Any fellow cactus growers hanging around these parts?

[OldSoul]

I've been growing peyote pretty steadily over the past 5 or so years. I haven't counted them recently but I think I've got around 50 peyote at various stages of growth now. Some are mature and fruiting regularly, so now I'm at the point of growing the children of my own seed-grown cacti.

Then I started growing some columnar cacti, also mescaline containing ones. Now I'm finding myself on eBay looking through cacti auctions and buying some expensive plants.. I nearly convinced myself to pay 200 pounds for a rare mutated cactus, but it was a bit too much haha.

Here's a picture of my oldest and most precious yoties, 5 years old in December

[Audiogen]

Last I checked, several years ago, San Pedro were growing plentiful on the campus of my alma mater. Also some retail stores like Target carry them seasonally, so I've never felt compelled to grow SP myself. However Peyote is basically the opposite, I've never come across it.

[OldSoul]

Yeah from what I understand, SP is practically a weed down in that area! I'd love to see some of the massive SP trees growing in the wild. A warmer climate would make my plant hobby a bit easier going..

It's too bad, peyote used to be extremely common in Texas around the Rio Grande area. I think these days the last wild peyote populations in Texas are a heavily guarded secret. Ranchers and poachers have decimated the wild populations entirely. The day I die I'd love it if someone took some of these cacti and put them back out there in the wild!

[eggsprog]

Are they pretty easy to grow from seed? I imagine it would be quite a while before you could grow something large enough to get enough mescaline for a trip, right?

[OldSoul]

Are they pretty easy to grow from seed? I imagine it would be quite a while before you could grow something large enough to get enough mescaline for a trip, right?

They're relatively easy to grow from seed once you get your technique down. I had a few false starts in the beginning where I accidentally killed off my seedlings. But the biggest improvement for me was getting some dedicated artificial lighting. Trying to do some windowsill grow with cactus under these northern conditions certainly doesn't work well.

Yeah, if you want to trip on peyote you need at least a few mature buttons. There's also some debate over the mescaline content in homegrown peyote vs. those from the wild. You definitely can't graft them or grow them super fast. I've got a few peyote which I treat with the "hard grow" method. They live outside in the summer subsisting purely off of rainwater, and in the winter they sit on a shady windowsill for 6-7 months without any water at all. I'm hoping that kind of treatment ensures I'll have some potent cactus!

[Amerijuanican]

If growing inside with artificial lighting, would this be the same environment as like growing weed?
But I'm assuming less watering...

[OldSoul]

If growing inside with artificial lighting, would this be the same environment as like growing weed?
But I'm assuming less watering...

Very similar to growing weed, except I would tend to do a bit longer than a 12/12 light cycle if you're doing photoperiod plants. In fact photoperiod plants might be tough since you're changing the light cycle every now and then. The cacti definitely know what their circadian rhythm is set at. You can see when they flower that the flowers will start to close about 2 or so hours before the lights go out.

But yeah, with my soil mix I water about once a month. The frequency will depend somewhat on how well draining your soil is though. I can also drop my soil recipe here if anyone is interested!

[Amerijuanican]

Very similar to growing weed, except I would tend to do a bit longer than a 12/12 light cycle if you're doing photoperiod plants. In fact photoperiod plants might be tough since you're changing the light cycle every now and then. The cacti definitely know what their circadian rhythm is set at. You can see when they flower that the flowers will start to close about 2 or so hours before the lights go out.

But yeah, with my soil mix I water about once a month. The frequency will depend somewhat on how well draining your soil is though. I can also drop my soil recipe here if anyone is interested!

Sure bro, that would be awesome. Fungi 101 !!

[Jessica]

yeah! i love cacti. most of "mine", my partner inherited from his mother.
but they've become mine in my head because i have repotted them all since living here and i spend the most time with them/like the best

[OldSoul]

Nice!! Glad to see I'm not the only one around here haha ;D

Even though they're slow growing, it's pretty rewarding to repot them and watch them grow happily. Any idea what kind of cacti you've got going?

[OldSoul]

Sure bro, that would be awesome. Fungi 101 !!

Here it is:

- 1.5 parts peat moss
- 0.5 parts worm casings
- 2 parts sand
- 2 parts perlite
- ~ 2 parts crushed limestone (initially I used a pH meter to measure and attain a pH of about 7, but I assume the amount will vary depending on the acidity or basicity of your other organic components)

Some people also use a soil with more organic content to sprout cactus seeds. They are little water suckers when they're young and need to be kept super humid for many months. I use my regular soil mix for seedling and adult cacti, but it's possible you can mist and baby them a bit less if you use a more organic soil mix.

[Amerijuanican]

Thanks bro, been interested for a while...

[OldSoul]

Feel free to hit me up if you have any more questions! I'm happy to help as much as I can

[Amerijuanican]

Indeed!

[Jessica]

i'm not sure about what types, no. i'm not sure why i haven't learned some names actually!
i will take pictures later : )
one in particular put on a wonderful display of red flowers earlier this year

[OldSoul]

i'm not sure about what types, no. i'm not sure why i haven't learned some names actually!
i will take pictures later : )
one in particular put on a wonderful display of red flowers earlier this year

Please do! I'd love to see some cacti pics. Maybe I can help put names to some, although I'm no expert haha. I'll grab some more cacti pics this weekend too. I've got some that aren't just peyote which are kinda fun to see.

[Jessica]

That third one there had lovely little white flowers earlier in the year

[Jessica]

A section of the white flower one which I repotted.. The one behind gets big red flowers.

And here are some experiments with seashells and babies.. I plan to do a load of these to sell to summer tourists next year : )