My friend has done several extractions (stb) using pre-powdered RB.He has recently come across a good price for whole pieces of rb.What are the major difference between them? Does he need to powder it before extracting?Any help would be appreciated, before he decides to order.

There is (seemingly) no difference between powdering your own bark and receiving pre-powdered bark.

Originally I had the same question, and it seems that powdering your bark will allow the dmt inside of it to break free more easily (While actually helping the extraction to be quicker). When you just break the chunks into pieces and soak them, you have to moosh them down and break them apart in the basified solution.

So either way I don't think there is a major difference, but until corrected I will stand by that powdering your bark not only makes your extraction quicker, but helps to better pull the DMT from the MHRB.

(So, hint, hint, someone correct me if I'm wrong and I'll eat my words)

All the literature SWIM is aware of definitely encourages using powder when possible. Apparently its a royal pain to break down the bark without the proper equipment.

powdering your own bark is a lot of work, yeah. The pieces cant be throw straight in the grinder/blender otherwise it will break it.. So you have to pre-break with your hands the mimosa first (bending the pieces with your hand and separating into thinner layers, and cutting up the layers into smaller pieces and then blending). This work can take hours depending on the quantity, and is quite tough on your hands. Then its also hard to get it really fine with the blender, normally it makes some powder, a lot of stringy material and some pieces here and there that didnt break. Lastly, there is the issue with the pink/purple dust flying around when you break/blend it, try to avoid breathing that.

Prepowdered is definitely easier but I think its also interesting to do the powdering at least once yourself. It gives a certain extra appreciation. And yeah you have to powder it before extracting or your yields will be very bad. Or at least pre-break them a bit and then make many days long acid soaks and/or go heavy on the lye on an STB and leave for long to help breaking up the bark. I definitely suggest powdering it, though, or buying prepowdered.

Thanks for the responses!I'll pass the info along!

Putting non-powdered bark in very strong lye solution can chemically break it down, especially if this solution is subjected to freezing/defrosting cycles. (Not with the container sealed airtight, just to be sure nothing breaks or leaks.) That's the idea lazyman's tek is based on, though you don't have to actually follow lazyman's tek. You can just base the solution up to about pH 14, and let it sit for several days with good amounts of stirring/shaking until the bark has been liquefied. You can still do Acid/Base if you want, by neutralizing the lye with an acid like vinegar or HCl until the solution becomes acidic. Then you can do defatting to remove the plant oils, or do whatever other acidic phase stuff you like. Then, re-basify the solution to do the NPS pull. It's not an efficient use of chemicals, but it saves you from having to powder the bark yourself.

SWIM has a friend who has several mimosa trees on their property.

Given their amount of free time and lack of funds, harvesting their own powder seems like the most cost effective route.

Not to mention it allows verification that the utmost respect goes into the harvesting process.

Which brings me to the main point of this reply...

It seems that everyone says it's the mimosa "root bark" that is the effective material for extractions.

What doesn't make sense to me is if it is the actual "root bark" it seems very mean and disrespectful to take a trees roots.

SWIM has heard that the inner bark of the branches can also be used.

I've been searching the forums and other sites for the best (most respectful to the plant) way of harvesting her glory.

Can anyone help shed some light on the best part of the tree to use and how to go about harvesting it with respect?

Thanks...

I've killed so many blenders, my husband won't let me get near the current one with bark. I find the pre-powdered from reliable sources to work very well.