the "flats" on the side of two ribs, with an unfuckedwith one between them that gives the impression of a nose.

Its really just a cactus with googly eyes glued on. But I can sort you a pic in a couple days if you're into that kinda thing. Tag says "Look" with two spring out sections, also eyeshaped. Did you make em? I can't take anything back, it IS an abomination if it dies, I will bury its remains at a crossroads so its spirit can't find it's way back here.

edit: http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...=Juice+Bunnings try that, make the baby pach-ish looking one a cm taller, stick wobbly frog eyes to it. Its cute, in that should I love it or stand on it kinda way. I can get a pic of what that baby has grown into, won't be a tic...

VM

Edited August 3, 2008 by Vertmorpheus

[apothecary]

[WoodDragon]

Hey VM.

I reckon grimace and bear it is the answer. The cactus will grow and shed its outer layers, and the superglue will stay brittle and stuck to the wax that is going to detach, at some point, from the expanding skin underneath. At least, I reckon so!

So yeah, feed and water the critter and sooner or later the tastelessness has to fall away. And if not, well, the scalpels and solvents will always be there.

It'd be an interesting experiment in the longevity of glued things to the skin of a cactus, actually.

At least it wasn't one of the wooly species! That'd just be too insulting.

Better go - someone has emailed me a really cool and a very long essay...

[Vertmorpheus]

They grow into these.... this older one has since taken to throwing very long bridgey like spines on its shadiest side, go figure, fast grower thin for its height... not sure what it is prexactly but I like it, was chuffed to find another. And someone I think Passive? Someone... had posted pics of some in a thread about bridgesii awhile bag, has some older ones again. Purdy! Kinda rot prone, taking it a long time to readjust to being loved after its traumatic upbringing! Spines almost identical to monster bridgies I have, but just doesn't look like bridgesii I see pics of or in the flesh, bridge x pach maybe?

edit yep pull eyes off Sinas prickly pear, stick em to my Juicey Mexican

VM

Edited August 3, 2008 by Vertmorpheus

[WoodDragon]

Sina.

The golden carp appreciates the depth of that travesty...

[Vertmorpheus]

much better and healthier pic. And you don't get motion sick looking at it either.

VM

[Garbage]

I saved 3 Peyotes this year,just as well as the Garden Centre burned to the ground taking the poor Cacties with it.

No eyes yet,but i will keep 'em peeled.

I would leave the whimsical plastic eyes on and maybe add a tiny lawn flamingo to the ensemble.

[Garbage]

[Moses]

I reckon grimace and bear it is the answer. The cactus will grow and shed its outer layers, and the superglue will stay brittle and stuck to the wax that is going to detach, at some point, from the expanding skin underneath. At least, I reckon so!

So yeah, feed and water the critter and sooner or later the tastelessness has to fall away. And if not, well, the scalpels and solvents will always be there.

It'd be an interesting experiment in the longevity of glued things to the skin of a cactus, actually.

i agree, imo superglue doesnt seem to last very well in exposed conditions just let her weather and mother nature will look after her own.

[Alice]

I agree with what has been already said ie wait and they'll fall off. However, if you are keen to remove them asap then the following maybe of some use:

Cyanoacrylate adhesives (superglue) has a low shearing strength, so with a bit of force it should break/slide off fairly easily. Particularly as cactus wax contains very little water impurities. Since cyanoacrylate requires water to polymerise, perhaps the bonding right at the surface of the cactus will be weaker than the surrounding matrix, so much of the glue will stay stuck to the eye. Any remaining residue should scratch off easily by using your fingernail - this process can be asisted by popping the cactus in the freezer for 15 mins to make the glue more brittle. As suggested acetone could also remove remaining residue, but will also remove some of the cactus natural oils.

Interestingly, gamma-butyrolactone is mentioned as effective at removing cured cyanoacrylate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superglue (scroll down to properties section)

I thought that was quite cool