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Big_Dub
I'm just some guy



Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 2,639
Loc: Los Angeles
Last seen: 4 hours, 28 minutes
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-------------------- split_by_nine said: click me you fuck do the right thing
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tututotutut
You...! You're not me!


Registered: 01/18/21
Posts: 2,218
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Big_Dub]
#27408058 - 07/30/21 02:23 AM (2 years, 5 months ago) |
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ahhhhh how have i never seen this thread HOW DID YALL START YOUR SEEDS?!?! I tried everything!!
-------------------- yeah keep telling yourself that's voluntary
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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I always had low germination rates with seeds I bought from online vendors. Probably they're too old, but usually a few would still germinate. Fresh seeds will readily germinate, and people reported to me that one year old seeds still had good germination rates. So just keep on trying from different sources or try to acquire fresh seeds. Also nicking the seed, letting it rehydrate in water, and surface sowing in a warm, moist and light environment will help with germination. Also, I bought my E. viridis and E. nevadensis plants on an auction site, so that might be an option as well. Or ask local botanical gardens if you can get some seeds or root suckers.
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tututotutut
You...! You're not me!


Registered: 01/18/21
Posts: 2,218
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Couldnt I just ask in the marketplace here? Have other people complained of WSSs mahaung beans?
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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The Ephedra plants are back outside on the balcony. I took a few of them indoors during the winter because they were starting to look quite sad. Probably this wasn't necessary as it didn't continuously freeze for longer periods, but I did it anyway as a precaution. Especially the stems of the E. aphylla turned red from the cold, and considering this species naturally grows in the Middle East, it might not appreciate prolonged cold weather.
Other Ephedra species, especially E. viridis and E. nevadensis, will have a significant portion of stems turn yellow during the winter, which then fall off once it gets warmer again. The plants will grow new shoots from the older, thicker branches. To me it feels like a setback and I don't know if there's a way to prevent it. Maybe this is a normal process for these species.

From left to right: E. aphylla, E. viridis, E. nevadensis, unidentified species, E. minima, E. sinica
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Wrightii
Stranger Danger



Registered: 05/15/20
Posts: 216
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I (with effort) germinated a sinica seed about 2 years ago. It struggled a lot the first year but this year it came to life. So much so that i decided to harvest some. Right after harvest:

Week after harvest:

You can already see the new shoots its making 
I harvested about 10 gr dry weight of stem material. Anyone any experience with extractions and the amounts needed? For hobby purposes
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turtle_hermit
Psychedelic Ranger



Registered: 06/03/10
Posts: 1,626
Last seen: 1 day, 2 hours
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Wrightii]
#27909121 - 08/19/22 06:16 AM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
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Congrats, Wrightii. No idea on extraction, but I believe you can brew as tea and drink this.
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The Dalcassian
Dirty Druggie



Registered: 01/04/17
Posts: 952
Loc: Emerald lsles
Last seen: 9 months, 3 days
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Yo, just ordered another 100 ephedra sinica seeds, this is gonna be my 3rd time attempting to germinate these little fuckers. I've planted 40 over the last couple of years. A couple sprouted but lack of understanding on my part led to root rot.
There's such a mix of opinions online, when it comes to germinating them, so I figured I'll try and do it a few different ways.
My main method is going be to use a cactus potting mix, with some pumice to help with aeration, germination trays will go, uncovered, into an unused aquarium with a small grow light above it. Aquarium will sit by a sunny window. Debating the use of a heat mat underneath (house is around 19°c/66°f). Also going to refrigerate the seeds in water for 2 days prior to planting.
If anyone has any suggestions I'd be grateful. Some info says humidity is essential, others say its not needed and increases the risk of rot. I've also seen advice say to just leave them in room temp water until they sprout. So ya. Wish me luck
-------------------- Here Lies This Individual 
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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My Ephedra minima plant is beginning to grow pollen cones for the first time. I think there's only one plant in the pot so probably it won't be able to get pollinated, but unsure about this. All the pollen cones had this little water droplet at the top. Two weeks later the droplets have disappeared. If all goes well, the pollen strobili will soon emerge.
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Wrightii
Stranger Danger



Registered: 05/15/20
Posts: 216
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My Sinica was touch and go the first 2 years or so, but cutting it back quite a lot this summer has seemed to do wonders. My plants always suffer in winter (the warm and arid indoors) but my stickbitch is hanging in there! Summer:
 Today, approaching spring ( ):
 While all my visitors wonder why it doesn't have leaves and why it looks like its perpetually dying, I'm a proud botanist.
Cheers!
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Wrightii]
#28274527 - 04/12/23 02:10 PM (9 months, 12 days ago) |
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Adorable Ephedra sinica, Wrightii!
E. sinica has always been the slowest and less resilient one, of the few Ephedra species that I'm growing. And I have the same experience, they get a lot of brown stems indoors during the winter that break off easily. A few weeks ago, mine started to grow new shoots as well. Though when I put them back outside, they usually get shocked from the increase in sunlight, hence get brown stems and drop those again. Then it needs some more time to adapt and will grow new shoots later in summer.
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Wrightii
Stranger Danger



Registered: 05/15/20
Posts: 216
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It’s really becoming a bush. I neglected it a bit and it got overgrown by some weed this year. When cutting back the weed though it seems to have had a positive effect on its growth. It’s much denser and centered, instead of skinny legs all around.
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Moth-Man
Predictor of horror

Registered: 03/26/22
Posts: 57
Loc: Point pleasant , Ohio River
Last seen: 24 days, 20 hours
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Wrightii]
#28508819 - 10/17/23 10:06 PM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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What's you guys secret for starting seeds?
-------------------- “To hear a voice is one thing. But this isn't just a message, it's a prediction. It came true.”
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Wrightii]
#28508930 - 10/18/23 01:33 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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Quote:
Wrightii said: It’s much denser and centered, instead of skinny legs all around.
It looks great! My E. sinica never grew upright with a thick enough stem to support that kind of growth. It's hard to judge the size of the plant though. It looks like it's in a rather small pot, or maybe the picture is just deceiving me. Is it a deeper type of pot? That would be ideal for Ephedra spp.
I didn't check out my Ephedra plants in a while. Hopefully it won't be a cold winter because I'd rather keep them outside this time. Even though for my geographic area, they seem to be doing better bringing them indoors during the coldest months, even though it probably isn't entirely necessary unless it's freezing for days on end.
Quote:
Moth-Man said: What's you guys secret for starting seeds?
There are some tricks you can try like scarification, soaking them for a while, keeping them in a fridge for some weeks/months, planting them outside so they have the natural progression of seasons, etc. But the main factor is having fresh seeds in my opinion. I had a very high germination rate with fresh seed, which surprised me at the time because I likewise was always having trouble trying to germinate presumably old seeds from vendors.
There appears to be a paper that contradicts this, however that's not how I experienced it. The paper covers 'Mormon's tea' Ephedra though, like E. viridis and E. nevadensis, so maybe this is not applicable to all Ephedra spp.
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Dorky_Mom
Stranger

Registered: 10/21/23
Posts: 1
Last seen: 3 months, 5 days
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I know my account is new but I have been lurking for years and was actually surprised that I didn't actually have an account. Anyways... curious if it is against board rules to ask if anyone would be willing to do a seed/cone swap? Obviously with being a new account I would not opposed to sending mine first to wait for the receiver to send the swap to me. If it matters or not the ones I'm most interested in doing a trade with is E. Viri
dis that I harvested in multiple locations throughout Utah in the first 2 weeks of July this year. I can say that I have some pretty decent quality cones (well once I sorted through them And hand picked the top 10%) I also have other species that I may be interested in trading that I had imported but I spent a ridiculous amount of money to guarantee that would be of good quality. Photos are from I first collected them and after I sorted them.
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Dorky_Mom]
#28513897 - 10/22/23 09:22 AM (3 months, 5 days ago) |
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Awesome that you have them growing in nature over there! I'm not entirely sure about the rules, but I believe once you made 50 posts, you get access to the marketplace subforum where trades can be made.
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Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
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I have some Ephedra minima in my landscape which is lovely. It is also a stoloniferous species, meaning that some of my plants spread through underground roots. Sometimes people call these runners.
The species is very attractive, but quite slow growing.
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Poison Drink


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 841
Loc: W-Europe
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Re: Ephedra Growers Unite [Re: Nillion]
#28514264 - 10/22/23 02:15 PM (3 months, 5 days ago) |
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I would love to see some pictures of your landscape or wild Ephedra plants!
In the opening post, there's a picture of an E. minima patch in a botanical garden, of which I took some seeds to start my own plant.
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Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
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I'll get around to it, but it might be a little while. It had flower buds this year for the first time in spring but they didn't form fruit.
It's an interesting species. I don't know much about it, but it looks nice.
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