Other - Why is swim's San Pedro so thin?

[marek_gen]

why is swim st pedro so thin

+- 30 cm hight
+- 2.5 cm wide

[Bezzz]

The main reason is lack of direct sunlight. Unfortunately this also happened to swim when he moved to a house with less sunlight in the windows and they started to grow a bit skinnier.

The cactus should be on the windowsill that gets the most light throughout the day to ensure the strongest growth. Also make sure to use some fertiliser as well every couple of weeks when watering as this too helps the plant grow big and strong.

[marek_gen]

The growing in hieght is not the problem.
it get special liquid fertelizer for cacti

what type of light bulbs can swim attact to make it grow better

swim live's in a country with little sunlight "Netherlands"

[brendenx]

the best option wuold be get it outside as much as possible,full lights better than a windowsill

[marek_gen]

would it help to put it under special lights

[brendenx]

hydg lights ed probably be great but not sure how cactii grow with them.plus its pretty expensive runnin a few 1000w bulbs for the equivelant of even sunlight hoursand i cant see 2 much benifit in doing it for normal daylight period,so ited probably be safe to say running lights for any less than 15-16hrs a day wouldnt be worth the expence, so best bet would be get it out in the sun unless youve got the funds.if it is inside for dicsetional purposes why not try running some skylight ducting(you can get this from plumbing stores here in australia but not sure bout other countries)through a window with one end where it can catch the light and the other sliped over the top of the cactus,this efectively bounces the light off the walls of the flexible tube all the way through to the other end so ur plant is basically getting full sunlight as long as the outside end is some where where it can catch it.swim has used this with weed until the plant got to big to slip inside the tube without damaging it,( but cactus is a lot stronger and any slight damage is thought to actually raise the mescaline level in the cactus so this wouldnt matter)and this worked fine.as for the light maybe try this method and also put it under a hydg. bulb for a few hours outside daylight hours to increase growth as this would cut the cost more than in half and really give almost the same effect as running lights for 16 hrs or so a day.

hope ive helped

Reputation Comments on this post:

great information

[marek_gen]

swim understood that here in holland they sell special energy saving light bulbs

[Kada]

i thought Holland had good enough weather to grow trichocereus outdoors? no?

i would say outside as much as possible....and if winter is pretty cold and wet and you nee dit inside, try and make them go dormant (no water, cool temps)

[brendenx]

ive also heard freezing it would make it go dormant but would not kill it,thaw it out and it will continue growing it you think that might help,but if you got energy saving hydg bulbs than just stick em under lights 24/7 if they are cost effective enough they should grow a lot quicker this way too.

[Bezzz]

Originally Posted by brendenx

ive also heard freezing it would make it go dormant but would not kill it,thaw it out and it will continue growing it you think that might help,but if you got energy saving hydg bulbs than just stick em under lights 24/7 if they are cost effective enough they should grow a lot quicker this way too.

Um freezing the cactus will most likely kill it. If it is a well looked after plant which is watered a lot, the water expands in the cells bursting them and leaving a mostly dead (and floppy) cactus. The roots may survive and live to produce another plant, but any green stuff that gets frozen will die.

Putting the cactus somewhere cold and dark will make the plant go dormant until bought out into the warm and light.

[brendenx]

ok this was just something ive heard somewhere but the cells bursting make sense as iv heard freezing cuttings makes it easier to work with in extractions. my bad.

brendenx added 20 Minutes and 48 Seconds later...

anywayz bezzz u seem to be in the no have u got any tips on growing san ped. in general? do u no how well stressing the plant works to increase alkaloid content?and wats the best way of doing this, iv been told to stop watering it several months b4 harvesting and lightly scratch the columns as this would give the plant the impression that it was coming into the dry months where it would get attacked by pests and therefore produce more mescaline as some sort of defence.(do u have any idea of its pest repelant properties, would i have less mozzies with a few of these on my varandah?this would just be interesting to no). again with the dormant bit ive also heard that cuttings can stay alive for quite some time if kept in the right enviroment. so would a cutting thats been kept in a cool dry spot (say a cupboard)for a period of time have a higher mescaline content than a cutting that was used the same day it was harvested?(like i said im a newbie to all this but iv done a lot of research and any info i have is compiled from bit and peices from everywhere.i hope if any answers to questions from me that have been wrong the readers realize they should take any random statement from some1 they dont know witha grain of salt and look further into it as i have.)swim is getting a few cuttings soon and for first attempt just gonna try a tea,or possibly quick chemical extraction of the nasties and make a tea outa the end product of this.But as swim now has a supply if swim likes this (wich swim thinks he will)he is gonna do a complete chemical extraction.
hav u had any experience with this? any help would be great.

[Bezzz]

No worries, thats why the forums here, to discuss and learn!

Yep freezing and thawing before cooking/extracting gets all goodies out a bit quicker. As for increasing potency, swiy already knows it, the best way swim has found is to hardly water the plant for a few months (some people wait a year!) and then place the cutting in the shade for a week or so before consuming.

The combination of lack of water and then putting in the shade seems to make them boost the mesc content.

Swims not sure about the mozzie thing, might be intersting for swiy to give it a try and let us know?

[brendenx]

cheers buddy any other tips in general(consuming/growing)?

[fnord]

I would just keep it in full sunlight outside,my grandmother keeps most of her cacti outdoors in her garden mixed in with her vegis and she sees CRAZY growth ever year that could not be matched by indoor growing or keeping her babys under fourescents. To keep the width from gettign all funky many people put ther cacti in a dark room or box for the winter.

[Panthers007]

Outdoors in the most sunny place - weather permitting. Otherwise standard grow-light (tube, not bulb) indoors when the weather gets cold. Do not give them 24hour/day light. Use a timer.

[fnord]

Also grandma also puts them in a shady spot for a day,then a semi coverd spot then out in ful sun. dont want to burn your babys!

[marek_gen]

according to swim light is not realy the problem
it is growing in lenght but it just stays thin