san pedro identification

[artisian]

So SWIM got this cactus and wanted to know if anyone could help him ID it

Reputation Comments on this post:

Knows the rules and posts good pictures.

[azrael2600]

swim grows rare cactus as a hobby.
swim definatley thinks that it's san pedro(Trichocereus pachanoi)

[Nagognog2]

Yes. That is, indeed, a San Pedro. Fastest growing cacti known - I believe. Very hardy as well. SWIM can make cuttings and it will take over SWIM's house in no time!

[artisian]

how would SWIM go about making cuttings? Now that the cactus has been identified SWIM wanted to know how much of it he would have to consume. It's diameter is 10 inches and it's hight is 29 inches.

[thundercles]

That's a San Pedro, I see them in people's front yards all the time here in Phoenix. I am even growing a couple and I can attest to Nagognog2's comment that it grows damn fast. I'm posting pictures in the picture gallery of the 6 months ago and now of my personal cactus I'm growing, and you will be shocked. The taller one topples over the container its in without support, I need to take it out and plant it in the ground. They grew as much as they did with a period of time in there where they're roots were rotted out from too much watering, note to everyone when growing san pedro, don't water it very often, too much water rots the roots (also grow it in a 50/50 sand/soil mixture, cactii like to grow in sand but they'll get more nutrients from the soil.)

As for your question about the san Pedro, this is what you may want to do with it. Go to the gallery and look at my pictures of san pedro. You will see two san pedro cuttings next to a ruler. Those two cuttings together would be about 2 strong trips or 3 light trips. If you don't feel like going there, a general rule of thumb is if you wanna trip out pretty hard, consume a foot and a half to two feet of cactus per person.

This is what you do, either you follow the great link somewhere on this forum to google videos where it shows how to extract mescaline out of the cactus, which is probably better, and it probably wouldn't take so much cactus for a trip that way either, or you do it the way Swim has done it many a time using cactus jacksnatched out of unsuspecting citizen's front yards.

Take the feet of cactus and dethorn them with needle-nose pliers. This goes relativly fast. I don't know if this step is neccisary or not but the next step is to de-skin it. I've had the best results from deskinned cactus, but on the other hand it takes FOREVER to do. To deskin it, you peel off the outer skin of the cactus, it will be a very light green semi-transparent thing. Try not to peel off any of the dark green pulp underneath, that stuff is what you will be brewing later. Once it is fully deskinned, scoop off the dark green pulp leaving the core. Put the dark green pulp in a pot of water and boil it for a few hours. Swim has had less then spectacular results with not boiling it long enough, make sure it's AT LEAST 3 hours, 4 is probably even better. During this boiling, periodically check it to make sure there is plenty of water, if the water boils out you will start to burn off mescaline. Once it has boiled long enough, boil down the water as much as you feel safe, at most boil it down to a glass of tea, I'd boil it down even more to like half a glass/person. What you will have left is the absolute most vile tasting concoction known to man: San Pedro tea. If you don't belive me, go ahead and try it. Everyone who said "oh I bet it's not that bad!" and drank it real quick has puked thier guts out. Slowly sip the tea and I recommend having a chaser cause it is that bad. You will be very pleasently rewarded if you drink it all and keep it down however.

One last thing about growing san pedro cactus, if you decide you want to grow your own san pedro, take a cutting of cactus, like you have right there in your picture and let it sit for about a week or two so that it scabs over where you broke it off. Then bury the scabbed over part in the ground enough so that it can stand up without toppling over. Plant it in a 50/50 sand/soil mix, and water it infrequently. Pretty soon you'll notice it's a lot bigger then it used to be! Very exciting plant to grow.

[rainstripe]

"If the water boils out you will start to burn off mescaline." Once it has boiled long enough, boil down the water

Maybe that is SWIM'S problem. SWIM boils but doesnt get very high from it. Do the alkoloids boil off into the air if not enough water added constantly?

[captainbarftooth]

the alkaloids do not boil off into the air. when you boil off most of the water, you also have sugars and other stuff that boil at a way higher temp than water, possibly scorching your alkaloids. boil in acidic water (lemon juice, lime, whatever)

San Pedro Syrup: Slice off the needles, then peel the skin off a couple of kilos of fresh cactus. Leave all of the green photosynthetic flesh. Slice as for cucumber salad, put in a pressure cooker, cover with _distilled_ water, bring to 15 lbs steam for 10 min. Decant the liquid, squeeze the pulp (I use a small grape press). Combine all liquid, strain, and set aside in a large container, return the pulp to the pressure cooker, cover with water... Repeat the process 3-4 times (three with a press, four times if you are squeezing by hand). Collect all the liquid and boil down to the consistancy of heavy cream. About 5 oz of concentrated syrup followed with a good chug of Ocean Spray Cran-Grape on an empty stomach... You are there...

Tip: Strain cactus juice in a 60% polyester 40% cotton dress shirt. This material filters cells fragments extremely well with an excellent pass through rate. You can dump pulp into a shirt and twist while pressing with a potato masher to squeeze out juice.

Peyote because of it's very complex pharmacology should never be processed. It is best eaten fresh, dried is pretty OK... Boiling this cactus destroys some of the less robust synergistic compounds... And it makes a noticable difference in the experience.

Tip: process your San Pedro, all the way down to crystal if you want... Get a dose of mescaline in you... Then eat one or two buttons for a full blown Peyote experience while conserving this most precious and slow growing cactus.

The reason I insist on a syrup concentrate, and large batches, of cactus syrup is for standardization reasons. In my experience you have to have a standard of reference from which to judge strength and dosages. People ask me: is 2-1/2 foot of San Pedro sufficient to blow my mind?
It's a damned good question, you have no idea how many times I have asked it. Me myself, no big deal. Party of four in controlled conditions?
You want to know your dose and concentrations. I have administered OD's before (I was there to control them and ease them through) by accident... The dose was fine for me... But I have nursed people who were seriously disorientated by one of my doses because I did not realize how hard my head is.

Water content in fresh cactus varies by as much as 70%. Cacti shrink and fatten depending on mositure levels. Stalks can grow 2 inches in diameter or 4 inches in diameter. Show me a point here to standarize. How can you measure a dose of Mescaline? How can you compare potency of various species/strain?

You can weigh out and eat a shitload of nasty bitter cactus (done it many times), there is no standard. The cells in the cactus fill and deplete with the available water. A well hydrated cactus is what, 50% less potent than a dehydrated one? Tell me, I _need_ to know. People want to know the grams of mescaline per kilo, or grams per foot, or grams per button.

The funny thing is, I have learned over many years to dose, compare, and enjoy cacti. San Pedro is your "bread & butter". I have raised them all from seed to maturity (letting you know my age guys), but mostly you will find good old Pedro fits the bill: it's a damned tough and relativily potent cactus.

Regardless of the species, mositure content, growing condtions... If the cacti is alive it maintains a homeostasis: too dry it withers, too moist it rots, if it is alive you can standarize it by boiling off the water.

A fat weak cacti, a potent skinny cacti, a button. If you extract them down through a series of boilings with distilled water, you can derive a syrup of constant viscosity. Pancake syrup viscosity, a light paint.

Viscosity can be measured exactly. I have not done so, I learned by eye... But this is the standard you must use. When the viscosity is the same, water content and cell matter porportions in the syrup are the same; regardless of the mositure content or potency of the source species.

Clean your Pedro or other column cactus of all wax coated skin. Slice it thin, boil and press the cell contents out with distilled water and a PC. Boil the solution down to consistancy of pancake syrup. I like mine a bit heavier, but not honey viscosity, it gets too hot if you make it too thick and Mescaline degrades at 350 degrees F.
Anybody make tongue candy? Mescaline is sugar. Under 350 F it is stable, boil it too hot and the syrup will carmelize and you lose.

Heavy-cream to pancake syrup consistency is what you want. I don't care if your stalks were 2 inches in diameter or 4 inches... Wet or dry, Pedro, Peruvians, or Peyote. The syrup is your standard.

Decent strength Pedro syrup runs about .1 grams Mescaline per ounce of syrup. Decent Peyote runs about .25 grams Mescaline per ounce of syrup...
Don't make syrup out of Peyote, you lose something (a lot). Make as much Pedro syrup as you can.

How much Pedro does it take to make a dose? Good question, I don't know. Boil your Pedro down to a standard syrup and my guess is you will get about 100 miligrams per ounce.

If you want to make a batch of syrup, best to grow your own cacti for a few years. Start with a couple of kilos, about 5 pounds of peeled sliced cactus. Boil it down and you will likely find you get about four nice doses: I figure close to 500 mg Mescaline Sulfate per dose, you do the math I am too tired... But it all works out: viscosity standarization (heavy cream, pancake syrup) generally yeilds about .1 grams Mescaline per ounce, or one of my doses with 5 oz syrup.

If you choose to extract pure Mescaline from your syrup, figure a 15 - 20% loss (how good was your second semester organic chem lab?)

Remember guys, San Pedro is legal... All of my friends grow it.