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

[BeccaBuds]

I figured that would be the case. San Pedro seems to propagate so readily. Here's some shots of my small collection today with close-ups of the transplants. 6 new pots of San Pedro and 16 or 17 up-and-coming Peruvian Torch. I think I'll repot the Sharxx next. There are only 2 in that seedling tray.

 

[Phytoplankton]

The others I planted had to be moved and most broke at least in half. I used a gas post hole digger, dug 18” deep holes and dropped in the cuttings and filled up holes, 100% survival rate.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Wow, that must be the industrial method! No doubt saved you a lot of back-breaking labor.

Yesterday I transplanted both surviving Sharxx Blue OP and 2 more Collana Pichus. Layered Mycorrhizae into the soil as I filled the pots with fresh cactus mix. Gave each 80mL purified water. The first 2 transplants are doing great and I'm going to transplant the rest shortly. The San Pedro cuttings all look to be thriving too.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Just transplanted 3 more. Same routine, Myco + 80mL. Went and got more cactus mix to finish up.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Almost 4 months in and transplanting is complete. I was running out of space so I put 2 smaller seedlings in one pot and the 5 smallest stragglers all got put in the final pot. Glad to have them out of those crappy transparent seedling trays and into fresh Myco'd cactus mix. Nothing to do now but watch the show, remove the humidity dome in a week or 2, and water as needed.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Four Month Anniversary Photo Shoot!



The transplants are all thriving! For cacti, anyway, lol.​

I feel like I'm finally getting past the difficult time when they are babies just getting their roots under them.

Group shot. They are loving it when I crank up that BestVa Pro2000 LED.
Looks like those Pedros will be ready for bigger pots very soon.

The first 2 Collana Pichu transplants, planted February 13.

The two Sharxx Blue OP that survived, transplanted February 18.

Even the Collana stragglers are doing well.
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It's been a long haul getting to this point with these plants! With Cannabis I'd have a bunch of huge flowering plants by now... It's fascinating watching them develop though.

 

[BeccaBuds]

One week since transplant and they all look really healthy. They were getting a tad dry so each plant got 80mL of water (the Pedros got 100mL each). Moved the little ones to the middle under the brightest light.

The growing tips of the San Pedro cuttings are turning a beautiful emerald green. They are really taking off, too.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Close-Up time. 4 months and a week in, so I broke out the USB microscope and got to work.

Collana Pichu. The largest are now 4/10 of an inch in diameter.

Sharxx Blue OP. Not as big but healthy.

 

[BeccaBuds]

San Pedro cuttings are taking off. One of them has grown a half inch in a week.

Feb. 25 and today.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Picked up a cheap digital 5kg scale so I can track how wet the soil is. These one pint pots filled with cactus mix weigh in at an average of 8 ounces dry. Last night I numbered & weighed all 12 before watering and gave each 100mL purified water. Also topped up the soil in a couple of pots. The Peruvian Torch are all doing great.
It's interesting to note the soil I mix for cannabis is much less dense- no sand, liberal perlite, multiple other organic amendments and it averages 5 ounces dry.

March 12, 2022
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All three San Pedro cuttings I planted horizontally are developing pups already! The one on the left is growing out against the side of the pot. I don't think that is going to even slow it down! I've been misting them daily with distilled water to help keep them hydrated.

March 12, 2022
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The San Pedro mother plant and my first 3 clones all have healthy pups that I'm going to harvest and root soon. The Peruvian Apple behind it is growing like a weed as usual- it's the fastest growing cactus I've every seen.

March 12, 2022​

 

[BeccaBuds]

Weekly update photos for Saturday, March 19, 2022. Next Friday will be five months since planting. The Peruvian Torch are all thriving and growing fast. Watering not needed according to pot weights. Look at the pups on those sideways Pedros! Look at the skyscraper that grew 7/10 of an inch since March 4!

 

[BeccaBuds]

The Peruvian Torch pot weights were getting down to around dry weight this morning so I gave each (San Pedros included) 100mL of purified water.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Today is five months since planting the Peruvian Torch. Photo shoot time! Plus some more Pedro pics.

Comb your spines and smile for the camera!

#3 & 9 are the tallest Torches.

The Sharxx don't really look any different than the Collana so far.

#10 is a very dark green.

The 2 biggest horizontal branches are bending up to the light.

Look at the bluing! The mother Pedro in the rose pot full of old cannabis soil never did that.



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[BeccaBuds]

Today I transplanted all the San Pedro plants into a 10 gallon cloth pot and took 4 more cuttings from the mother plant so all the tops are of similar height. The big pot has been moved over to the pvc/mylar tent so I can start a crop of cannabis in my grow closet in a few days. The light source is another Bestva Pro2000W I got just for the pvc/mylar tent.
The San Pedro will become a decorative plant for my patio soon and I'll move the Peruvian Torches into the pvc/mylar tent when the cannabis is ready to up-pot from seedling pots to 1 gallon pots. Will give the 10 gallon Pedros pot two liters (a half gallon) of purified water in slow 1L increments with the garden sprayer to wet the soil evenly and settle the plants in, and it will get another 4L (a gallon) tomorrow.

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[BeccaBuds]

Peruvian Torch Weekly Update: 23 weeks since planting.

All the Torches are in the closet by themselves for a little while. There's more room on the tray now so they can be centered under the lamp better. I am rotating their positions daily in X axis (long side of tray) and weekly in the Y axis so they all get nicely averaged light. Here are photos from 2 angles for perspective, the second with telephoto from farther back to increase depth of field of focus.

No water this week, just a daily rain showers from my sprayer.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Changed my mind- the Torches do need water. Gave each, except 5 & 6, 100mL of purified water. 5 & 6 each got 75mL.
Rain showers as needed...

 

[BeccaBuds]

24 weeks Update. 3 & 9 still tallest with 2 & 4 next. Most are 5 & 6 points while the Poly is a 7 point star viewed top down.

The San Pedros are thriving in the 10 gallon pot.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Gave the Torches 80mL purified water each today. They were getting thirsty!

 

[BeccaBuds]

The Peruvian Torches were all looking dry so they each got 100mL of water today. #5, #6 & #11 were extra crispy so they got an additional 50-100mL each. The San Pedro got a couple liters of water from the garden sprayer.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Wow, what a great job you've done!!!!