Beccabud's Cactus Garden of Spiny Delight: Peruvian Torch aka Trichocereus Peruvianus

[BeccaBuds]

Two month update and Christmas Cactus Photo Shoot. At 2 months since planting, the count stands at 20 Collana and 5 Sharxx. Many are still very tiny and growth is soooooo slow. I'll post photos of the Collana Pichu taken with my Celestron USB Microscope in this entry and photos of the Sharxx Blue OP in the subsequent post:

These 2 are the biggest sprouts. Height is ~1/4".

The triploid is coming along.

Another shot of the triploid.

​

Foliar feeding with the weak nutrient solution has definitely helped but algae is an ongoing problem. I hate to continue using 1.5% H2O2 because it kills all the beneficial microbes in the soil also, but with the soil constantly damp in this phase it seems the only option and doesn't appear to be hurting the plants. Once they get bigger and I can allow the soil to dry out between waterings, I think the algae problem will disappear, plus I plan to inoculate soon with myco, AN Piranha, Tarantula & VooDoo Juice, and throw in some Bud Candy to feed 'em. Maybe I can "swamp" the algae out with beneficials.

 

[BeccaBuds]

And here are the micrographs of the Sharxx Blue OP, taken today, December 25, 2021. Once they get bigger I can take cuttings to propagate them and get more.

Happy holidays everyone and happy gardening! ​

 

[Phytoplankton]

Wow, they’re really coming along, nice job! I tried hand pollinating my San Pedro cactus, but I was not successful.

 

[BeccaBuds]

@Phytoplankton Bummer, I would have enjoyed seeing photos of developing San Pedro fruit (would love to taste one too). My never-flowered potted San Pedro's are all tall and skinny because they didn't get adequate light for way too long. They are getting much healthier now though under the LEDs, so I took four cuttings from them the other day, which will double their number after they root and get potted.

Peruvianus update: Tired of the dam algae, but I don't like totally sterilizing the soil with H2O2 at any percentage, so I'm launching a biological counterattack. Treated each pot with sprouts with Root Magic Mycorrhizae last night. Sprinkled about a 1/16th teaspoon atop each pot and sprayed with purified water to settle the inoculant into the soil. They look happy this morning- so far so good.
Also calculated the dosing to mix a solution of the other 3 inoculations (AN Piranha, Tarantula & VooDoo Juice) and their lunch (Bud Candy); 0.25mL each. A tiny measure but somewhere hereabouts is a 1mL plastic pipette that should make it easier. Going to put it into the sprayer with 250mL of the weak nutrient solution and give each plant 10 or 15 blasts for the next watering.

 

[Phytoplankton]

@Phytoplankton Bummer, I would have enjoyed seeing photos of developing San Pedro fruit (would love to taste one too).

You know how they got the common name "San Pedro", because if you eat them you'll be talking to St. Peter, very hallucinogenic, I'm waaaay past that. Apparently, there are some states and countries where they're illegal to grow.

 

[BeccaBuds]

My understanding is that the name was given by Catholic Priests that arrived with the Spanish Conquistadores because it was described as "the key that opens the gates of heaven". Not all are psychoactive either. Samples have been found with levels of mescaline comparable with Peyote, other samples had no active alkaloids or very low levels. There's a lot of conflicting info out there.

Here's a good article that talks about it's use as far back as 3500 years and more:
Huachuma

 

[Phytoplankton]

My understanding is that the name was given by Catholic Priests that arrived with the Spanish Conquistadores because it was described as "the key that opens the gates of heaven". Not all are psychoactive either. Samples have been found with levels of mescaline comparable with Peyote, other samples had no active alkaloids or very low levels. There's a lot of conflicting info out there.

Here's a good article that talks about it's use as far back as 3500 years and more:
Huachuma

Absolutely conflicting info. I’ve read that the psychoactive layer is just below the “skin”, other articles say it’s evenly distributed in the flesh. My peyote days were 45-50 years ago, probably kill me now.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Yea, you'd pretty much have to be a chemist to figure out how potent a plant is and how much to safely consume. Too easy to overdo it and have a bad trip or worse...

 

[Phytoplankton]

Yea, you'd pretty much have to be a chemist to figure out how potent a plant is and how much to safely consume. Too easy to overdo it and have a bad trip or worse...

The issue is less with the psychoactive part, and more about the dozens of other nasty alkaloids that are also in there! A friend of mine had a saying back in the 70's, "Peyote is the best high in the world, if you like hallucinating over a toliet!"

 

[BeccaBuds]

I've never had peyote, but I recall reading about the nausea and how bad it tastes. I also recall reading somewhere about dusting the cut side of the button with sulfur or saltpeter or something to neutralize toxins, but I can't find any references on the internet now (so far).
I have tasted a small sample of SP. It was pretty nasty. I can see how munching a couple of 6" or 12" cuttings could make you feel very ill.
I understand that like cannabis, the levels and ratios of the other alkaloids are interactive with the mescaline. It's also risky to senior citizens (aka me) because it effects the cardio-vascular system pretty strongly.
Consuming it is a crap shoot for sure but I do enjoy growing exotic plants.

 

[BeccaBuds]

The plants need watering and it's almost 3 months, so I mixed a gallon of solution containing purified water, 1/2 tsp General Hydroponics MaxiGro, 1/4 tsp Ammonium Nitrate and 1.75mL pH Up. pH came out a tad high at 7.0 and electrical conductivity measured 1.03mS. Each seedling pot received 20-25mL. Next time I'll throw in some cal-mag.
The San Pedro and Repandus each got 750mL and the Repandus cutting got 250mL.
The Collana are doing well. Not so much with the Sharxx- they are lagging way behind. I hope the ferts help! 3 month pics soon.

 

[BeccaBuds]

3 Month Report. Well, 3 months and 5 days, anyway. The Sharxx aren't doing well- only 2 have survived. They are small & having a difficult time. Collana doing a lot better but the dam algae in the soil is just uncontrollable. Worst thing about it is any pot I transplant to is going to get infected. Thinking about radical measures like washing all the soil off the roots, spraying with 1.5% H2O2 and up-potting into fresh soil, but that will have to wait for them to get big enough to survive it. Maybe try it with the 2 largest in a couple months and see how they do.

3 months and 5 days.

Collana Close-Ups

There are a few more small but healthy looking Collana that weren't photographed today.

The troublesome twos (Sharxx).

​

 

[Phytoplankton]

The algae really shouldn't hurt anything, other than being unsightly. Glad to hear most of them are doing well! A few days ago I noticed my lithops (living stone plant) had a flower bud, this is how it looked this morning:

Checked it again in the afternoon, and here's what I got!

 

[BeccaBuds]

That's awesome, @Phytoplankton! Lithops are so cool. I should get a couple. I don't think I've ever seen one flowering before! It's really beautiful.

Once the cacti get bigger I can let the soil dry out more between watering's. The algae should become less of a problem then.

 

[BeccaBuds]

I took cuttings of the San Pedro Dec. 30th and they are starting to root so I potted them in some fresh cactus mix in 3.5" pots today.

It's super easy to clone these. Cut the top 6" (use a sterilized blade!), roll it up in aluminum foil and put it in a cool, dark cabinet for 4-6 weeks. As soon as roots show they can be planted. Water sparingly for 6 months.
The two on the right are an experiment to see if these horizontally planted cuttings with no growing tips can root and form new growth. Gave each pot 100mL of water. For now they are sharing the tray with the Peruvian Torch.

 

[Phytoplankton]

To say their tough is an understatement, I had a middle piece of one laying on the side of my house on the ground, been there about 6 months, checked it yesterday and there’s sprouts!’

 

[BeccaBuds]

I'd read they develop pups when they fall over, so I'm thinking "hmm, can I get pups from a branch with cuts on both ends?" I'll soon know.
Today I transplanted the two largest Collana into 3.5" pots with fresh cactus mix and watered each with 100mL of purified water. When I removed them from the seedling pot I discovered the soil was bone dry. No wonder growth has been slow. Gave each of the remaining seedling pots 20mL of water each, waited an hour and then gave them another 20mL each.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Had to show you this, never happened before, a tripple!

 

[BeccaBuds]

Beautiful. You have a green thumb, Phytoplankton! My Peruvianus seedlings seem to have perked up now that they have some water... and the transplants look healthy.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I'd read they develop pups when they fall over, so I'm thinking "hmm, can I get pups from a branch with cuts on both ends?" I'll soon know.

It's real easy, but it does take several months. Here's some that I did, just dug a little trench about 1/3 the diameter of the branch, layed it in the trench, watered occassionally, and this is the result.