Sea Foam

[JR]

Si .
Oh no ! Give them a spray, I would.You have done so well with them up to now. Some of mine are looking a bit fed up.and one has appeared to have given up. Still have about 10 good plants.
The odd thing today whilst doing some thinning out I found this.
[ATTACH]312045[/ATTACH]
growing away in a flower bed. have another in a large outdoor pot. Can only think the seed has been lying there for a couple of years. Its had nothing in the way of care. Going to leave it just to see the outcome.
Percy.

[JR]

Good evening from Short Meadows.
Today had a check on the seagrass. Most of the plants have finished flowering, now before anyone asks the flowers are green and don't really show, as Jim knows they turn into the black seed soon after the plants begine to go a shade of red.

The plants becomes quite sticky and tends to get a little tangled up .They can be easily and gently pull apart.
The first photo shows the red /pink on the plant,,,, the last photo the plant is slightly older and the pink has gone. This plant will soon be ready for the Glycerine treatment.
The method I use will be posted this week, oh and by the way it works on all subjects, includings roots.


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Percy

[prichrd1]

Is John Digwell harvesting the seeds for next years crop??

Paul.
:smiling2:

[Jim R]

Hi Fellow Farmers
This came today. Not long now 'til the embalming.
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Jim

[rtfoe]

Hi Jim,

I have glycerine from the pharmacy...would it work the same as vegeteable glycerine? First time I've heard that there are variants.

Cheers,
Richard

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
I don't know. Will have to wait for farmer John to reply. The stuff I got is based on rapeseed. A lot of glycerine comes from Palm oil which is not very environmentally friendly.
Jim

[JR]

Hi ,
Just checked , there is little or no difference between the two types. Most these days is plant based. Remember most of beauty products, including soap contain glycerin to retain moisture. The concern I believe was with religious beliefs when using an animal based product , nowadays the vegetable product has taken over.

As for the use we take one part glycerin per two parts hot water, not boiling as this would destroy the plant material.
The stems or whatever you wish to preserve need to completely covered and held under the mix for between 4 and 6 days. I say 6 because some thicker stems will take longer to treat. I use two buckets, or bowls. One needs to sit inside the other. You can fill the upper bowl with water or sand, it just needs to hold the plants under , not crushing them , or pushing the mix out from the lower bowl ! so take care. The best temperature is around 65 F Old School or the new fangled c is 18.33333333 when preparing the material. In other words not too cold !:hugging-face: REMEMBER NONE METAL CONTAINERS .I've just remembered this .

After the 6 days remove the plants from the container, I hang mine upside down over a newspaper covered floor ! in a warm sunny area with good air circulation for 3/5 days . I normally start this in the greenhouse, and put some polythene down first due to wanting to live a little longer :sad:
Then hang the stems again upside down in a warm, dry and dark place for 2 to 3 weeks to complete the drying process. Store the preserved stems in a dry and dark area until use. Hope this has helped, I should have some plants ready by next week to start,so will post again when I do with some photos of the plants at that stage.

Percy.

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Richard
No reason why it shouldn’t work. Animal and vegetable derived glycerol (also called glycerine or glycerin) are exactly the same chemical. The “vegetable ” tag just lets people know it isn’t animal derived and suitable for vegetarians.
Tim

[Tim Marlow]

Hi John
The other issue could be BSE fears. Not so much of an issue now, but the Pharmaceutical industry still only uses materials that are certified BSE free. This includes plastics and rubbers, not just feedstock chemicals.
Cheers
Tim

[Jim R]

Thanks Percy. I shall look out for suitable containers to ensure good dunking.
Monty

[prichrd1]

Ah!!!!

The Nitro Glycerin Stage.

Now did JR say 10 parts two weeks or 14 parts ten days !!!! :confounded:

Oh well here goes!! :tongue-out3:

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Should be fun,

Paul.
:smiling2::smiling2::smiling2::smiling2:

[JR]

Hi John
The other issue could be BSE fears. Not so much of an issue now, but the Pharmaceutical industry still only uses materials that are certified BSE free. This includes plastics and rubbers, not just feedstock chemicals.
Cheers
Tim

Yes that is a valid point Tim, I had read earlier that Halal and the Jewish religions needed to know how the meat had be slaughtered and that was the reason for an uptake in production of vegetable based product .
John.

[JR]

Well doneJim, you should get away with using any container from the kitchen if you say its for food stuffs ! :smiling2:

[JR]

Paul ...
Love it :thumb2::thumb2:
John.

[Jim R]

DISASTER!!! The missus looked at the plants this morning and they are covered in creepy crawlies and look quite sick. I think they are aphids like Si mentioned. Plants are now outside having been sprayed with bug killer. The infestation came on really quickly.
I think I will leave them a day or two for the bugs to be killed. Rinse them and then try to embalm some. I think they were almost at the preserving stage anyway.
Jim Thrower