Hey guys, long time lurker first time registered user... I recently discovered some active bark in my area and wanted to gain a bit more insight before setting out on my travels.

So first off, when I find stems and leaves from said plant on the floor (these are also active in this plant), can I still reliably use them for DMT even if they have been on the floor for potentially months? Does the plant material being alive and connected to the living plant affect the DMT concentration? And on top of that, when I get the plant material, it would be easier to grind up dry, but can leaving it out to dry ruin the potency? Another thing I was curious about is should I separate leaf and bark material and do separate extractions or is it ok to mix?

It seems there are quite a few varying teks, and to be honest I've thought of a few good questions about them and then forgotten them over time.. So I'll keep it simple in the main post, what method do you find best? Are certain teks better on certain plant material?

I've heard about re-using naptha and was curious about it's life cycle in the extraction process.

Thanks to anyone who may read this and offer me some insight! Sorry if some of these can be answered with Google, I tried checking about the DMT potency but couldn't really find anything on my question other than the heat that it is destroyed.

I wouldn't say it is worth the effort to pick the dead leaves up. Chances are there is something still in there but after oxygen/uv radiation it start to degrade, same with bark. That is why if you can find a semi-dead tree you can watch it and wait for it to die or just find one that is already dying (one side of tree is dying or dead etc). I remember asking the same question on here a while ago and found responses saying to stay away from long dead trees.

When I get my fresh bark, i dry it out for a week or two in the shade, or if it is summer a few days or a week in the sun will do before it goes through the garden shredder and in to the blender with water. You could potential do it slightly wet though, just make sure all your blades are sharp otherwise you run in to jamming issues.

Personally I find lextek works best, I don't follow teks precisely to nth degree but lextek seems the most practical in my case (although if it is acacia bark I recommend doing a 4th cook, especially if it is not powdered but shredded bark).

Picking up the dropped leaves and twigs is far and above the most sustainable option, and generally there will be enough of the desired alkaloid in the material to meet ones needs. DO NOT EVER TAKE BARK FROM A LIVING TREE! That is not okay, not ever.

It's fine to dry live material (that has been sustainably harvested). Technically dried material has a higher alkaloid content per weight because there is less water weight. No need to separate leaves and twigs, unless you want to in order to compare alkaloid concentrations.

All the teks will get the job done if performed properly. Leafy sources generally do better with an a/b tek or a tek containing a backsalt (mini-a/b) step.

With a good washing after each use, naphtha can be re-used moar or less indefinitely, but solubility suffers with each reuse because there is some non water soluble material that will stay in it each time. It's generally pretty cheap to pick up fresh so unless you have a hard time finding it in your location, there is no need to use it moar than a few times. I'd generally suggest using fresh solvent for each new extraction.

Hey @n0thing,thanks for sharing some knowledge with me, I'm still curious about the leaves though because if they arent dry fully, how well does the blending go? Do people just dry purely for ease of blending? Because in the poor man's tek, you can just crumble the bark by hand, and it probably wouldn't matter but in bark and leaf extractions does the material being live-damp or near it affect the quality of the extraction? I can't see why it would but everything always requires dry bark so I'm wondering the reason for that and if it can be applied to the leaves?

Thanks for your input too @dreamer042, I definitely don't like the idea of peeling bark from a live tree, but what you said about sustainable sources got me thinking... What is the nexus' idea about planting seeds of your own tree and picking those leaves? You say peeling bark from a living tree is never ok and I agree with this but how do you feel about plantations that grow wood to be chopped up and used for things, could it be treated the same for dmt? If I bring a tree to life and nurture it for 5 years is it my ethical right to harvest that plant? I'm not sure myself because I hate trying to reason with myself about stuff like this..

Thanks for your input guys! Further research has shown me that acacia extraction really benefits from an a/b tek.

If you plant the tree, you can do what you want with it, you took the time to grow it out and you are not negatively impacting natural environments. It's a bit silly to destroy something that will give you a lifetime supply by killing it for one extraction though, ya know?

Trimming a tree back doesn't kill it (if done properly) but taking it's bark generally does. When it comes to wild trees the less invasive you can be the better. I'd advise against taking any living material from wild trees if you can get away with just taking fallen material. If you do take living material, leave the bark alone and stick to leaves and twigs/young branches, and remember the wildcrafter's rule: don't ever take moar than 1/3rd of the material from any one plant and no moar than 1/3rd of any stand of plants so that they can properly repopulate.

Plantation methodology can work, and I know in some places mimosa is grown this way. However, these trees make a great long term addition to yards/gardens and especially permaculture environments, since they are nitrogen fixers and will feed other plants enabling the creation of healthy soil and promoting long-term development of robust ecosystems.

Being respectful of the trees and allowing them to live their full lifespan is beneficial on every level and in a very holistic way. Selfishly, it allows you have to a sustainable supply of the alkaloids you seek that you can continuously return to without having to constantly seek new sources or plant new seeds. In the bigger picture it's a small step at creating and maintaining healthy soils, ecosystems, and personal relationships within the wider context of your local bioregion.

Be nice to the trees and they'll be nice to you.