Percentages are total alkaloid contents, not DMT-contents. Either
way these percentages are good only for illustrating the
considerable variation. There is no way of knowing your plants
alkaloid content without chromatography equipment. Note that
drying
lowers the alkaloid content.
P. arundinacea alk. contents may be anything from 0.0004% of
the dry
plant matter to 0.121% of the dry plant matter (ie. 6.3 kg -
21 g of
grass equals one 20 mg dose if 80% of the alkaloids are DMT).
P. aquatica may contain anything from 0.0007% of the dry plant
matter to 0.18% of the dry plant matter (ie. 3,5 kg - 21 g of
grass
equals one dose).
To be certain all the extraction procedures are worth the try
one
has to try to maximize the alkaloid content by choosing right
strain, and by growing this strain right.
It has been hypothized that tryptamines, especially DMT, would
be
responsible for Phalaris-staggers in sheep (ventricular
fibrillation, cardiac arrest). This is not true, as sheep have
experienced the staggers from low-alkaloid strains.
P. arundinacea contains no 5-MeO-NMT (bufotenine); P. aquatica,
on
the other hand, could possibly contain toxic amounts of 5-MeO-NMT,
but levels should stay under treshold-dose even in high doses
- the
alkaloids in Phalaris should be safe to use as directed.
GROWING
Growing Phalaris is very easy - it is an grass that can tolerate
floods and extreme drought. A plant dug out of the ground and
left
without any water for 6 days suffers only minor wilting. Severe
wilting occurs after drought over 9 days in duration. Placing
the
whole plant underwater doesn't kill the plant. Achieving optimum
alkaloid-level, however, takes some skill. Time never stops,
and
everyone wants to get their Phalaris as big and trypty in as
short
time as possible. Parts you are after are leaves - leaves have
the
highest alkaloid contents - so don't harvest anything else -
highest
alkaloid concentrations are found in immature grass and leaf
blades,
lowest in leaf sheaths, stems and roots.
Starting from seeds is easy. Get some shallow (10 cm/4") pots.
Tray
with edges will do, bucket is fine - anything that can hold some
soil together, something that doesn't rot or suck the water from
the
soil. Regular plastic pots are fine. Dont use clay/unglazed ceramic
pots, these hold water. Place soil in the container, wet it
thoroughly, and place seeds on the soil. You can soak the seeds
for
24 or 12 or 6 hours before if you want to - this will speed up
the
process a bit. Cover the seeds with thin layer of soil (say like
3
mm). Spray the soil with water, and cover the container with
clear
plastic so that humidity stays high. If you can raise the
temperature couple of degrees (23-25 C), seeds will germinate
faster. After couple of days first sprouts should be visible,
remove
the plastic. Clammy loam works best for Phalaris, but almost
any
soil will do. Regular gardening soil is fine. Note that it may
take
even two weeks for the seeds to sprout. Optimum temperature for
vegetative growth would be about 22 C degrees. Some grow at even
higher temperatures, this depends on the strain you are growing.
Temperatures as high as 30 C may speed the growth provided plant
receives enough water.
STRESSING
Alkaloids in phalarii can be increased with stressing. Stressing,
on
the other hand, slows the growth and decreases the total yield.
I
will refer to any action that increases the total alkaloid-yield
by
stressing. These methods work for both P. arundinacea and aquatica.
There are three basic methods in stressing: clipping, shading
and
moisture control.
Clipping is relatively easy. Take clean scissors into your right
hand, hold the plant still with your left hand, and SNIP, your
plant
just got stressed. But simply clipping the plants shorter will
decrease your total yield. Wait until the plant is about 10 or
20 cm
(1/2') high. Cut right above the leaf. Wait until you get another
leaf, above which to cut, could be two days or two weeks. Clipping
increases tryptamine content by 50 % to even 400%. The amount
of
betacarbolines is roughly doubled.
Shading is quite controversial issue. Shading slows the growth,
and
seems to affect different strains different ways. I will try
to shed
some light into shadows. First of all, you will probably grow
your
plants indoors, and if these plants are not on the windowsill,
they
will not be receiving anything near the light plants outdoors
do,
where all the studies are made. Forget shading. If you grow yours
outdoors/near good light source, shading might be useful. Shade
the
plants for their last 1/4th or 1/5th of the growing-period.
In practice, placing a sheet of glass/plexiglass or a thin net
between the plants and the light source should work. Glass eats
anything from couple to 20% (dirty) of the light.
Amount of shading is quite troublesome, too. General mean value
would be maybe 5 to 15%. Arundinacea responds to smaller shifts,
halve the figures. Shading increases the tryptamine content by
20 to
30%.
Moisture-stressing is also quite easy. You don't water for a
week or
so. Interestingly, plants droughted for a long time produce some
unknown alkaloid. Young plants respond better to drought, whereas
older (+30d) may not show any response in respect to the alkaloid
content. Regrowths grown from droughted plants (which did not
show
response) had a higher alkaloid content. If you wilt, wilt young
plants. No water for a period of 5 to 10 days. If any damage
(brown
leaf tips etc.) begins to show, stop wilting. Note that although
the
plants cannot be rotted to death with overwatering, it slows
the
growth. Let the soil dry out every now and then. Phalaris likes
lots
of water, and overwatering of it means LOTS of water if you compare
to average houseplant. Moisture stress may as much as double
the
alkaloid content.
To get high leaf mass, your plant needs high amounts of water,
light, and nutrients. Nutrients, on the other hand, have been
shown
to have a negative effect on the alkaloid content - adequate
fertilization may in fact lower the total alkaloid content. And
stressing decreases the leaf mass. So you must walk the fine
line
between these two. Make a growing program, divided in 4 to 8
parts.
During certain parts you maximise the leaf mass. And during certain
parts you maximise the alkaloid content.
Example:
Simon Sez grows Phalaris aquatica. 1st period goes almost entirely
to germination, as the seeds dry out a bit, "Whatta dumb mistake,"
Simon thinks, as third of the seeds won't germinate anymore.
2nd and 3rd period Simon has dedicated for growth. Simon gives
the
plants nutrients; during 2nd period complete, well balanced N-P-K
(nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and micronutrient (Zn,B,Cu,
Fe,
Mn, etc.) fertilizer, and during 3rd only natural nitrogen. Every
now and then he snips the top off 'em.
4th period is about fasting - Simon gives plants no water.
During the 5th Simon begins to feel sorry for the plants and
after
giving them adequate, but not too much!, watering, lets them
grow.
And at the beginning of the 6th period, Simon thinks that its
time
to chill out a bit, so he sneaks the plants into large fridge
his
friend has (after giving it a dose of nitrogen fertilization).
Just
for a night. Its always above 0 C, but below 6 C.
Last days the plants get to grow normally. Then Simon strips
the
leaves, and lets the plants do their own thing for a while, as
he
tries to put together the wheat grass juicer he got without any
instructions. That would theoretically make 200% for the clipping,
25% for the 4th, 10-200% for the 6th. But in reality the increase
in
tryptamines cannot be calculated so easily. But lot anyhow. Simon
smiles happily.
The period length is also important - alkaloid content rises
steadily as the plant grows, and is highest at 30 to 50 days.
Simon
had 7 day periods =).
Fertilizers - problematic. Don't use good, rich soil - if the
plants
get enough of micronutrients, alkaloid content is diminished.
Mix
regular gradening soil with sand and rocks to get a good mix
(for
example 1/3rd of each). When the plant is young, ensure adequate
nutrition with liquid fertilizers, then move to only nitrogen
fertilization, and finally give only water (for example first
quarter, second quarter and last half, resp.). This makes plants
grow fast, big and finally tryptish. Phalaris can use fairly
large
amounts of fertilizers, but stick to the instructions of the
manufacturer until you know what you are doing. Urine is an
excellent excellent nitrogen fertilizer - add about half an
desiliter (2 oz) per liter of water (1/5gallon?) - fully organic
and
very soluable.
Cloning - an easy way to get more plants. First pick your best
plant
- healthy, big and high in alkaloids. Wait till you harvest,
and
then cut the whole stem off, place it underwater, glass or a
bucket
does fine, cut in small pieces, add small amounts of
seaweed(-extract) and wait couple of days. After that place pieces
in pots, and keep humid. It might take as long as 3 weeks for
first
signs of life, but try to keep the soil relatively humid - not
wet,
humid. Excess water may attract molds and fungi. You can also
take
part of the rhizome (root) and do the same thing. Simply divide
the
rhizome and place the pieces in soil. Water with light
seaweed-extract-solution. Wait. Leaves are of no use here, they
will
only rot away.
Harvesting the fruits of labor is very easy. Simply cut out the
leaves. If you like you can leave one leaf/stem to speed up the
regrowth. Remove parts of the stem above the leaf. Plant will
continue growing for a long time. Repotting the plant or dividing
the rhizomes often gives plant new vigour. Repot at least once
a
year.
Time of the day has no effect on the tryptamine content if you
are
growing indoors or in an greenhouse. Outside, morning harvest
may
rise alkaloid content.
If you are producing seeds - don't clip, have at least four of
such
plants, all from different sources, and of good strain. Let these
grow, and when the seed production has started, place a clear
bag
over the flower. Bags made of loose nylon mesh are best. Plants
produced from seed often have more energy than plants that have
been
cloned from a clone (and so-on). Produce seeds at least once
in two
years to ensure the vigour of your plants.
EXTRACTION
Extraction of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, which it contains, is relatively
simple. However one should get some basic information on chemistry
and the substances used in process as some of them are poisonous.
To
find good substitutes, please see solvent FAQ, or some chem-books.
Following extraction is relatively efficient. You need acid "A"
(Hydrochloride, vinegar or acetic acid), defatting solution "B"
(Methylene chloride, naphta, acetone), base "C" (Ammonium hydroxide,
lye), kettle, filter or cheesecloth, two containers, extraction
funnel, pH meter or paper.
Find all this equipment, read and understand how the extraction
works, and find a place you can do it in. Harvest.
If you have fresh grass, place it in freezer overnight. Next
morning
take it out, let it soften just a bit and place it in blender
or
juicer or chopper and blow it to pieces. If you want to be thorough,
you can freeze it again after first chopping, and chop again
next
morning. This is done to rupture the cells of the plant to free
as
much of the alkaloids as possible.
Dried grass pulverizes (literally!) easily in blender. Dont open
the
lid immediately, or some of your finest powder will float away.
Note
that drying will lower the alkaloid-content (as a result of plants
metabolism).
Add small amounts of water to make the mush/powder pourable.
This is
called Mixture. You can now begin.
1. Converting alkaloids to salts.
o Add acid ("A") to
the Mixture to bring the pH down to 5.
Add small
amounts, check pH, add small etc. etc. Alkaloids
react
with the acid and form salts. To ensure that large
portion
of the alkaloids really do this, give the Mixture
time and
some heat (less than 50 C); don't boil. Simmer it
overnight
with a lid on.
2. Removing unwanted oils.
o Place the Mixture
in the funnel. Add 10% of the Mixtures
volume
of defatting solvent ("B"). Shake. Shake. Shake.
Let the
Mixture and the solvent separate; they will form
two different
layers, and oils and fats will move to the
solvent
layer. Separate solvent and Mixture layers, and
throw
away the solvent layer. Mixture no longer has
solvent-soluable
oils or fats.
3. Converting the alkaloid-salts to freebase-form.
o Add base ("C") to
the Mixture to bring the pH up to 9.5.
Add small
amounts, check pH, add small etc. etc.
Alkaloid-salts
react with the base and convert into
freebase-form,
making them non-water soluable, but
soluable
into your solvent ("B").
4. Removing the alkaloids from the Mixture.
o This is similar
to step 2. Add 10% of the Mixtures volume
of solvent
("B"). Shake. Shake. Shake hard. Wait until the
solvent
and Mixture form different layers. Separate
solvent
and mixture. Put the solvent (which now holds some
of the
alkaloids) in some container to wait. Repeat this
step three
more times, and wait a week each time before
separating
the solvent and the mixture.
5. Preparing the alkaloids for smoking.
o Place the solvents
in some shallow container and allow to
evaporate.
Do this in either very well ventilated space or
outside.
No smoking or open fire near the solvent. This
takes
several days. Solvent evaporates, leaving behind
orange
(color varies) substance, that may be hard or
gummy.
Scrape this off the container. You now have
extracted
DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and some other alkaloids from the
plants.
NOTE: Unless you are 101% sure you know your
extraction
will be safe for oral ingestion, DO NOT ingest.
If you need to add some smokable material to this tar, simply
add
some solvent or alcohol (spirits over 40% of total alcohol in
volume). Mix in the material (organo is fine), and let the liquid
evaporate.
As for dosage, the person extracting the alkaloids should do
everything with relative accuracy - it is easy to maintain the
same
dosage later. Dosage would be confirmed by experimentation -
first
1/4 gram, if nothing 1/2 gram, and so on...
Once a good strain of Phalaris has been found, complicated time-
and
effort consuming extraction with solvents and bases may not be
necessary. Simply find a good wheat grass juicer and juice fresh
leaves, evaporate the resulting liquid in an shallow container
and
gather the resulting dark tar.
A quick extraction with acetic acid or lemon juice follows.
Pulverize dried Phalaris leaves. Mix powder with 1/3 acetic acid
or
lemon juice and 2/3 water-solution. Let simmer for 12 hours.
Filter
the liquid, put it aside, and in another solution-mix, simmer
the
mush for 12 hours. Filter again, combine liquids, and put in
shallow
container and allow to evaporate. Resulting goo may or may not
be
psychoactive. I have not done this extraction myself.
There is no way of knowing how much DMT will be in your extraction.
Start low and aim carefully. Good starting dose for smoked DMT
is
15-20mg, and 5-MeO-DMT 3 or 4 mg, so start low, especially if
you
think you've got your hands on good aquatica-extract. One could
for
instance start with 25 mg. If you get no psychoactive effects
from
this dose, double it. Continue until you find suitable dose.
Remember that if you don't get enough DMT into your brain in
short
time, more will not get you through - you will have to wait about
half an hour, although I must say the warm body-glow and lightheaded
feeling are not unpleasant at all. But there is more to it...
RANTRAVE
Phalaris, mushrooms and homegrown cannabis are good ways to
disconnect yourself from the criminal underground, the drug wars,
from this mad society of of ours. LSD, for instance, produces
bad
feeling because of its illegality, and because you have to be
in
contact with criminals, who often get their income mainly from
heroin or amphetamines (read violence and darkness). We are
approaching the year 2000 and one look around makes me sick -
planet
is beginning to feel sick from the poison it has produced, humans,
and will soon begin to get rid of us. We humans ourselves feel
sick
in our warped societies amidst concrete and machines, away from
the
nature.
PollutionWARSviolenceMONEYsadnessdestructionINSANITYmachinescommercialism
NEGATIVITYendangeredspecieshungerHUMAN-MADEDESERTSextinction...
Yes, we know whats going on. All too well, most of us just want
to
escape, into television reality, into drug-induced realities,
and us
at the net, into net-reality... Speaking doesn't do much, too
little
too slowly... this whole race needs a boot in the head before
getting it. The kicker is Mother Nature, and the boot is DMT.
. o O
=)
Most Psychedelic drugs are just like other drugs - LSD, 2CB,
MDMA,
you name it - human made, tied to the society, in the hands of
international crime and shackles of our laws. Altered conciousness
made dirty with crime and drug prohibition wars, and in the end
connected to the deadly virus that has humanity by its throat
-
MONEY.
There is no longer need to subject yourself to any of those negative
forces. Mushrooms grow in abundance almost all over the world.
Phalaris-grass makes DMT available to almost anyone. Don't sell
these - if necessary give them away for free - selling makes
the
whole experience inpure. The experience is not necessarily
recreational - DMT is one of the most powerful entheogens there
is.
Prepare yourself properly.
"Let the sun shine in..."
I'd like to hear your opinions and comments
nipo@brahman.nullnet.fi
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Check out the Phalaris arundinacea page.
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The essential references:
* "Factors affecting concentrations of dimethylated
indolealkylamines in Phalaris tuberosa
L." Moore, R. M.,
Williams, J. D., and Chia, Joyce, 1967,
Aust. J. biol. Sci.,
20:1131-40
* "Genetic control and seasonal variation of some
alkaloids in
reed grass" D. L. Woods and K. W. Clark,
Canadian J. of Plant
Sci., 51:323-329 (Jul71)
* "Effects of time of day, moisture stress, and
frosting on the
alkaloid content of Phalaris tuberosa"
J. D. Williams, Aust. J.
Acrig. Res., 1972, 23, 611-21
* Great study, but because of the copier I have
only this:
"Alkaloids in Reed Canary Grass", [destroyed]
15-31 [EN, 48
ref] Department of Agronomy and Plant
genetics, Minnesota U. I
remember it was some study by US government,
and also published
govenment.
* "Studies on genetic variation in reed canarygrass,
Phalaris
arundinacea L." (I. Alkaloid type and
concentration), Liv
0strem, Hereditas 107:235-248
* Sheepy: Australian Veterinary Journal 1988, 63
(3)88-89 and
65(7)218-220
* DMT: "Dose-response study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine
in humans:
I Neuroendocrine, autonomic, and cardiovascular
effects",
Strassman R. J. and Qualls C. R., and
"II Subjective effects
and preliminary results of the new rating
scale" Archives of
General Psychiatry 51(2): pp. 85-97
and 98-108.