Has Avatar changed the decor inside your house

[ahoragi]

Here is the wallmonkeys decal that I mentioned a few posts above. The quality of the image is amazing for such a huge picture.





I'm definately gonna order some more decals but this time i'm submitting some avatar images for them to print for me! Gonna be cool! Maybe I'll order a 7' image of Ney! lol

Here's the newest member of our jungle that recently brought home a few days ago.



I specifically chose this plant because it has 4 plants in a square pattern. I got plans to let it grow a little bit more and then add these glowing mushrooms that I bought on Amazon a while back. Gonna put them smack in the middle of the four plants and they will glow and illuminate the area. I think it'll be neat.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by ahoragi

I specifically chose this plant because it has 4 plants in a square pattern. I got plans to let it grow a little bit more and then add these glowing mushrooms that I bought on Amazon a while back. Gonna put them smack in the middle of the four plants and they will glow and illuminate the area. I think it'll be neat.

If you bought what I think you bought, you might want to rethink it.

Your mushrooms are most likely something in the genus Omphalotus, which, if I am not mistaken, prefer to grow on rotten wood (or at least some species do).

Also, they do not produce that much light. The reaction that takes place in this species is between the enzyme Luciferase and its substrate molecule, a protein called Luciferin. Unfortunately, this reaction does not put off enough light energy to light up rooms. Finally, they don't last long. Mushrooms are merely the final form of the reproductive structures of fungi in the phylum Basidiomycota, and only stick around for a short while until they die and rot, often attracting flies and beetles, which dine on the rotting tissue inside the stem and base of the mushroom.

The other thing is that you probably shouldn't be trying to grow them in a potted plant, especially one that was purchased from your average supermarket. They often come with plenty of fungicides, insecticides, and other chemicals still on them/in the soil that would kill the fungus. Also, there is most likely a whole host of other fungi and microorganisms in the soil, many of which would probably love to make a meal out of fungal hyphae.

Finally, fungi prefer to grow in dark, moist places; not on a windowsill or in the kitchen, where many people put potted plants. Potted plants also dislike the conditions that fungus likes, so you can't just put the whole thing in the shade.

The solution? Look up info about how to grow mushrooms. Most species will grow in a soil/leaf litter/rotten wood mix, which is relatively easy to make, even if you live far away from a proper forest. Grow it in a dark place, and devise some sort of plastic cover to keep moisture in but can be removed to ensure proper ventilation is supplied (or else you'll have dead, moldy mushrooms, if anything at all).

That should help you out with the mushrooms. PM me with pictures, if you don't mind; I was planning on buying some spores myself, and I wanted to know how well they really worked, as some kits like these for other things are ripoffs.

Anyway, since I didn't want to derail the thread, I also wanted to add that fish would be another cool way to spruce up a room, especially since you can grow plants in their tanks with ease; if Lahea would actually come online again, I would see if he could post some pictures of his very well done amazon-biotope planted fishtank.