Aloha, Even if coquis did get to Kauai, there are so many chickens over there the frogs would be eaten immediately! If we could get rid of the mongoose, then perhaps we could get enough chickens that they would eat all the coquis? Folks have mobilized to get rid of the coqui and the spread of it seems to be slowing down some. They got some new bigger County sprayers which can really cover a lot more area. A lot of the trouble is the easy time to get rid of them is when there is just one or two frogs in an area. Folks hear one and think it's not too bad. By the time they multiply to where folks can't sleep at night anymore, then it is a huge chore to get rid of them all. What ever happened to Amberskyfire, anyway? Did they ever get moved? They just seemed to have dropped off the edge. A hui hou, Cathy

I have Lama, Noni, various Pritchardia "Loulu" palms, ground covers, Ohai, Naio, Naio papa, Dwarf Hau, Papala, Maua, Sometimes Dellisia, some Maile. If I can figure out how to add to my info page I will add more. If not send me your E mail address and I will send you the entire list. I also can get to Amy Greenwell in Capt Cook to pick up nearly anything they grow.

You think the possible permanent damage you could do to yourself while reacting these acids and chemicals isn't worth the couple bucks it cost to buy it? What are you going to do with the possible toxic stuff left over after you made your boric acid or whatever? The ingredients are probably more costly to get than just buying the finnished product I'd think. Either in gas,starting material $ or just in time. How are you going to know what impurities etc. you have in your starting ingrediants and what the possible reaction some impurity has on these chemical reactions? Pool acid isn't made to be pure/regent grade for chemical reactions or whatever. You shouldnt be messing with this stuff because it's on the internet and some yahoo says it's cool to do. Just water added to sulfaric acid can boil up and burn you badly. Some of the reactions could make flamable or possibly poisonous gasses if the wrong stuff mixes together. What is your FREE heat source (1600 degreesF) to make expanded Perlite...Probably cost more to make than buy. I don't know about you but my time is worth more than taking hours to save a couple dollars by hauling rocks or whatever and dodging acid/bleach fumes or whatever. There is a reason people sell and buy it rather than make this stuff at home. Houses are always burning down after some guy screws up trying to make illegal drugs... Fuel for their car etc. Nothing wrong with making your own pots and soil mixes. But messing with reactions of acid and who knows what else isn't worth it. If I found out you were playing with that kind of stuff in the apartment or house next door to me I'd stop you real quick. Just thinking about the smell of Fish emultion from the nursey (stinks real bad) I can imagine what it smells like fermenting. LOL I guess you do have access to lots of fish guts etc. though where you live. Making Seaweed extract sounds about as aromatic too. The people in the general vicinity are gonna love ya. Lungs burned by acid fumes,skin burns can't be fun... I can think of a ton of reasons not to mess with half the stuff you are thinking of trying with no knowledge of chemistry at all. I think you could be more self sufficient by spending a few bucks to get started and scrounge what you can from dumpsters or wherever. Growing stuff to sell to buy whatever you have to or isn't practicle (too stinky) or dangerous to make. Containers to grow stuff in can be scrounged-empty food grade plastic containers from the local scarf and barf(food grade buckets,bottles or whatever is the size you need). All sizes from Mayonaise jugs to 5 gal. + sized buckets. Cut them to size... Free is better than firing pots and messing with clay. People use liter soda bottles for mini greenhouses for plants-cut the bottom to size and use the top for the cover.Since it's top is funnel shape you cut it slightly smaller than the bottom so it fits snug. Old vegetable packages can be used for starting seeds. Cardboard Egg containers work for starting seeds. Cut the top off and use plastic wrap for a cover until they are big enough for pots. Cut the sections apart and put the cardboard cell in the pot.cardboard breaks down quickly and lets the roots spread. The clear plastic containers vegetables come in have air holes for drainage and snap close covers-good greenhouses too. Vegetable scraps , coffee grounds etc. for compost gathered from resturaunts and grocery stores. Make a small compost bin out of a plastic tub or just make one out of wood. I'm sure you can google plans for most of the stuff you need-same as you did for your chemical reactions. A lot of places will set the stuff aside (whatever you are collecting)if you ask them to.Especially Mom and Pop type places. I know lots of people who grow stuff and sell it to pay part or all it cost them to get by. You can be somewhat self sufficient and not risk your health at the same time. You could probably raise extra plants etc. to sell at swap meets or wherever.

Thanks for your post, J! You did it while IÂve been sitting here trying to figure out the whole lama/llama/lamasaries/monasteries conundrum! Not to mention the French/English translation! Ok, I got the translation, but from what IÂve found, a llamaÂthe spitting kindÂcan be spelled either way, depending on if youÂre talking about the genus of llama-type animals, or just one cute littleÂwell, make that cute bigÂllama. So you could both be right! Kinda! But IÂm still working on how specks turned into either lamas or llamasÂor monks! And now to you, Ms. Seedling Murderer! We need to get this fixed before somebody calls the cops on you! If your speck sprouts are falling over, they need more than misting. By now the root you canÂt see (no peeking) underneath the soil is 3 or 4 or 5 times as big as the part you can see above the soil, so they need to actually be watered when they get that dry. Since watering them from the top could disturb them (and you), fill a pan or bowl with water and sit the pot(s) in it until the surface of the soil looks wet, then take them out and let them drain really wellÂand get them back in the sun. I recommend you donÂt mist anymoreÂat least not enough to actually wet the surface of the soil. Two reasons. You could accidentally keep the soil too wet and they might damp off (lay down and die!), or, by keeping just the surface wet, you canÂt tell when the rest of the soil is drying out and you might have more things falling over because the soil down where the roots are trying to grow is too dry even tho the surface looks wet. I recommend watering them well whenever the top half inch or so is dry, and then donÂt water again till they dry out again. And gradually let it dry further and further down in the pot before watering. And, donÂt confuse me with monocot/dicot. IÂm already confused enough about the lamas/llamas! YouÂre still laughing at lamasaries, and IÂm still laughing at having a seedling murderer here! Do me a favor, J. Put a short post on the Fall Swap thread saying youÂre gonna try to make it. ThatÂs where IÂm picking up the names for my list, and that way others will see youÂre gonna come. And itÂll bump it back up to the top again too! ThereÂs not a whole lot of traffic around here these days, and I want to be sure everyone sees it. Thanks, Skybird