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The Corroboree


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Everything posted by CβL

  1. CβL

    Araucaria bidwillii

    The local garden centre had a single A. bidwillii - so it's become the first tree that we've planted on our block :) Just need to get another 9~ now
  2. CβL

    Araucaria bidwillii

  3. CβL

    Araucaria bidwillii

  4. CβL

    Araucaria bidwillii

  5. CβL


  14. CβL

    The Random Thread.

  16. So I have a Salvia Divinorum (legal in New Zealand), and every summer, the butterflies (white cabbage butterflies, green caterpillars) come... and lay eggs on her, and they destroy her. I've had this problem for 2-3 years now, and I solve it by popping the caterpillars individually. Unfortunately I will not be able to do this this year, so I have literally two days to plant something next to her to get rid of caterpillars. There's 2 approaches: 1) Decoy plants. These are plants that attract the butterflies even more than the Salvia would, and they get eaten instead. http://sustainablelivingwise.com/natural-insect-repellent-caterpillars/ 2) Scarecrow plants These would be plants that by smell, or sight - ward of butterflies from landing near them. I'm unsure if these even exist. I planted 2x Kawakawa plants next to her, for shade reasons, but I'm also hoping that they somehow deter butterflies, somehow. I think I heard catnip can do this. edit: found this http://www.planitdiy.com/inspiration/in-lawn-garden/organic-gardening-repel-bugs-naturally-with-garden-herbs/ Sage, and mint both seem to repel cabbage butterflies. I will have to buy some. stat. halp halp.
  17. CβL


  18. Bug net could work... I don't think I have time to sort it out though. I might try and delegate it. I'll try the eggshells thing - there's already a ton of eggshells on the compost heap barely 1 metre away.
  19. CβL

    White sapote leaf....

    I think I heard that eating a few of the fruit can have the same effects. Somehow I managed to stumble across a fruit at a market a few years ago (sold as a Cherimoya, so I thought it was a Cherimoya for years). Ate it, grew the seeds out (only one tree survived), and it's now planted out. I'm hoping it'll rejuvenate and grow happily - it's at the point now where the scales are balanced between harsher climate (windy spot, sun shock) and miles better soil - it just needs to tip into good growth and she'll be right. Once it's growing well, I can do some experiments.
  20. I will be moving to Europe for a few months in 2 days time. No time for spraying or anything. I think I will go for some of those aromatics (not mint, since it's a weed and will take over the salvia).
  21. CβL


    Today I planted two avocado trees out for my parents. I'm hoping that the wide & shallowish holes I dug, with the cactus mix as the soil - will have them thriving. I want these two to grow 4x faster than the trees my parents planted, so then I can be the avocado growing master of the family.
  22. CβL

    Scientists stop light for a minute.

    To me it just seems like another discovery that we can use to make a light-based computer. These would not be quantum computers, but traditional binary computers - but with the benefit of being a lot more corrosion resistant, and theoretically much faster. This discovery shows how we can make RAM, and potentially storage modules too. But I think the thing we're really missing is the light transistor. Which a quick google... Light Transistor: Efficient Transistor for Light Could Lead to Optical Computers July 8, 2013 — Light can oscillate in different directions, as we can see in the 3D cinema: Each lens of the glasses only allows light of a particular oscillation direction to pass through. However, changing the polarization direction of light without a large part of it being lost is difficult. The TU Vienna has now managed this feat, using a type of light -- terahertz radiation -- that is of particular technological importance. An electrical field applied to an ultra-thin layer of material can turn the polarisation of the beam as required. This produces an efficient transistor for light that can be miniaturised and used to build optical computers. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708102927.htm Now with this current discovery, I'm no expert, but I think that this crystal functions logically as an AND gate. That's a good start, but I believe we need a NOT gate (in other words, when there's no light beam coming, the gate emits one, when a light beam comes, the gate does not emit one), and then we can build a light processor.
  23. CβL

    Outdoor loph garden?

    I'm thinking the only way you'll be able to do it will be to have it under shelter (make like a low-roof, slanted pergola, with a clear roof) - and have a sprinkler system that'll water the plants. I was thinking if there was a way to even micro-drill the roof to allow some rain to come through as well (thus no maintenance). I was thinking about doing it myself at some point, I HATE babying plants for their entire lives. What kind of soil are your plants in at the moment?
  24. Today I repotted some seedlings out of ice-cream tubs into pots. Somewhere between 80-100 were done. Tomorrow I'm aiming for the rest. :D