Beautiful opalized wood from Nevada
Jan 19, 2022 9:03:44 GMT -5
catskillrocks, vegasjames, and 2 more like this
Post by jamesp on Jan 19, 2022 9:03:44 GMT -5
Very interesting hummingbirdstones vegasjames. Len Cram's operation appears to be a budget operation. Nothing very fancy like pressure making devices and other fancy lab equipment.
His goal seems to be replication of natural opal however some of the fire opal in those jars is beautiful.
A note on horsetails James. The largest most prolific stands of horsetail I ever found growing in the wild was along rivers in British Columbia and southern Louisiana. I have no idea if it is native to those locations. But it was highly prolific. Both seemed to be the same species reaching about 30 inches in height. I tried growing a larger species but failed, it did not seem to like my habitat I supplied and I did not pursue growing it in other conditions. It is quite variable. I tried about a dozen different 'sources' of horsetail and found differences in most of them. There is a micro version that may reach 8 inches tall and has pencil lead stems.
One particular variety liked my soil/fertilizer/water dosing/ph so much it would just about bust a 1 gallon pot in 9 months. It was a real money maker. Call it luck, competitors wanted to know my secret.
What I do want to mention is bamboo James. I have about 25 varieties of (Phyllostachys)running bamboo and about 8 different species(japonica, palmata, dendrocalamus, bambusa, etc).
The large varieties are Phyllostachys and Bambusa. The Phyll. running bamboo is fond of clay soil and the Bambusa(a clumping bamboo) is fond of really crappy Florida sand.
And these two soils are so different, the P bamboo would thrive in our clay because it is rather fertile, loaded with micronutrients, and holds water in dry times. It should thrive in such soil, makes perfect sense.
However the Bambusa could generate large tall canes and create just as much biological mass as the P bamboo when growing in the crappiest most sterile sand imaginable. This was a mystery. It grew poorly in the clay ?#$%^. I grew it in Florida, the sand state. By the way it was much more tropical than the P bamboo and would freeze 400 miles north in Atlanta winters.
Going back to Phyllostachys varieties, these I have 30 years of experience with. They are probably the hardest/toughest bamboos. Their wood is dry and rock hard. There is a great deal of variability in them from a materials/mechanical standpoint. And many other traits. The variety that was found to create the most biological mass was P. Rubromarginata. P. Nigra var. Henon(a P.Nigra variety) is noted for having some of the strongest/hardest wood.
The strength of the wood is variable. Growth rates too. They are all sensitive to soils. A large bamboo will grow as if a small variety if the soil is not what it likes.
There are quite a few books written about the composition and use of larger bamboos James. A professor at Georgia Tech put a book out describing the use of bamboo for concrete reinforcement. Steve Ray is/was a grower near Birmingham Alabama. He had collected a great deal of information about P. bamboo. Both the Georgia and Alabama State Ag Experiment Stations wrote volumes about P. bamboo. They had about 70 varieties and shared cuttings to the public, this is where I got most of my starter plants.
Henon and Bory are P. Nigra varieties. I have a lot of it growing on my farm in various locations because it maintains vertical instead of leaning over. An indicator of it's wood strength. In crap soil it reaches 2" diameter, in good soil it approaches 4" diameter. It seems to generate harder denser wood in poor drier sandy soil. The bigger canes seem softer and with a higher moisture content.
Let me know if you want me to send you some for your work. I also have access to the roots of Henon where it is growing next to a creek. The roots leave the ground from the vertical creek bank and grow into the air making them easy to harvest. Or I can send you the natural clays that grows bamboo at the highest rates. Or both. The clay is very much variable on this property. P. bamboo grows to full height in one cycle of the moon, 30 days. It takes about 5 to 6 years for the wood to harden off to maximum strength, at age 8 to 9 years the canes begin to die. No idea if green or dried/dead bamboo contains the most silica. I also burn piles of it and a very white ash is left behind.
His goal seems to be replication of natural opal however some of the fire opal in those jars is beautiful.
A note on horsetails James. The largest most prolific stands of horsetail I ever found growing in the wild was along rivers in British Columbia and southern Louisiana. I have no idea if it is native to those locations. But it was highly prolific. Both seemed to be the same species reaching about 30 inches in height. I tried growing a larger species but failed, it did not seem to like my habitat I supplied and I did not pursue growing it in other conditions. It is quite variable. I tried about a dozen different 'sources' of horsetail and found differences in most of them. There is a micro version that may reach 8 inches tall and has pencil lead stems.
One particular variety liked my soil/fertilizer/water dosing/ph so much it would just about bust a 1 gallon pot in 9 months. It was a real money maker. Call it luck, competitors wanted to know my secret.
What I do want to mention is bamboo James. I have about 25 varieties of (Phyllostachys)running bamboo and about 8 different species(japonica, palmata, dendrocalamus, bambusa, etc).
The large varieties are Phyllostachys and Bambusa. The Phyll. running bamboo is fond of clay soil and the Bambusa(a clumping bamboo) is fond of really crappy Florida sand.
And these two soils are so different, the P bamboo would thrive in our clay because it is rather fertile, loaded with micronutrients, and holds water in dry times. It should thrive in such soil, makes perfect sense.
However the Bambusa could generate large tall canes and create just as much biological mass as the P bamboo when growing in the crappiest most sterile sand imaginable. This was a mystery. It grew poorly in the clay ?#$%^. I grew it in Florida, the sand state. By the way it was much more tropical than the P bamboo and would freeze 400 miles north in Atlanta winters.
Going back to Phyllostachys varieties, these I have 30 years of experience with. They are probably the hardest/toughest bamboos. Their wood is dry and rock hard. There is a great deal of variability in them from a materials/mechanical standpoint. And many other traits. The variety that was found to create the most biological mass was P. Rubromarginata. P. Nigra var. Henon(a P.Nigra variety) is noted for having some of the strongest/hardest wood.
The strength of the wood is variable. Growth rates too. They are all sensitive to soils. A large bamboo will grow as if a small variety if the soil is not what it likes.
There are quite a few books written about the composition and use of larger bamboos James. A professor at Georgia Tech put a book out describing the use of bamboo for concrete reinforcement. Steve Ray is/was a grower near Birmingham Alabama. He had collected a great deal of information about P. bamboo. Both the Georgia and Alabama State Ag Experiment Stations wrote volumes about P. bamboo. They had about 70 varieties and shared cuttings to the public, this is where I got most of my starter plants.
Henon and Bory are P. Nigra varieties. I have a lot of it growing on my farm in various locations because it maintains vertical instead of leaning over. An indicator of it's wood strength. In crap soil it reaches 2" diameter, in good soil it approaches 4" diameter. It seems to generate harder denser wood in poor drier sandy soil. The bigger canes seem softer and with a higher moisture content.
Let me know if you want me to send you some for your work. I also have access to the roots of Henon where it is growing next to a creek. The roots leave the ground from the vertical creek bank and grow into the air making them easy to harvest. Or I can send you the natural clays that grows bamboo at the highest rates. Or both. The clay is very much variable on this property. P. bamboo grows to full height in one cycle of the moon, 30 days. It takes about 5 to 6 years for the wood to harden off to maximum strength, at age 8 to 9 years the canes begin to die. No idea if green or dried/dead bamboo contains the most silica. I also burn piles of it and a very white ash is left behind.
