Sal
@Sal@mander.xyz
- Comment on Haha SO TRUE! 2 weeks ago:
Haha So True!
- Comment on UV light in bedroom 2 weeks ago:
If you don’t mind sharing, please do!
I looked a bit more into it and discovered that some people do use UV lights for inducing stress responses on plants. Most of what I found is from cannabis growing communities that make use of the UV light to increase the potency of the plant. I don’t know how effective that is, but that did signal to me that some shops might sell UV lamps as grow lamps.
An example of a specific lamp I could find is the MIGRO UVB 310. If you follow that link and look through the images you will see that the bulb is clearly labeled with “UV BOOST”.
These lamps are meant to be used as supplemental inputs to stress the plant. It is not very likely that you ended up with such a lamp by mistake as it is still a niche type application. But it is good that you are making sure.
- Comment on UV light in bedroom 2 weeks ago:
Does the bulb have some model written on it? If you tell us the specific model we may be able to find the properties of that light.
There is a good chance that you do not have a “UV lamp” but one of those purple grow lights, which do not emit a lot of UV. Those plant lights have a spectrum that is tuned to the regions of the spectrum for which green plants absorb the most light - so, the lamp emits mostly in the blue and red, which is why they look purple. There is no need to worry about that light, it is perfectly safe.
If you do have a UV lamp and are using that lamp for a plant: Then we really do need more information to estimate the level of risk. Chances are that, if that UV lamp is harmful to you, it is also harmful to the plant, and it is better to swap it for some other type of lamp.
It is not very likely that you are using a one of the more dangerous UV lights - like a mercury-vapor lamp with a quartz bulb - which will produce smelly ozone and can burn your eyes if you stare at them. Those lamps tend to be specialized items that you are unlikely to end up with by mistake. More common lamps would be the blacklights with common variants that produce 365 nm or 395 nm light. Continuous direct exposure of moderately intense 365 nm carries a low risk inducing skin cancer and is better to avoid. 395 nm is relatively safe but I would still not want to expose my skin continuously to it as it may still cause oxidative stress to the skin. These are used ornamentally for making things glow, but they are not the best choice for plants.
- Comment on (Scottsdale, AZ) Gila Monster or Chuckwalla? 2 weeks ago:
Very cool!! My opinion is that it is a thin gila monster
- Comment on Verticillium sp. (I think) 2 weeks ago:
Certainly a fun fact 😄 Reminds me of the painful sandspurs that stick one’s feet while walking through the beach.
- Comment on The common milk frog (Trachycephalus typhonius) 2 weeks ago:
Good question. The green pigment is biliverdin, which is a product of the breakdown of heme. But more specifically I am not quite sure, I’ll have a look.
I have found this open access article from 2020:Taboada, Carlos, et al. “Multiple origins of green coloration in frogs mediated by a novel biliverdin-binding serpin.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117.31 (2020): 18574-18581.
This article goes into more specificity about the protein that binds the pigment and allows it to become concentrated inside of the body and bones. In this article they suggest that green is a difficult color to make, and that multiple frogs have evolved in parallel this mechanism to sequester the green biliverdin within the body, develop a translucent skin, and become green this way (for camouflage).
However, the common milk frog is not very green. It could be that the biliverdin-binding protein is a trait that is derived from an ancestor and is now vestigial. In the cited article, near the end, they do include a section “Other BBSs Functions”. In this section they point out that some frogs with green bones do not look green, and suggest that the protein could be involved in inflammation pathways and behave as an anti-oxidant. But nothing conclusive.
I quickly skimmed for other recent papers but I can’t find anything conclusive.
- Comment on STOP. IDING. PLANTS. 2 weeks ago:
Careful. Big Taxonomy doesn’t mess around.
- Comment on Verticillium sp. (I think) 2 weeks ago:
Hey, thanks a lot! I agree with your assessment.
I spent some time looking through pictures and these Verticillium photos were the best matches I could find:
researchgate.net/…/Conidiophore-bearing-conidia-h…
…slidesharecdn.com/…/Tomato-verticillium-wilt-8-3…
But that Acremonium certainly looks like an even better match. And you are completely right in pointing out that the arrangement seen in my image is irregular whereas the Verticillium images show a more regular symmetric relationship between the condiogenous cells (term of the day for me).
- Comment on The common milk frog (Trachycephalus typhonius) 2 weeks ago:
We are a thriving amphibian community
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to mycology@mander.xyz | 4 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 6 comments
- Comment on I feel like laying an egg. 5 weeks ago:
Hahahahaha
- Comment on Zantedeschia rebloom [OC] 1 month ago:
Aah, congratz!! :D
- [PDF] Alvarado’s Webfooted Salamander, Bolitoglossa alvaradoi: Activity, hunting behavior, and prey selection in Costa Ricamander.xyz ↗Submitted 1 month ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 0 comments
- Comment on Zantedeschia rebloom [OC] 1 month ago:
Beautiful!
What does “rebloom” mean? Did it bloom twice in one year?
- Comment on Imantodes cenchoa 1 month ago:
Aaah, got it now 🤣
- Comment on Imantodes cenchoa 1 month ago:
A danger noodle to sleeping lizards! But to humans these are inoffensive :)
- Comment on Imantodes cenchoa 1 month ago:
Thanks :)
- Comment on Yucatan casquehead tree frog 1 month ago:
- Comment on little buddy 1 month ago:
Wow! That took me a moment to spot 😁
- Comment on Yucatan casquehead tree frog 1 month ago:
I agree! From the frogs in Yucatán, the one in this picture and the Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynus dorsalis) are the coolest looking (in my opinion). I have looked and looked for the burrowing toad but I have never found one.
- Submitted 1 month ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 7 comments
- Comment on Yucatan casquehead tree frog 1 month ago:
Thanks!
- Comment on Honey 1 month ago:
Hmm… Some lichen make use of orobatid mite labour in order to disperse the cells of their photobionts. Are those still ok?
- Comment on Anole sleeping 1 month ago:
That’s so cool! 😄 You are lucky to have anoles in your potted plants, enjoy them! I have returned to the Netherlands and reptiles are not too common around here 😔
- Submitted 1 month ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 8 comments
- Submitted 1 month ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 4 comments
- Comment on Possibly Eleutherodactylus planirostris 1 month ago:
Right?! And many people complain about them and want to exterminate them 🥲
- Submitted 2 months ago to herpetology@mander.xyz | 5 comments
- Comment on Tell me Y 3 months ago:
Good news! Just got a reply from them and they have increased the connection limit. They did not specify what the new number is, but hopefully it is high enough to not be an issue for the foreseeable future.
So, if you do run into other similar reports after this comment I would appreciate it if you tag me again.
