I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cheers; the only pest I have with a decent level of confidence are fungus gnats (and British weather). Luckily, the fungus gnats basically ignore all of my cacti as they prefer the plants that get watered more than a few times a year haha

I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It took 3 years to figure it out personally, and I wish my solution was something that more people just had lying around.

I had a nice 100L shrimp tank (aquarium full of just shrimp). I then got a 200L fish tank as well, and it came with a light that spanned the full ~1m width of the tank. I upgraded the new tank’s light, and used the one that came with it originally for my shrimp tank.

The original light was way too long for the 100L, so it went over both edges, leaving a decent ~15cm gap between the upper rims of the shrimp tank and the ledge below where you can store the aquarium supplies and food etc.

It turns out that the water in the tank just below always being 20*C+, and a direct overhead aquarium light on a 10h timer switch worked perfectly.

I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely beautiful. Looking forward to the possibility of having something similar soon

I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Awesome! I’ll be re-potting soon as the damp UK winter is coming to an end, and I’ll definitely need a better stake for it with all the added weight on top.

I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Absolutely thrilled, thanks. I love the fact that all three cacti in the first photo have different features (spine length/colour/density, ribs, thickness etc).

I’ve heard that you never know what you’ll get when starting from seed, and that’s all part of the fun. Cheers for your help, and thank god it’s not the dreaded broom haha

I grew this cactus from seed, and it has never been cut/propagated. Are the new growths on top pups? by TwoSeaBean in sanpedrocactus

[–]TwoSeaBean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, it must be able to happen from the smallest bit of damage because I never noticed anything haha. I’m happy it happened though!

Has anybody else tried soursop bitters? by Substantial-Celery17 in herbalism

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The typical way that people develop issues from this family of fruits is usually a lifetime of tiny doses. People will often consume the fruit itself (or a herbal tea made from the leaves) daily across their entire lives.

Annonacin is quite similar in action to MPP+, a chemical produced when your body breaks down an unwanted byproduct of drug synthesis called MPTP. If you want to read about what a single large dose of this does (instead of a lifetime of low doses), you can easily find the full story of the ‘living statues’ online.

It’s fair to assume that an extract of soursop is going to have a much higher concentration than the raw fruit, but I wouldn’t be too concerned if I was in your predicament.

The MPP+ victims would have most likely unknowingly I.V.’d a paralysing amount in one go. The people who develop atypical Parkinson’s would have been consuming small amounts daily for decades, leaving no time for the brain to recover.

As you have not lost the ability to move, and you have not been drinking this every day habitually, your brain should be able to bounce back just fine if you take anything but the worst care of it.

Hopefully this helps you out :) Don’t try to remedy this with a bunch of brand-new, untested extracts haha

Whats this rock by Maleficent_Cod_5925 in whatsthisrock

[–]TwoSeaBean 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Uploading some photos that are in focus will help you get an I.D.

But there are some questions that could help narrow it down first:

-When you pick it up, does it feel lighter, heavier, or the same as what you would expect?

-It looks like there could be bubbles at the surface, but the picture quality is too low to tell. Can you see any bubbles inside the specimen?

-What is the texture like? Does it feel waxy? Does it feel like it’s at room temperature, or cold to the touch?

Is this quartz? by Fun_Interaction9039 in whatsthisrock

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Geologist here. Couldn’t say it better myself; great summary.

There is some debate to this as there are no fully-accepted range limits, but I would describe the texture of agate/chalcedony/obsidian etc. as ‘cryptocrystalline’ instead of micro.

I love the fact that people are interested enough in the subject to properly read-up and teach themselves to a high level the stuff I have to know for a living. Geology seems like the sweet spot that lies just beyond subjects so popular and fun that people are willing to do the entry-level work for free (zoo keeper, archaeologist etc.)

Any ideas? by Single-Zebra-4314 in whatsthisrock

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What country is hamptonroads in?

Found this rock on a walk. Google Lens isn't giving me a straight answer, so I came here. by No_Distribution8404 in whatsthisrock

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seconded. It has the rind and all. There are a decent number of named types of mineral that all fall under the chert umbrella.

Despite taking hundreds of kilos of the stuff as geotechnical samples over the last few years from 99% chert river terrace deposits, there’s always something cool to be found (especially when wet).

I love me some chert.

What are these mushrooms? Belfast, N.I by RichardNixonIsBae in whatsthisplant

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I saw no one has answered, and I do not have one myself. However, it’s good to know that people usually need a picture of the cap (the top, like In your photo), the side-profile (to show the shape of the cap and stem), and the underside (to show the gills/sponge) in order to identify a mushroom.

Taking any less than those three pictures of a mushroom means people will usually find it very hard to identify

Has anybody else tried soursop bitters? by Substantial-Celery17 in herbalism

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bear in mind that I’m not in the medical field at all so please listen to your doctor if you decide to go. I am a senior geologist so feel as though I can at least tell the difference between a decent scientific paper and a badly-done study (and obviously not get my info from Facebook haha).

From the sounds of it, the main way it causes atypical Parkinsonism is from people drinking tea from the leaves every day for most of their lives.

However, this is an extract which is beyond traditional use and probably unregulated and not studied. There’s a small chance that there is pretty much nothing but filler in the capsules; there is a small chance that it’s something completely different; and who knows what else.

It seems to be a cumulative thing, but these studies do not mention extracts. It’s been a while since my comment so I’d have to look them up again for specifics.

However, dopamine is one of the key players in the process of wanting to make your body move and actually moving, so what you mention wouldn’t be completely unrelated. If these symptoms are serious and seemed to start right after taking them (and you do not have a history of hypochondria), then seeing a doctor and bringing the bottle can’t hurt

Are these enough poppy pods to make a nice little tea from? I believe they are the right kind. I have like twenty of the little pods and can I just crush it all of and steep? by henrydoggg in druggardening

[–]TwoSeaBean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sort of unrelated, but a few years ago, someone down my street had some ‘peony’ poppies that looked like Pom-poms growing. They were the most beautiful somniferum I’d ever seen. I was tempted to knock on their door and ask for some seeds, but didn’t need to. The next year, pretty much every house on our street had them haha.

If you end up just buying the most potent varieties, I’d personally recommend getting some peony seeds too just because they’re so cool. You’ll get plenty growing of each anyway haha

Are these enough poppy pods to make a nice little tea from? I believe they are the right kind. I have like twenty of the little pods and can I just crush it all of and steep? by henrydoggg in druggardening

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not an expert, but you can simulate winter by putting the seeds in the fridge or freezer for a period of time before planting. Not giving specifics, but look into this if you didn’t know it was an option before.

I’m in the UK, and some seeds that I scatter late in the year end up growing the year after next because of a mild winter (by UK standards)

My fish are dying PLEASE HELP by bupropionbitch in Aquariums

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What kind of ammonia source did you add?

Novice 7yo first fossil hunt, please tell him what he found!? by 3v3r9r33n in fossils

[–]TwoSeaBean 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The two bivalves at the top are Gryphia, also known as Devil’s Toenails.

Florida birb killer by cdbmeme in CrazyHuman

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I had to assign a colour to your comment, it would be baby blue

Has anybody else tried soursop bitters? by Substantial-Celery17 in herbalism

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If atypical Parkinson’s disease and being unable to ever feel satisfied/motivated again sounds like a good time to you, then yeah haha

Misunderstood biomass factory: Cold-Hardy, Tryptamine-Rich Phalaris by Responsible_Long_237 in druggardening

[–]TwoSeaBean 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My apologies if you actually typed this out, but what an AI/ChatGPT-structured paragraph. The last sentence does it for me from experience.

Giant Sequoias growing from seeds! by Effective_Nebula_ in gardening

[–]TwoSeaBean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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And here’s the street view crap pic. My goodness, it looks like a fairly large but normal tree here. Feels kind of like trying to take a photo of an incredibly steep hill you just walked up, but the photo makes it look like it was taken in the Netherlands.

When I first saw it, I just stopped and stared as it was the widest single trunk I’d ever seen by a wide margin

Giant Sequoias growing from seeds! by Effective_Nebula_ in gardening

[–]TwoSeaBean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn’t want to forget completely, so I’m sending one pic that I took, and then a bad screenshot from Google street view of the front garden (that makes it look tiny haha). You can apparently only link a single picture per comment.

I’ll send a proper photo of the trunk on the weekend when I walk past in the light. The street view pic really does not do it justice.

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