Mushrooms of Northwest North America Review

     Hi guys! So I have been reading this book,  "Mushrooms of Northwest North America" and I've got to say it's pretty great. It's not your typical field guide. I've actually had it for a few years, but I didn't give it a chance until a few weeks ago. The reason why was because I skimmed through it, and thought "this won't help me I.D. a mushroom right away". And maybe that's true. If you're looking for a field guide with clear photographs, then you should probably just get an Audubon field guide, or some other quick I.D. Field guide.

     The book I'm reviewing does not actually have photographs of mushrooms. Instead, it has very nice illustrations. While they are very nice pieces of art, they are probably not as helpful as an actual photograph. But what this book lacks in that aspect, it more than makes up for in knowledge. It contains a species description section in the second half of the book, which is chalk-full of fun and useful facts for the different groups of mushrooms. It breaks down each class, order, family, genus, and lists several different species for each group. It tells you which genera are usually safe to eat, which ones are dangerous, and which ones are intoxicating. It gives you characteristics of each genera. with this information, you can almost tell if a mushroom is edible or not just from background knowledge.

     Basically, this book is a must-have for anyone seriously interested in mycology or mushroom hunting. I've learned a lot on Identification just from reading this book, and I still could learn so much more! Keep in mind, this was written in the early 90's so some information is a little outdated. For example, is lists the class "Hymenomycetes", however this is no longer relevant, and many of the orders have been moved to Agaricomycetes. But it still has a plethora of useful information, and is worth at least a looking into. Well that about wraps up this review, hope it is helpful! Lone Pine, the company that published this book, also has a book on Mushrooms of Northeast North America, which I have not read, though I assume it is also helpful and worth a look.

Back from Hiatus, and Ready to Rock (and a terrarium review)

    Hello! I'm back from my months long Hiatus from this blog, so yay! Things got crazy because I visited Alaska for the summer, and I've just been super busy with school. So for my first post back, I decided to do something new. Instead of Writing and posting photos, which is always frustrating because of the way Blogger is formatted, I am going to post a YouTube video I uploaded. It's a terrarium, I used pretty much the same technique as all my other ones, so without further ado, here is the video! Hope you like it, and make sure to like, comment, and subscribe!

Japanese Maples Update 3

Hey sorry for the hiatus! For this post I'm just going to show some pictures and give you guys an update on the Acer palmatum (also known as Japanese Maple) seedlings. So without further ado, here are the pictures. This is the fifth week since I took them home.

Big Bubba

Sadly some of the maples did die, but a majority of them did make it through, and a couple have made giant leaps of growth since then! I think part of the reason why some of them died was overcrowding. I had them in 4" pots, and some plants were 2-3 per pot. I did transplant quite a few into their own pots, but not before some died. The one labeled in the pictures as "Big Bubba" definantly won the award for most growth. most seem to be at about the same growth as before, though several show little new growth buds, so that's good. I have been keeping them pretty well watered, though I try to let them dry out before waterings, which is what most tree like.

   Anyways, today is just a short little update, but I hoped you like it! I know I really love to see plants growth, it's just kinda cool to see things get bigger and change. Please share this post with a friend, anyone who might be interested. Thanks for reading, bye!

Succulent cuttings

Moss Stonecrop Sedum 

Hey, so, as promised, I'm going to post some pictures of the cuttings that I took. This post is just going to be the Succulent cuttings that I took, Sedum to be specific.

Rooting Hormone

Trailing Sedum

Cutting 

Cutting Dipped in Hormone

Flowering

So I followed the steps from my How to take cuttings Post. They are doing well, And I expect to see growth in a few weeks to a month.

That's about all I have for now, Please comment if you have any questions, concerns, and comments. Please Share this with a friend, and thanks for reading!

How to take cuttings from plants

     Hey Guys! Today I'm going to teach you crazy kids how to propagate from cuttings! Taking a cutting from a plant is super easy, and it's nice because the cutting is going to be exactly the same genetically as the parent. So if you have a plant that say, produces really sweet fruit, a cutting from a sweet fruit tree might just be what you need. Many plants can be started from cuttings, such as (just off the top of my head), Ivy, wisteria, jades, most succulents, tomato plants, african violets, bamboo, and many more!

     Steps

1) Find a plant that you would like to take a cutting from

2) Cut a new growth branch (not woody), at least three nodes long

3) Strip the cuttings leaves, leaving only a few at the top, 

4) Take the end that you are going to root, and slice diagonally, this helps to get as much area as possible for rooting.

5) wet the rooting end

6) Dip the rooting end in a growth hormone of your choice

7) Poke your finger, a pencil, ect, and make a hole in a container of potting soil.

8) Plant cutting in hole

Notes

     If you do not have a rooting hormone, it's ok. Just follow the other steps. Rooting hormones just help to make sure the plant roots, and can be a bit faster than without. I heard you can make a rooting hormone from honey, though I have never tried.

     A good medium to grow cuttings is a mix of peat moss and perlite. Half and half should do the trick, although I do suggest you experiment and find out your preference.

     If you're plant seems to be wilting, cut the leaves in half, this helps the plant to focus more on rooting, and less on leaves.

     Later this weekend I will make some posts about some succulent cuttings that I took, One that I took and while back and how it's doing, and some wisteria cuttings that I took.

     Thanks for reading! Please share this with a friend, and make sure to come back, I make a post at least once a week. Hoped this post helped! Byeeeeee!

   

     

Japanese Maple Seedlings 2

     Hey there! For this post I would like to post updates on the Japanese Maple Seedlings I got. For the most part, they are doing pretty well. On some the leaves are drying up, which can't be a good sign. I was reading and I've come to the conlusion that they are doing this due to stress of being potted and moved. I still have hope that they will make it. Also, some of the leaves are turning red, which they do in the fall when their leaves are about to fall off. I think this is also because of stress.

     Here are some pictures.

Dried-up leaves

 


















As you can probably see, some of the leaves have turned red. I am thinking that maybe they are not getting enough sun. The ones on top of my bonsai stand are doing well. They tolerate moderate shade, but I will give them more sunlight and see what happens.

Thanks for reading! I will make another post sometime this week. Comment what you would like to see me do a post about, anything with plants or mycology. Please share this post with a friend, it means a lot. See ya!

Mother's day Project

          As promised, another post! Since today is Mother's day, I thought I'd post about the project I did for my aunt, who has raised me since I was just a wee lad. First I'm going to post the end results, then I'll break down what I did.

              This project was extremely inexpensive but was satisfying to do, and gave my aunt a big smile! I got the jar from my neighbor, I noticed he was about to throw it away, and asked if I could have it. The plant was actually free, a local person had grown too many and was giving away some for free.

Steps
1. Washed out jar
2. Poured some aquarium gravel over the bottom of the jar
3. Sprinkled some charcoal over the gravel
4. Made a soil mix from compost from my compost pile and sand-like soil from a mole hill.
5. Planted the Succulent (Hen and Chicks, or Echeveria)
6. Put some soil over the top, followed by more gravel for aesthetics.
7. Tied some ribbon around the jar in a bow.
8. Made my aunt's day!


           Well there you have it. An awesome gift, that is also nice to the wallet! Please do something kind for your mother on this day, they (probably) deserve it.

           Thanks for reading, please be sure to share this with a friend, it would mean a lot to me. I come up with at least one post a week, though I think I may amp that up soon. Happy Mother's day!