I have been nurturing a mushroom who is dominating its local environment by deciding which plants she will allow to grow. It appears it reproduces by a network of mycellum under the soil. I always have to educate our landscapers to leave this area alone, since I want to see where this is going. All ...

I recently purchased a sampler of gourmet sea salts with the aim of seeing how they crystalize. The first is Cyprus Onyx, which is made black from activated charcoal made from coconut shells.. In the second shot, the crystal is more hexagonal, which suggests to me the presence of amethyst. Onyx 1.jp...

I use C.L. Sturkey, Inc. of Lebanaon, PA. Turnaround time is a bout a month.

Mike

Starting to see larva around our yard - black with white dots.

Mike

Sorry - the rotifers are Monostyla stenroosi

Mike

In a recent pond dip, my sample showed only Monostyla rotifers for the rotifer population. May be some kind of pH sensitivity warding off other genuses (geni?).
Monostyla rotifer lateral view

Somehow I screwed up the second image.

Closterium cucunis and Closterium strigosum and diatom.

On a recent pond dip, I skimmed two algae mats about one foot apart. One yielded numerous Micrasterias furcata recently posted showing various stages of fission. The other mat had almost no Micrasterias , but was teeming with Closterium. Normally, I use glutaraldehyde to euthenise my pond water samp...

Dissotrocha a bdelloid rotifer