Cultivation - Phalaris minor grow log

[DarkDead]

Note: After all what SWIM has been growing isn't Phalaris brachystachys but Phalaris minor instead (read the next post). Either way he still plans on doing some extractions although he knows the quality won't be what he had expected.

After reading about it's high DMT content (check DMT independence via Phalaris brachystachys) SWIM decided to grow Phalaris brachystachys and sent me his grow log to post here. It will be updated as he gives me more data.

The growing conditions needed by this grass are similar to those needed by other phalaris plants: sandy soil, few watering, some fertilization with nitrogen as the plants become adults and periods of drought and hand clipping to improve the DMT content before harvesting. Seeds are better of being started in mid-winter so that adult plants can grow in the full sun of spring and summer.
Phalaris brachystachys is a native specie where SWIM lives so he decided to reproduce the conditions where it grows.

Grow log

29/01 - Sowing
Pots: Bottom part of 5L water bottles with holes to drain water.
Soil: A thin bottom layer of fine gravel to allow a good drainage. On the top of which SWIM put soil picked from a terrain where he saw Phalaris brachystachys last summer. It's a low humus sandy loam soil with pH 6.
Seeds: Bought from a online US vendor. SWIM has to wait until summer to harvest seeds from native plants. Next year he'll compare native to these US seeds. Seeds were sowed at a depth of 5mm.
Local: Outdoors in the backyard but protected from rain.
Watering: Every day to keep the soil surface humid.
Sun: Full sun from sunrise until midday (except in cloudy days) and shade in the afternoon. Full sun during the entire day would be better but was impossible for SWIM.
Weather: temperature 3ºC min/14,5ºC max relative humidity 85% min/100% max
Phalaris brachystachys 1.jpg

06/01 - Germination
Seedlings are appearing evenly on all the 5 pots.
Watering was decreased to one every 2 days.
Weather: temperature 5,5ºC min/12,5ºC max relative humidity 68% min/95% max

10/02 - Seedlings growing
Watering was again decreased, now to one every 3 days, allowing the soil to dry between them.
Weather: temperature 9ºC min/16ºC max relative humidity 70% min/100% max
SWIM took these pictures:
Phalaris brachystachys 2.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 3.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 4.jpg

25/02 - First true leaves
Watering: one every 3 days.
Weather: temperature 4ºC min/22ºC max relative humidity 40% min/98% max
Phalaris brachystachys 5.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 6.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 7.jpg

13/03 - Second and third true leaves
Watering: one every 3 days.
Weather: temperature 7ºC min/26ºC max relative humidity 35% min/99% max
Phalaris brachystachys 8.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 9.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 10.jpg

29/03 - Transplantation
Vases were soaked in water until it was possible to dig up the plants without tearing their roots. Their definitive place, a patch of ground, was dug and fertilized with sheep manure. Phalaris were planted there with a distance of 4cm between each other.
Watering: one every 4 days.
Weather: temperature 8ºC min/17ºC max relative humidity 39% min/71% max
Phalaris brachystachys 11.jpg

25/04 - Flowering
The grasses have grown a lot since SWIM put them on the ground. The majority are now showing flowering heads.
Watering: one every 5 days.
Weather: temperature 9ºC min/18ºC max relative humidity 48% min/71% max
phalaris brachystachys 13.jpg Phalaris brachystachys 14.jpg

10/06 - Harvesting seeds
The majority of the flowering heads were now dry. They've been picked and the seeds store for future cultures.
SWIM started gathering leaves for an extraction and the plants received the first dose of fertilizer (10/10/10).
Watering: one every 5 days.
Weather: temperature 12ºC min/26ºC max relative humidity 55% min/100% max

14/06 - Gathering leaves
More flowering heads and leaves were picked. Plants were fertilized with 15g/m² of ammonium nitrate dissolved in water.
Watering: one every 5 days.
Weather: temperature 19,5ºC min/33ºC max relative humidity 40% min/85% max

11/07 - Final picking
All plants were pulled out of the soil with roots and all. Then roots and dried parts were cut and the remaining material stored in the freezer for a future extraction.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	cool experiment, good info, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. good luck!
	Very interesting experiment, Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to future experiements.