Same for you. I know many deal with struggles. I always stayed away from other drugs but figure at this point in my life comfort is more important. Surprisingly I’m young enough to hopefully get a better control, but for all I know this could have been one of the fun conditions I picked up from the military, who knows unfortunately. I look at things as one more step and beat yesterday!
As for the medication, it’s Acthar Gel H.P. Made by Mallinckrodt, that’s the one with the hefty $40k price tag. They cover my copay but, with their pending bankruptcy filing no one knows what will come of it for their manufacturing of the medication, if they will sell it, get a bailout, or what. Nature of the beast when there isn’t a lot of drive for research.
Wishful thoughts for your appointment! As well as the journey you’re on.
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I woke this morning to a nice surprise, my giant bamboo seeds finally reached their germination point. Three weeks siting in that pot with temperature fluctuations and rain. Honestly thought many would die off. Not sure what seed landed in there on the far left but soon these will be ready for transplant into the ground to start building a privacy wall. Possible outdoor grow next year.
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@PiratedSoldier I hope everything work in your favor and I’m sorry for the cards that you were dealt. I will be thinking about you and try to send positive vibes your way! And a bamboo privacy fence is a neat idea!
@patchman i will be thinking of you as well and I hope your appointment goes well!
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Yeah I’ve grown them at few houses along with Bonsai trees. They definitely do work for blocking all visibility, but be cautious if you go that route. It takes only a few months and they can overrun your yard. The seeds I have will grow up to 2-3 feet per day and can reach if I let them 60’+ heigh. They also branch out as opposed to the top clumping. So easy to make walls along fence lines. But I have a barrier I’ll be putting in the ground to prevent them from going too far into the yard.
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Holy cow 2-3 feet per day! That’s some crazy growth! I love the idea of a living fence and I would of honestly never thought about doing so. Super cool. What kind of weather conditions would it need to live? I would assume warmer climates right? The only thing I know about bamboo is that pandas like to eat it 
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We had one in a yard when were younger. We’d have to cut them bi weekly with the grass. Especially when u start cutting on them. EXPLOSIVE growth. And they spread FAST
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So they can live in varying environments certain strains are better than others. So I’m in the Midwest pretty centered. So 100-80 in the summers and winters down to 0-40. The hardest part is their germination, it has to be 84+ and ideally a 60-70% humidity for them to start to take root in the soil. Hence them taking 3 weeks just to pop and others haven’t sprouted yet. I have a compost I’ve been working on the past two months which will be their food when I transplant them. They will go dormant around October and begin growing in the ground, this is the issue if you don’t get the above clumping bamboo, you can have two stalks tied to each other and up to 60 feet apart. So barriers are critical when you root them. But depending on your climate they may not go dormant and just continue to stretch.
I also like to harvest them for building, so I plan to do the same with these but need to have a good spot that will hide the plants and still allow them to get sunlight. The benefit is due to how fast they grow you can manipulate the area to accommodate what you want and they can bounce back in a couple weeks. Though due to their roots and how much water they need I wouldn’t recommend having the plants in the ground. I lost some plants in the past due to that reason the bamboo just prevented other roots from getting nutrients. But those had no barriers in the ground.
These are the ones I’m planting. I’ve had luck with them before. Giant Bamboo Seeds for Planting - 50+ Seeds - Grow Giant Bamboo, Privacy Screen, Good for Environment - Ships from Iowa https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J4B9NR9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3BG2DYM3VERVTN2H6R5M
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Oh yeah, I’ve also seen them over run a neighborhood before. The amount of seeds they drop plus growing from root splits, it’s a daily task of care if you’re in a neighborhood (my downside)
More spacious land I’d just let them go nuts. Have fun trying to see the plants from any direction!
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Wow so they are a little picky when it comes to germination when it comes to temp and humidity. Would of never thought that they could grow in the Midwest. If I did it my neighbors would hate me I planted some uncommon marigolds in my veggie garden and they take 85+ days to germinate after sowing. Unfortunately with how the weathers been half of them started to die shortly after popping out of the soil. Planted over 300+ seedlings this year and most of my garden looks pretty sad.
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Yeah I’m only on month 2 of a 4 month germination of my cherry blossom Bonsai’s, what sucks is you can’t check them without the possibility of killing the seed to see if it’s trying.
It’s been a long time since I’ve grown them. But figured if my neighbors keep seeing me brining in soil and supplies and never any plants, that might raise some questions.
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Thats the reason mines see my kill a vegetable garden n a few random flowers a year. I bet they think ‘He’s nothing if not a persistent planticidal maniac.’
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Ooo a cherry blossom bonsai! I have never seen one before but i bet it’s beautiful. I’d love to have a bonsai tree but I don’t think I have the patience for one. I also have the same feeling but with water. It seems like I’m constantly going to the store to buy distilled water. Makes me wonder what my neighbors think I did buy some dechlorinator to see if I could use that with my tap water instead of constantly going to the store/getting it delivered. Next grow I’m going to try coco and jacks so I won’t have to worry about it next time. The only thing with my tap water is the city report on water is very vague so it’s kinda worrisome to me.
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I’m planning to either get the ProMix HP or BX, a few people have said they like it have very little issues. Aside from a ridiculously high PPM I’ve definitely had less issue than when I used the organic mix I have for the trees.
I got into them from when I was stationed in Japan for a while. The calming effect of pruning and wrap training I enjoyed. Don’t get me wrong though I killed close to 70 before I got the hang of them. Until they are two years old it’s touch and go whether or not you might kill it. Once their roots are fully established it becomes less of a possibility but I’ve had many that just die from no cause one day totally fine the next morning dead 
.
This is what the cherry blossom will look like. I have 4 others germinating as well. Though without my seed box in front of me I can’t remember which ones I chose except for the flame tree and blue spruce.
If you decide to have the patience for it, in the past once they were 3-5 years old I could sell them anywhere from $600-$3000 depending on the style of training. So they can pay for themselves but it is a long wait to get a return. Being in my new house I have time and room to start growing them again.
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wow that’s absolutely amazing! More beautiful than I could imagine! I want one now lol I know that they can get pricey but holy cow up to $3,000! Sounds like a good hobby for sure.
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Yeah, and that’s not even the cap. I’ve seen some go for $12-20k. But you’re talking like 20+ years old usually. I’m not that patient.
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Day 33 - Skywalker OG, Blue Dream, Cali Dream
The girls are still looking good. I decided since they are bushing out now that I would do a little pruning. My thought is this should stress them and make them dig into the nutrients, if tomorrow they look off, I will do a flush like @dbrn32 mentioned, down to nothing with a good feeding.
I didn’t take too much off them just dead or colored leaves, and any less than 5 fingered.
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Distilled water is spendy. Does your local Wally World have a primo water filling station? It’s a 6 stage RO filter with UV blast for good measure. Water is only 0.30$ a gallon with a ppm (500 scale) count of 2. Nobody will think anything of you hauling 5 gallon jugs of water into your home. Most would assume you have a standing water cooler inside. You could even get a water cooler and make sure neighbors see you haul it inside
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I can use a filtration system I have. But what I would want to see, and expect, with the distilled at 100-130PPM when PHing I should see a big drop in the next RO. Being able to keep it low will let me know if it’s a true reading. After I have rain water I collect with a PPM of 10 and PH 8 that I can use to flush more and raise PH to 5.7
@Docnraq i do that time to time but most of the time it’s either broken or empty. My Wally World is kind of “ghetto” I did decide to get my water tested due to the lack of information from the city and I’m waiting on my lab results so we shall see in a few weeks.
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