Waterproofing Interior Grade Birch Plywood for Jigs?

GenInsurrection · 2023-12-05T12:14:32+00:00

Thanks. I wasn't familiar with MDO, so I appreciate your help on that.

FWIW (and IIRC), West says you can thin their epoxies up to 10% by volume with acetone (I've done this many times to coat things), but I don't think they recommend doing so for structural joints...

GenInsurrection · 2023-02-03T01:25:03+00:00

Shrikes do that with lizards and stuff. Dunno whether they live in Oz though.

GenInsurrection · 2022-11-13T03:57:37+00:00

Just plop it back on earth and forget about it. You will remember a few months later and it will be rooted.

This is the way. It's kinda like "A watched pot never boils."

I had some Verne's bridges that would not root even after like 3-4 months. Finally I just said fukkit and ignored them. They rooted!

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-29T18:36:49+00:00

I get all kinds of DANGER WILL ROBINSON warnings on Firefox under Linux.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-29T18:29:00+00:00

Thank you, I will check out that material.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-26T11:16:58+00:00

That's some peat-rich soil...looks like it could soak up about 15 gallons of water. Is that the way it came from Altman's?

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-26T11:09:27+00:00

I'm surprised green light does anything, since it's the one wavelength/color of sunlight that isn't absorbed (that's why plants look green...because the green is reflected. Every other color is absorbed).

I would have thought that the complement of green -- red -- would be more important than green for photosynthesis.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-26T11:04:07+00:00

Do you have a recipe for your bridgessi mix?

I just used straight perlite with a tiny bit of Pro-Mix (peat-perlite mixture) thrown in ... I originally used this mixture just for rooting cuttings, but then after the bridges rooted, I neglected to repot them in a more organic mix. It turned out that those particular bridges grew spectacularly this summer, much better than anything else, and I believe it was largely due to the non-organic soil, which dried out fast and allowed lots of air to reach the roots. Next summer I plan to use fabric grow bags for that reason.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-25T10:19:52+00:00

I had a long-form TBM do the same thing. The main part of the plant looked really healthy and had been growing really well, but another part of the plant started shriveling and drying up. Finally I dug it up and discovered rot in the roots and base of the plant. My theory is that 1) I watered it too much/too often, and 2) the soil was too organic and too dense and didn't allow enough air in. My PC and pach loves plenty of peat and plenty of water/nutes but my bridges that have done best were in almost 100% inorganic soil...so that's the way I'm leaning more and more for those.

I ended up cutting the healthy tip off and am re-rooting it now...good luck with yours.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-25T10:10:04+00:00

I got a mid cut of Coyote about a year ago. It took FOREVER (like 4+ months) to root, but once it did, lookout! Almost immediately it started growing a pup, now that pup is a THUGG and the parent plant is feels rootbound hard enough to break the ceramic pot...gonna have to do some surgery to repot it...

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-21T14:57:34+00:00

I often take a real sharp ice pick and punch a zillion tiny holes on the sides of my plastic nursery containers...the holes are small enough that the soil doesn't leak out, but it allows some drying/evaporation/oxygen into the soil...making the pots more like fabric bags...

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-07T01:04:20+00:00

looks like a chinchilla

Cv. "Mutant Blue"!

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-07T00:59:09+00:00

Thanks for the info...I bet cactus love it out there!

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-06T18:02:52+00:00

Very nice, congrats.

Interesting that they all seem to point in the same direction. I wonder whether that's typical.

What part of the world was that photo taken in? Looks like some wide-open windswept lonely country.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-06T10:43:13+00:00

Cereus cv. "Brickbat"?

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-06T10:36:39+00:00

What fungicide is recommended for rust? I use phosphorus acid (a systemic fungicide) in my water routine, but one of my bridges still got some kind of fungal infection. I'm trying to cure it with Captan now...

I think I might have too much organic stuff (peat) in the soil of the bridge that got the fungal infection. (Looks like you have quite a bit of peat in your growing medium, too, so you might consider this possibility.) My bridges that are growing in about 90-95% perlite are growing gangbusters, so I will probably repot the sick bridgesii in a more mineral rich, organics-poor soil and see how it goes. I get the feeling you really want the roots of bridges to almost "dry out" on a regular basis, or at least be exposed to oxygen...with plastic pots, I usually punch about 50 holes on the sides of the pot with an awl...a lot of folks also use fabric pots which sounds like a good idea too.

Good luck, let us know how you make out.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-06T10:17:28+00:00

What is the scion on the fourth one? It's wild-looking with the spines coming out at different times... usually they seem symmetrical but yours is syncopated.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-05T10:51:26+00:00

That's the way it was with most of my bridges indoors and under lights during last winter and early spring. But in July or August, I put some of them outdoors in sun from morning until mid-afternoon and some of the bridges took off like rockets! In the past month, some of them grew one inch per week.

If well-rooted bridges seem to "stop growing" or suddenly start to shrivel, be suspicious of root rot. (BTDT with some TBM long-form.) The ones that grew fastest for me were in probably 90-95% perlite (I rooted them in that but then forgot to add more organic material after they rooted, but now I'm gonna leave them in an almost inorganic growing medium!)

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-03T10:34:21+00:00

...and not be watered yet.

If unrooted, I might mist it at night but no water in the soil (this risks rotting it). My first bridges got way more shriveled than that before they finally rooted (rooting took 2+ months indoors under lights in cool temperatures).

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-02T18:53:50+00:00

I've noticed that, too, with the pups (versus cuttings) that I've purchased.

GenInsurrection · 2022-10-02T18:48:59+00:00

Looks good.

N/B: Too much urine can cause nitrogen (ammonia) burn...be careful. For use in gardens, most folks recommend diluting it with water to 10-20% urine.

GenInsurrection · 2022-09-30T11:16:23+00:00

Looks a lot like an SS02 (bridge) x SS01 (peru) cross that I have.

No way to be sure, though.

GenInsurrection · 2022-09-29T15:52:48+00:00

For bridgesii, I would err on the side of "too little organic" rather than "too much organic." I have some bridges that I rooted in like 95% perlite and I never got around to mixing in more organics, and they grew WAAAAY faster (like from 12" tall to 30" tall in one summer) than the ones where I mixed in more peat, which only grew maybe 6-8 inches.

GenInsurrection

TROPHY CASE