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 Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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 Glove Up... 
#16256160 - 05/20/12 01:03 AM (1 year, 1 day ago) |
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(Not my photo)
Hi Fellas, I just ordered some more bridgesii, but this time I have rather large cuttings with all their spines intact. Ok, since I never really worked with cacti before I am assuming that protective gloves are in order.
Today at the garden store I wanted to buy some gloves, and there are about a dozen different kinds. I narrowed it down between these gloves that are like rubberized on the palms and fingers, and then some others that are made of leather. There is about $11 difference between the two.
So, my question is obvious... What do the veteranos use? Maybe it is something entirely different? Also, are there other odd pieces of equipment I need to begin with these cacti in earnest?
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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Big L
How weird
Registered: 02/11/09
Posts: 3,370
Loc: Luxury
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I usually just use a towel or bare hands. It's like a bed of nails trick.
The only gloves I have ever used that I like are rubber dish gloves.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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 Re: Glove Up... [Re: Big L]
#16256286 - 05/20/12 01:32 AM (1 year, 1 day ago) |
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Quote:
Big L said:
It's like a bed of nails trick.
Ha, ha, ha, ha,... Ooow! Ha, ha, ha... You are a funny guy Big L. 
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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 russokeefe
Stranger
Registered: 03/04/12
Posts: 248
Last seen: 4 months, 3 hours
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Yeah I use bare hands or a towel or a newspaper. with the newspaper, open it up to the middle then wrap it around the cactus, you can tape the newspaper so it doesnt come undone.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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OK... I hear what you are saying, but let's for arguments sake, say that you were going to use gloves even though you knew you could do the same thing with the Newyork Times. I just don't fancy having a bridgesii spine thrust up under my fingernail. Gloves and Band-Aids are about the same price, and everything considered... Well, you know.
I just thought there must be some universal thinking on the subject, but bare hands are out of the question on my farm. 
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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islanduniverse
purveyor of sin
Registered: 02/26/10
Posts: 1,574
Loc: MERICUH 
Last seen: 4 hours, 40 minutes
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cut up some cardboard and bend it to make it flexible so you can wrap it around easily. maybe a towel on top of it too
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matter is composed chiefly of nothing
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Ieponumos
Mycophile/Phytophile
Registered: 09/02/09
Posts: 4,672
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I just use leather-welder's gloves for the spiny ones, occasionally bare hands.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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OK... I will use the tried and true methods that all you fellas have suggested. If there is one thing I have learned over the years playing with cannabis, it's to listen to the pros... Even when it sounds kooky. 
Hey! I was also wondering if the spines on cacti have any type of substances on their tips that will cause a stick to be more painful or get infected? I mean, like is there some type of poison on them like the stingers on bees or the tails of stingrays?
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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islanduniverse
purveyor of sin
Registered: 02/26/10
Posts: 1,574
Loc: MERICUH
Last seen: 4 hours, 40 minutes
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well they will make you itch a good bit for some time
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matter is composed chiefly of nothing
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Ieponumos
Mycophile/Phytophile
Registered: 09/02/09
Posts: 4,672
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Quote:
Nativenglish said:
OK... I will use the tried and true methods that all you fellas have suggested. If there is one thing I have learned over the years playing with cannabis, it's to listen to the pros... Even when it sounds kooky.
Hey! I was also wondering if the spines on cacti have any type of substances on their tips that will cause a stick to be more painful or get infected? I mean, like is there some type of poison on them like the stingers on bees or the tails of stingrays?
Actually, Opuntia spp. produce specialized spines called glochids. Those things are just as bad as big spines and I definitely recommend gloves around Opuntias. They're so tiny that you need sunlight to even see them and tweezers to get them out. Tey itch when not aggravated and set fire to dermal nerves when manipulated.
For big spines, if you get stabbed, make sure each stab wound bleeds prolifically. If not, you may have a cactus spine spinter/tip. Squeeze out like a wood spinter or dig out. I had one stuck in my finger for nearly a week from a Pilosocereus once. Finally I squeezed it out and applied soap and oxygen as necessary.
EDIT: As Russo stated, those things can get infected. Don't play with puncture wounds, they can fuck a person up!
Edited by Ieponumos (05/20/12 02:55 AM)
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russokeefe
Stranger
Registered: 03/04/12
Posts: 248
Last seen: 4 months, 3 hours
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Not sure if there is any substance on them, but they are not sterile and as with most puncture wounds, they can become red and inflamed for a few days. just copped a p. torch spine under my fingernail the other day, still red and stings like a bitch. When handling with bare hands I usually try to place my fingers between the ribs with my hand above the cactus, then place other hand near the base.
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ferrel_human
cactus fucker
Registered: 06/26/09
Posts: 6,561
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gloves are for pussies.
walk around for a couple weeks with spines in your skin. you'll either grow hair on your chest, like is most often referred as.
or you jst callous some skin to handle those bastards.
either way, we outta have alotta fun.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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Quote:
ferrel_human said:
either way, we outta have alotta fun.
Yeah, that's the nicest part...
A little gardening, a little education, a little comradery and a little psychedelica. Pretty nice combination if you ask me.
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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Ieponumos
Mycophile/Phytophile
Registered: 09/02/09
Posts: 4,672
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Quote:
ferrel_human said:
gloves are for pussies.
walk around for a couple weeks with spines in your skin. you'll either grow hair on your chest, like is most often referred as.
or you jst callous some skin to handle those bastards.
:
If you have splits in-between your callous, those glochids can find a way in there. I gots first had experience on that one.
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Doc_T
Random Dude
Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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I glove up for cholla work, but not many others.
Leather is my choice. Get a separate pair for cactus, you'll get spines embedded.
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You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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ferrel_human
cactus fucker
Registered: 06/26/09
Posts: 6,561
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Re: Glove Up... [Re: Doc_T]
#16258380 - 05/20/12 03:43 PM (1 year, 15 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Doc_T said:
I glove up for cholla work, but not many others.
Leather is my choice. Get a separate pair for cactus, you'll get spines embedded.
i remember that one doc.
hell when you sent me mine, i opened up the box and took those bastards out stuck to my skin.
thats some serious stuff.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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Re: Glove Up... [Re: Doc_T]
#16258741 - 05/20/12 05:28 PM (1 year, 13 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Doc_T said:
I glove up for cholla work, but not many others.
Leather is my choice.
Yep... When I was young I lived in Arizona and had a passion for desert hunting coyotes. The cholla was really thick in places. Occasionally, as you would be moving through the scrub, your buddy next to you would brush up against one, and the friggn' things would jump off the plant and impale you. They hurt like a SOB and have some wicked little back-hook design so you rip out flesh trying to take them out of ya. I would rather have a fish hook stuck up in me than a cholla spine.
There was another thing out there that we used to call a Devils Claw, and that little monster was nothing nice to tangle with either.
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psi
Registered: 09/06/99
Posts: 4,599
Loc: 905 
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Pereskiopsis is shitty for glochids too, I hate em but I don't bother with gloves generally. It's probably worthwhile though I guess, especially if you're doing a ton of replanting.
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JonnyDeformed
ॐ
Registered: 03/20/06
Posts: 1,809
Loc: Directlyundertheearthssun...
Last seen: 3 months, 24 days
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I once stepped on a 
with bare feet.
Couldn't walk for 2 weeks.
Still think gloves are for pussies.....
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Dubious compound
The Spiral Staircase Incident
it is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.
A penalty for possession of a drug/plant should not be more damaging than the drug/plant itself.
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Doc_T
Random Dude
Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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You wear gloves on your feet?
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You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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GoOnThen
Stranger
Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 801
Loc: Australia 
Last seen: 9 days, 2 hours
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Re: Glove Up... [Re: Doc_T]
#16260029 - 05/20/12 10:38 PM (1 year, 8 hours ago) |
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I normally try and find away to pick up and handle cuttings or plants with my hands as Russokeefe said by grabbing a cutting between the spines near the tip and with the other hand down near the bottom.
What I use depends on the size and how spiny the cacti is. Gloves are good but a normal leather glove doesn't cut it I use welders gloves the same as these they are a bit pricey but I run a welding company 
I learnt very quickly that putting on a pair of gloves and thinking that they will totally protect you is a big mistake as the spines will still penetrate good quality welders gloves.
I also use towels, paper and cardboard extra it just depends what I am doing at the time.
With pere I don't use any thing I just try and grab it in a way that I get the least number of glochids in my fingers and when I have finished I use a magnifier lamp and pull them all out with my nails or tweezers. Another way to get them out is to use packing tape you stick it down on the glochids and then rip it off the tape normally pulls them out.
I will no longer keep cholla they are just to nasty and trying to remove the spines from my dogs mouth and arse is not a lot of fun.
I bought some cacti of an old guy who has been growing cacti for approximately 30 years and he had a pair of long tongs (bbq tongs) with cloth wrapped around the end and he took a couple of bridg cuttings for me using these and It worked really well.
The other thing he showed me wich I still do today is to use old potting mix bags to carry around cuttings you just lay the bag on the ground place the cutting on top and pick up the edges like a sling 
Cheers
Got
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Edited by GoOnThen (05/20/12 10:40 PM)
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russokeefe
Stranger
Registered: 03/04/12
Posts: 248
Last seen: 4 months, 3 hours
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Der. they are called socks hahahaha
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Shroomeup
Snipes
Registered: 02/16/07
Posts: 1,086
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I chuck on a pair of good riggers gloves for the really nasty fuckers. Still gotta be careful though, I had a large spine get in through the stitching and when I put the gloves on next time I got the bastard stuck right up under a fingernail.
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Nativenglish
Novice
Registered: 04/16/12
Posts: 403
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Quote:
Shroomeup said:
I chuck on a pair of good riggers gloves for the really nasty fuckers. Still gotta be careful though, I had a large spine get in through the stitching and when I put the gloves on next time I got the bastard stuck right up under a fingernail.
Yeah, this seems to be a fairly common hazard when using gloves working with cactus. Looks like a close inspection before putting them on would be in order.
I honestly thought this thread would be about two posts long, but I now see that even with all the different ways to avoid being stuck, nothing works %100. It gives me a mind to experiment with some different materials and then develop something marketable for people who work with cacti and thorns alot.
It also makes me respect the plant more knowing that it has developed this crazy defense mechanism that will penetrate almost anything people can dream up. I mean cactus spines were evolved to puncture the hides of alot hardier animals than man.
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The government which governs least, governs best...
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russokeefe
Stranger
Registered: 03/04/12
Posts: 248
Last seen: 4 months, 3 hours
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@GoT: that potting mix bag idea is a good one, i use an old towel to do the same thing, makes carrying large, spiny cuttings very easy. Also the time I get stuck with spines the most, and in the most painful way, is when pushing soil around the base of a cactus when potting it. when I remember I use a small, soft bristled broom to push the soil in around the cactus and to clean soil off the spines when I am done.
Edited by russokeefe (05/21/12 03:13 AM)
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GoOnThen
Stranger
Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 801
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 9 days, 2 hours
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Spines at soil level are a killer but I think we all have to do these things at least once other wise you are not getting the full cacti experience. 
I learnt my lesson a few years ago with spines under soil level. I planted a few bridge and peruvians cuttings without trimming the spines that were to be buried and then a few months later digging my fingers into the soil trying to get weeds out.   
Cheers
Got
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J.T
Condensed to a singularity
Registered: 04/13/07
Posts: 419
Loc: New Zealand 
Last seen: 2 days, 14 hours
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2 pairs of leather riggers gloves worn together. Simple. I don't get spiked at all with this method.
If you're a small hand, then buy a small and a large. If you're a Medium, buy Medium and X-Large etc. etc. This is so the gloves will easily go on to one another.
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InvisibleHunter
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Registered: 04/18/11
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Loc: Australia
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Re: Glove Up... [Re: J.T]
#16261614 - 05/21/12 08:19 AM (11 months, 23 days ago) |
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I started looking at gloves after hearing some horror stories of people having to get surgery to remove spines and such. I came to the conclusion that the best gloves would be these: http://www.turtleskin.com/. They are the same gloves used by law enforcement as protection against needlestick injuries.
Having said that, I still never use gloves; partly because I have never gotten around to getting some, and partly because I actually kinda enjoy digging the spines out. 
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