the-warmest-hands

[the-warmest-hands]

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Tuesday: dropped off car in Santa Rosa, biked to smart train, took smart train to Larkspur, biked home from Larkspur. Camino Alto southbound is not difficult for me (at least on gangster). But I am slow after months and months of no biking/all biking under 10 miles.

Wednesday: spending a week on the east coast. Nate loves biking around new york so we rode around eating stuff. Katz's, Doughnut Plant, Seward Park, Wburg, getting lost around the orthodox jewish neighborhood, Prospect Park, BBG, Bay Ridge, home. I remember when biking home from Bay Ridge at night used to be a blissful meditative night ride. This is no longer the case. Thousands of mopeds and double-parked cars make it stressful to have to watch out for sudden and erratic movements. I hate it. I honestly do not feel mentally equipped to ride around new york anymore. Maybe it just takes a bit of practice. But I fucking hate the mopeds and scooters and little motorized vehicles. That shit needs to end. Too much acc/deceleration too suddenly.

Thursday: we biked around Portland, ME. It's nice. Started near the water at the tourism area, then found part of a bike trail and followed it partially on the way to Allagash Brewery, then returned to the main part of the city for dinner. Logged a good number of miles, mostly flat, a few decent but not brutal hills. Congress to the Observatory from ...India? is a very fun hill to go up.

Here's Strava. We wanted to go in a circle around the city but went the wrong way when we got back to the trail and ended up kinda doubling back. But we saw the lower part of the waterfront which was cool!

[the-warmest-hands]

Ch 10

notes i am taking from the ISA book chapter 10 diagnosis and plant disorders

usually when a tree suffers from pest or disease, it's something else that has made it susceptible to that pest or disease (ok but to what end. what is the original cause of weakening?)

how to diagnose

first ask questions about the history of the site and the tree

how long has the problem been going on. what were early symptoms.

history of the site - any construction? excavation? chemical treatment?

ask in different ways/ diff angles so the client can divulge more info

types of problems: biotic or abiotic biotic includes pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, phytoplasmas(?what's this), parasitic plants, nematodes, and then insects/animals) pathogens are considered infectious cuz they can spread abiotic includes environmental conditions (temp, moisture) and other environmental issues (mechanical injuries, soil compaction, mineral deficiency, etc)

symptoms vs signs symptoms are how the tree responded to the disorder. they are EFFECTS of causal agents or factors. examples are chlorosis, wilting, etc. it's something the tree did. signs are direct signs of the causal agents, such as insect poop, or emergence of conks. it's something that came from the cause (not done by the tree).

the problem with diagnosis via symptoms is that a symptom could be a reaction to many diff things. so it is hard. gotta look at other clues and info 1) accurately identify the plant. by knowing the plant and its related common disease/pests, you can narrow down the one in question 2) look for a pattern of abnormality. you need to figure out what is the normal behavior and what is the abnormal behavior. you can do this by looking at other plants of the same type and comparing the behaviors. also you can compare the damage amongst diff specimens of the same type by seeing if they are all suffering the same, then it prolly is abiotic reason. if it varies, then it could be a biotic cause. 3) carefully examine the site. note the light, soil, water, winds, and other factors. look at the landscape contours and see if those affect the site conditions. think about other activities that happen on the site that could be damaging the specimen thru side effects (example is using sidewalk salts to melt ice) 4) note the color, size, and thickness of the foliage. 5) note the trunk and branches. check for wounds and other abnormalities. 6) note the roots and root collar. also, try to rule out possibilities in order to narrow it down. the actual cause is actually multiple causes (a combination of things impacting the plant). always remember that there are primary stressors and secondary stressors. don't forget to trace the problem back to the primary cause.

tree stress

any condition that causes a decline in tree health stress can be acute or chronic

acute is like a sudden (maybe 1 time) thing that affects you immediately

chronic is slow and imperceptible at first until it finally takes its toll over time usually these are environmental stress factors are also cumulative. they can compound and overlap and then become a spiral of decline. decline is not always irreversible, but you must be able to fix the primary (or main) stressors. not just the secondary ones.

abiotic disorders

affect growth and dev of tree

u can track them through the history of the site conditions, to see if things were consistently unideal for the tree, or if there was an event (construction) that impacted the tree for years afterwards.

can take a while for tree to exhibit symptoms

soil and site problems

need to check roots for these issues.

nutrient deficiency / soil pH leading to inability to take up nutrients

water: too much/not enough

decay (lol)

physical and mechanical injuries

lightning

getting maimed by construction

getting maimed by mowers or line trimmer

weather problems

temp extremes

heat. leads to scorch, dessication, sunburn, etc

cold. frost leads to tissue death. shrinking, cracking, etc. defoliation

wind

extreme tension put on branches/plant

lightning

bark or sapwood explodes off the trunk and causes a scar. unknown extent of damage

competition and allelopathy

pollution

chemical injury (usually thru herbicides)

water

girdling roots

biotic disorders

remember that they are usually secondary to an abiotic problem insects

one stage of the life cycle of insect may cause problem while another may not nematodes mites and stuff animals

diseases susceptibility triangle:

a host

a pathogen

the conditions for the pathogen to fuck up the host

foliar diseases blights vascular wilt - xylem/phloem (vascular tissue) gets blocked, thus preventing flow of nutrients to parts of plant

fungi cause a lot of plant disease symptoms can vary but fruiting bodies are a very good SIGN insects can be vectors for many diseases (ex bacterial - fire blight, bacterial leaf scorch) viruses are spread by insects too management of plant diseases usually involve prevention rather than solving the problem after it has occurred

new diseases and whatever are usually due to exotic imports there are no natural defenses built into the native species also hard to track/detect

[the-warmest-hands]

notes 3

time for another edition of studying. i read these chapters last week while i was waiting for tala in berkeley but i didn't take notes. so here are the notes

Chapter 4 - Water Management

Water is important to trees because it keeps nutrients moving up to the leaves and it keeps the tree photosynthesizing. Water is pulled up through the xylem and helps the tree transpire. Most of the water that travels through the tree is transpired. This is why it is extra important that the roots have access to adequate water.

Water in soil is held by the micropores. Macropores of soil fill with water that then drains away due to gravitational forces. When soil saturates and then drains, it is at what is called "field capacity." The water that remains in micropores is either available (capillary water) or unavailable (hygroscopic water). Water-holding capacity of soil is the amt of water in the soil when it is at field capacity. Infiltration refers to downward movement of water into the soil, while percolation refers to movement within the soil.

How do trees manage their water - movement of water is controlled by stomata - some trees go seasonally dormant when water is more scarce - some trees have smaller leaves which have reduced surface area, or a leaf that has a waxy cuticle, or hairs/other adaptations on the surface of the leaves which also help reduce water loss

Frequent shallow waterings cause tree roots to stay within the upper layers of soil, and this can cause them to be more susceptible to drought. Less frequent deep waterings will force roots to search for their own water, and make them more prepared for drought.

Recycled water can cause accumulation of salts, which can be toxic to roots. It can even pull water out of roots via osmosis.

Flooding vs drought - flooding = not enough air for roots. too much water means roots rot and cells ferment and tree dies - drought = not enough water for roots. not enough water means plant wilts and dies. also soils crack and soil life dies.

[the-warmest-hands]

notes 2

I am gonna do notes for Chapter 3 because I ... skipped it last time. (Chapter 2 was mostly fluff/review).

Soil Science

Soil and Trees

soils are made of inorganic materials such as rocks and sand/silt/clay and also organic matter. they also house microorganisms and other decomposers.

soils vary based on their both their geological makeup as well as what grows/lives in it (ie what adds/processes organic matter)

soils are typically composed of 45% inorganic materials, 50% pore space (can be filled with either air or water), and 5% organic material and organisms.

the soil profile

over time, soils form horizons or layers, due to materials moving through the ground, which together make up the soil profile.

soil profile is comprised of the O, A, E, B, C soil horizons. the O, A, E (and sometimes B) together make up the topsoil. The O layer has the most organic material. The O/A layer is where the majority of roots grow. The E has the least organic material. Sometimes there is no E layer. Next is the B layer, which has much less organic matter, and is the "zone of accumulation," where materials from the upper layers have leached. After B layer is the C layer, which is continually forming off the parent bedrock material.

the most important for plant growth obviously is the upper layers. organic material deposit is very important because it helps retain moisture in addition to creating hospitable environment for microbes. nutrient cycling is when plants drop leaves/plantparts and those are consumed by microorganisms, and then microorganisms die and the plant can access those nutrients again.

soil texture refers to the distribution of makeup of sand, silt, or clay. this determines the water-holding capacity as well as the pore size of the soil, which will affect plant-growing ability.

soil structure and pore space

soil structure is how well a soil can form aggregates. pore space refers to how much space is between these aggregates, or between soil particles. it is within these pores that water or air can be found within soil.

pores are classified either as macropores or micropores. macropores are larger and although can hold more water, can also release water through gravitational forces. micropores are smaller, and retain water through gravitational forces.

bulk density is the density of the soil when it is dried. clay is less dense than sand, for example, because it is much smaller. when it is dried it is like dust. actually i still don't understand how bulk density works

compaction is the reduction of pore space. wet soils have more ability to be compacted.

chemical properties

pH of soil affects ability of plants to take up nutrients.

pH is also related to movement/ability of water to dissolve minerals. high pH sometimes causes essential elements to be insoluble in water.

man i do not understand how pH works. i know it's the amount of hydrogen ions… hydronium ions. but why are some things insoluble in water if more hydronium ions are present… questions to ask melanie (or google)

cation exchange capacity: soil's ability to attract, retain, and exchange cations with roots.

ions can also accumulate to harmful levels. soils with excess ions are called saline soils. the recommended treatment is to leach them out of the root zone using low-salinity water.

sodic soils are when the cation sodium exist at high concentrations

biological properties

the soil food web is made up of all the organisms that live in the soil. the rhizosphere is the activity very close to the roots of the plants - the roots give off exudates when they grow, and the microorganisms eat those, and then other organisms eat the microorganisms, etc.

mycorrhizae are roots that mycorrhizal fungi infect and then live in symbiosis with the plant. the fungi feed on exudates and help the roots absorb more water/elements.

nutrient cycling

soil moisture and plant growth

field capacity is when water saturates the soil and then drains away from the macropores via gravity. the water that remains is called capillary water and is held in the micropores.

when there is water in the soil and yet the plant cannot access it, the water is referred to as "unavailable" and the plant will experience water stress. the point after which they cannot recover is called permanent wilting point.

soils with distinct layers do not drain well, because the water will remain at one level until it is completely saturated, before descending into the next level

urban soils

problems with urban soils include:

low in organic matter; topsoil may have been removed during construction

compaction possibly caused during construction or during everyday use

plants have no access to water due to obstruction by hardscapes or other built structures

not enough soil for roots

structural soils and soil cells: people trying to design growing media for urban setting such that the hardscapes are usable for vehicles or traffic, but soil still has room and pore space for air/water for roots.

amending soils with organic matter or using mulch can help soil structure and water holding capacity, as well as high pH

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damn that took mad long ok next time i'll do chapters 4/5/6

[the-warmest-hands]

notes 1

I am slogging through this first chapter of ISA Study Guide because it is the textbook for class and also it is just basic info that I should already know. Also it's made doubly painful by the fact that I read this chapter last summer (or at least I moved my eyes across the words) and yet each fact is a new fact to me.

BUT NOW. I have quarantined myself at Xo's house and I must read this chapter and take notes on it and also finish my homework for class which I will undoubtedly be able to do once I finish reading this. I will not default to my high school ways of reading the book in search of the answers to the homework questions. I will actually read the book.

I will now make an outline of what I have learned so far, and then read, and then repeat. Earlier I was reading two pages and I fell asleep.

Chapter 1: Tree Biology - Tree anatomy

Cells and Tissues: - There's meristematic cells which is like these cells can become anything and then they differentiate and form different parts of the tree. Meristematic cells include the ones where it makes the tree taller (primary growth) and the ones where it expands the tree and makes it wider (secondary growth). Oh also there's two cambiums, the regular one and the cork cambium which makes bark.

Xylem and Phloem and all the other bits inbetween. - Xylem is made of dead cells and is inside the cambium. It consists of trachieds and vessels and parenchyma cells. Oh I forgot fibers. Also gymnosperms apparently don't have vessels? Why? Xylem conducts water and nutrients up and down the tree. The wood of a tree is xylem. Vessels in it can be ring-porous (bigger vessels earlier in season and smaller vessels later in season thus forming "rings") or diffuse-porous (occurring evenly throughout the wood). - Phloem is alive and on the outside of the cambium and when it dies it becomes part of the bark. It conducts carbohydrates up and down the tree. - Also important is ray cells which move things from inside to outside the diameter of tree.

Stems - They consist of nodes and internodes. Nodes are places where buds and leaves can emerge. Internodes are the space between the nodes. Buds can be latent/adventitious which means they emerge later. In one of the Ed Gilman videos he showed "bud trace" which was showing the latent bud at the surface of the bark at each year the tree was growing. Buds are terminal/apical if they are at the tip of the shoot, and lateral/axillary if they are along the shoot. If you mess with the apical one you can interrupt apical dominance, which means that the apical bud prioritizes the most growth.

Leaves - They do photosynthesis in order to make carbohydrates for themselves. They also do transpiration which cools down the plant and also pulls water up thru the xylem because it is evaporating off the leaf (that's what cools it). It is like drinking with a straw except you are the evaporation.

Roots - Their functions include anchoring the tree, storing the carbohydrates, absorbing stuff from the soil, and conducting materials around the tree. The main roots are big and near the surface of the soil. The lateral roots are close to the surface. The sinker roots are ones that go straight down off the lateral roots. The absorbing roots are very fine and they do the absorption work. They grow where moisture and oxygen are. They have root tips which have meristematic tissue which allows them to continue growing. Roots unlike branches do not have hierarchy or taper. They just grow based on where they can maximize absorption.

- Tree Physiology or: What do trees do all day?

Photosynthesis - Trees convert light, carbon dioxide, and water into carbohydrates (and oxygen). They then store these "photosynthates" for consumption later.

Respiration - Trees use the carbohydrates and release carbon dioxide and water for energy that they need in order to do their biological functions.

Transpiration - Trees transpire to keep moving water/nutrients through itself. This also helps keep the tree cool by evaporation of water through the leaves. This can be regulated by stomata on the leaves.

Absorption - Trees use water by moving it through itself. It can take in water through the roots, because of osmosis. The water potential in the roots is lower than in the soil, so the water will move from soil to roots. Sometimes the water potential in the roots is not lower than in the soil, such as when the soil has a lot of salinity. Then the water will move from the roots into the soil and the tree will suffer.

Translocation - Trees move the photosynthates that it made through the phloem. There are different areas in the tree that have a lot of photosynthate, and those that have little (use a lot of energy). The tree distributes the photosynthate accordingly. - In addition to using the phloem, trees can also move photosynthate via the ray cells.

Growth - Growth is determined by both genetic potential and also environmental conditions, which may or may not allow the tree to use that genetic potential. - Other things that influence growth are plant hormones, which regulate the amount of growth of roots/shoots, and also the direction of growth (tropisms). - Genetics also determine if a tree's growth habit is excurrent (strong central leader) or decurrent (more rounded shape, not so much having a central leader).

Defend itself - CODIT: the 4 walls that a tree forms if a pathogen is encountered. - Wall 1: Xylem plugs up to prevent vertical spread - Wall 2: Cells along the growth rings fill with chemicals to prevent inward spread - Wall 3: Ray cells do something to resist spread around the trunk (form a pie wedge) - Wall 4: New growth happens which protects the cambium and future growth. - Even though Wall 4 is the best at preventing spread of decay, it can form structural weakness like cracks or "shakes" wtf is a shake.

- Tropical Trees and Palms

Tropical trees are very different from hardwood/coniferous (temperate region) trees. For one, they may not have annual growth rings because they may grow based on wet/dry seasons rather than year, or maybe they continuously grow. Secondly, they may not go into dormancy. Additionally, they have weird forms and plant parts.

Palms are also different from hardwood/coniferous trees because they are monocots. This means they do not have cambium in rings and they do not have secondary growth. Their vascular system is comprised of bundles, which they accumulate early in their growth. I did not know that palms generally increase in width before they increase in height. They also have one apical bud per stem, which is the growing point. This is usually hidden by their leaves. If this is severed, that stem of the palm will die. (I forgot that palms can have multiple stems.) The roots of palms are also different. Their roots originate from the base of the stem, known as "root initiation zone," and they are probably like grass roots in that they are all the same width and whatnot.

OK I FINISHED THE CHAPTER FINALLY Why is it so hard for me to read textbooks. Okay now I have to rewatch the lecture videos and take more notes on them.

Week 2 Lecture

Shoots: Node/Internode - On a shoot where the leaves have fallen off, how do you know if a section of it is node or an internode? What if it's a latent bud? How could you be sure??

Ok it basically just reviews what I typed in my outline above except less good and more haphazard due to audience questions lol. I may just read the book and zone out during the class. God how quickly I revert to my old ways.

[the-warmest-hands]

jbo

i was out sick last week which was awful

due to being sick all week

this week i am out sick because i got a positive covid test on sunday and i have been banned from work for 5 days. it is unclear if this was related to the previous sick. probably. anyway it's stupid

on the bright side, this week i have started watching junior bake off

which charmed me with its lovely contestants

and the low stakes panic

to the point where i have resumed baking!

yesterday i made jamaican beef patties for dinner. i haven't had one of these since grade school school lunch. i asked everyone i know who went to queens public schools and they all remembered these! heh hehehe

then today i decided to try the chouxnuts challenge

my ganache looks very messy. nate came over during lunch to eat these. as you can see, they are well-filled! with chantilly cream.

they were a touch overbaked because i was afraid to open the oven door to check on them. my oven has no window. and i could hear the water still steaming out so i thought they were not done.

anyway i personally hate the taste of choux pastry. but i like piping (though i am not very good at it) so i thought these would be fun to make. and they were!

ok later i will make popcorn chicken. that's not a bake, but i want to eat it and i haven't made it in ages so it should be fun.

edit: here it is

the sauce was a mint yogurt sauce which was absolutely delicious

[the-warmest-hands]

30 jul 2022

fog chaser

clouds over sun

holodiscus cuttings are still alive

i pressed a castilleja a while back and today i put it in the frame that has the coptis

jankiest herbarium

this year is half done. it has felt like ten years.

[the-warmest-hands]

December

Why do I even still have a tumblr, honestly.

I already have my notepad journal. Aight I'll be back when I feel like life necessitates it. Sorry future self. TTYL.

[the-warmest-hands]

november end

everything is moving so slowly

and time is moving normal speed

and i am stuck in a rut

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idk

i finally feel like all the adults who don't keep a journal

cuz i spend the majority of my day on shit i really dgaf about

and have no need to journal about it

sigh

[the-warmest-hands]

i am less busy this week

the week went by so fast

all i did was work at spoke for 3 days

i helped people in minor ways

i am tired

i just want to create stuff

and have people come to me

[the-warmest-hands]

how is it thursday already

this week is trash

this month is trash

this year is trash

all of time is trash

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sunday: it rained today it was nice

[the-warmest-hands]

another day (spent) another dolla (spent)

monday: skipped track. too fuckin windy. i lounged. watched c-27 exam vids tuesday: volunteering at south! yay wednesday: burbing, then spoke thursday: spoke friday: volunteering at south!!! yay saturday: xo's house!!!! with nate. thank you nate sunday: god i am tired wow

[the-warmest-hands]

intermission week... 6? lol

monday: hellyer with atmore. morning and also afternoon

tuesday: REST got fingerprinted at millwrights. saw jason said hi finished this thing (chopped off the fugly part)

the rest is on dfows.tumblr

wed: idk thurs: idk fri: RACE TO REG also i had customer service failures at spoke sat: qcr main sun: somewhat chill day at spoke

[the-warmest-hands]

this week is better

monday: atmore is back so i went to hellyer

tuesday: rest. idk. damn tired. started watching youtube chemistry videos idk

wednesday: spoke! it was fun today. i answered phones and did inventory

thursday: spoke. phones. made lots of movement in the garage

friday: went through lightspeed POS to clean up old workorders

sat/sun: guerneville

[the-warmest-hands]

trash week

things are on the decline

monday i was at spoke which was ok? mike was grumpy tuesday i bungled my interview idk wednesday i woke up with vertigo. ebrpd said congrats u made the backup team. aka u did not get the job. they used the word congrats which just makes me feel like the absolute failure that i am lol thursday same friday same/ it was better. got mytofuhouse with nate. saturday better. went to east bay with nate. went to ikea got a rug. hung out with xo for a bit. visited ploughshares and encinal nursery. returned home set up the rug rearranged some furniture yay sunday did OH60 homework. tried to get photoshop installed on the pink computer. i succeeded.

[the-warmest-hands]

idk

on monday i volunteered at spoke easy which was kinda fun, honestly. i felt like i was mostly in the way which was annoying, but i also managed to organize a small section of the back area!

ooh also my dreams are not dead yet cuz ebrpd said they moved me to the final round (despite my terrible performance on that exam)

tuesday: i did nothing idk

wednesday: got on rollers. oh i should go to ups really quick and drop off this sonic router. ok leaving house now. then spoke easy

thurs: tried to bike to bolinas but i got lost

fri: hanging out with juliarion aka walking thru ggp

sat: spokeeasy! was actually quite fun! idk. i just organized all day. made sure shit was in the system / pricetagged properly