9 replies to this topic

[Opendoors]

hello ... my brother has a gigantic San Pedro he's been growing for at least 10 years in fact I got a start from him a few years ago and my cactus is over 6 ft tall
unfortunately my brother left his in the garage last winter and it froze to death. I went by his house and I saw his wife throwing chunks of it in a fire. I stopped her and filled up four 5 gal buckets with chunks and there's still a large part of the cactus still in the pot. my question is: even though it froze and died and turned brown the mescaline is still there right?

if so what's the best way to take it ? should I try to extract it ?

thanks in advance

[pharmer]

Might be worth taking the time to peel off the dark green skin and extract that

 

I'd guess that the softer white flesh inside the column was severely busted up by the freezing and weeping away the liquids inside. I don't know for a fact that the green flesh wouldn't do the same but doubt it.

 

There has to be a couple or few doses left in the remnant. If it were mine I'd go for it.

 

Do you know anything more specific about the species than San Pedro?

Edited by pharmer, 22 May 2023 - 09:00 AM.

[Opendoors]

Might be worth taking the time to peel off the dark green skin and extract that

I'd guess that the softer white flesh inside the column was severely busted up by the freezing and weeping away the liquids inside. I don't know for a fact that the green flesh wouldn't do the same but doubt it.

There has to be a couple or few doses left in the remnant. If it were mine I'd go for it.

Do you know anything more specific about the species than San Pedro?

I don't know what species of sp this is my brother was told it was sp and we always just assumed ...didn't plan to harvest it . I'm on my phone I'm trying to figure out how to post pics ...I think I got it the last 3 pics are my brothers cactus the pic of it before it froze is probably 3 years old ...the rest of the pics are from a start I got off of his cactus most pics are at least a year old but I wanted you to see it flowering

thanks for your response

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Edited by Opendoors, 22 May 2023 - 10:44 AM.

[Myc]

For what it's worth:

 

I once lost my entire cactus garden while winter was approaching. The cacti are kept outdoors during the summer on a patio. One year, I was away on a short vacation when a freak snowstorm hit my town and wound up killing my trichocereus cultivars.

 

As they began to yellow (there was still some green) the same logic was used - get them before they rot, process into chunks, make tea, then freeze the tea.

The result from that experiment was nil. When the tea was sampled, nothing happened. And I know I had some very strong cultivars in that bunch - some of them raised from seed. All of the foul flavor was there - just no magic.

 

I might suggest making a small test batch from the cuttings you've rescued to test for potency before gong to a bunch of effort.

 

My .02.  Your mileage may vary.

[pharmer]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that's not an active cactus.

 

It's a Cereus. Nice to look at but nothing there to eat, drink, or extract.

 

Somehow I don't think it'll make you feel better to get this news

 

Oh man, that pic of the dead cactus looks like it's been dead for several years.

Edited by pharmer, 22 May 2023 - 11:12 AM.

[Boebs]

The fruit are delicious on some of these varieties of cereus, and they are amazing root stock for grafting!

[Opendoors]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that's not an active cactus.

It's a Cereus. Nice to look at but nothing there to eat, drink, or extract.

Somehow I don't think it'll make you feel better to get this news

Oh man, that pic of the dead cactus looks like it's been dead for several years.

My brother and both feel a kind of relief that we at least we didn't let all that go to waste, we suspected it wasn't, didn't really know the person who gave him this cactus.
As far as it looking dead for years it's only been over a month. My brother had to do 4 months in jail I didn't even think about his cactus in the garage, we had a couple very cold days , like 20 below. It was so frozen the top 3/4 of it fell off hit the ground and Shattered. When it thawed some pink stuff came out of it.
Though it isn't a sp it's kind of sad to see it go its probably at least 15 years old and always loaded down with huge beautiful flowers , luckily I got a start off it
thanks for your response

[Opendoors]

For what it's worth:

I once lost my entire cactus garden while winter was approaching. The cacti are kept outdoors during the summer on a patio. One year, I was away on a short vacation when a freak snowstorm hit my town and wound up killing my trichocereus cultivars.

As they began to yellow (there was still some green) the same logic was used - get them before they rot, process into chunks, make tea, then freeze the tea.
The result from that experiment was nil. When the tea was sampled, nothing happened. And I know I had some very strong cultivars in that bunch - some of them raised from seed. All of the foul flavor was there - just no magic.

I might suggest making a small test batch from the cuttings you've rescued to test for potency before gong to a bunch of effort.

My .02. Your mileage may vary.

Man I couldn't imagine.We didn't really plan on harvesting his so it's not as bad as you went through . I hate to hear that , damn

[Myc]

I wish I could refer to Pharmer's response as the best answer.

 

My vision is getting worse and worse. At 130% increase, text is still very fuzzy and blurry to me. I am guilty of not looking closely at your photos.

Just to re-iterate - Pharmer is right. That is a Cereus, not a Trichocereus, and it is a beautiful specimen which is devoid of psychoactive alkaloids.

Sorry if I might have misled you or inspired you with any false sense of hope.

 

As for the storm I experienced, thanks for your condolences. The storm was a freak - and I wound up losing some beautiful cacti. Since then, I have rebuilt the garden and my main goal is waiting for flowers as I have never seen a Trichocereus produce them. It's a weirdo thing that I'm obsessed with - and I usually get what I really want from the Universe. So...........maybe one day.

 

Sorry for your friend's loss. That was a sweet cactus.

[Opendoors]

I wish I could refer to Pharmer's response as the best answer.

My vision is getting worse and worse. At 130% increase, text is still very fuzzy and blurry to me. I am guilty of not looking closely at your photos.
Just to re-iterate - Pharmer is right. That is a Cereus, not a Trichocereus, and it is a beautiful specimen which is devoid of psychoactive alkaloids.
Sorry if I might have misled you or inspired you with any false sense of hope.

As for the storm I experienced, thanks for your condolences. The storm was a freak - and I wound up losing some beautiful cacti. Since then, I have rebuilt the garden and my main goal is waiting for flowers as I have never seen a Trichocereus produce them. It's a weirdo thing that I'm obsessed with - and I usually get what I really want from the Universe. So...........maybe one day.

Sorry for your friend's loss. That was a sweet cactus.

thanks