Swifty's Cacti Collection

Swifty said:
I use peat based soil with extra perlite just because I have this around.
Can't help you with brands here but I think that most cactus soils should be okay.
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@musashi I scored a few bags of generic cacti compost & lava lite in a sale at the local big box garden centre. Seems fine.
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Some rooted San Pedro cuttings, ready to go into individual pots:
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2024 babies from seed with mom. I bought mom around 2001-2002 and I reckon she was at least 3 years old then:
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DannyTwoJoints said:
I've had these on the floor of the LED mother tent, do you think I should raise them a little closer to the light? I'm not sure if they are starting to get a bit etoliated.
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I just took a good look at my babies and they are flatter on the top.
I would raise them a bit , you can see small lumps forming.

I just made some quick pics for you to compare.
They are at a windowsill since I sprouted them.

PY8.JPG
PY9.JPG

Greetings.
 
Swifty said:
I just took a good look at my babies and they are flatter on the top.
I would raise them a bit , you can see small lumps forming.

I just made some quick pics for you to compare.
They are at a windowsill since I sprouted them.

View attachment 96838
View attachment 96839

Greetings.
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Thanks @Swifty I'll raise them for now and get them into my new greenhouse when it arrives.
I had more on a south facing window sill, but they got badly sunburnt when I wasn't paying enough attention - they are growing better in the tent, mainly because of the steady temp & longer lighting hours. Just need to stop them stretching for the light.
 
Sunburn is something I've seen also, I place them on a east facing window and this works very well for me.
I would order those seeds @DannyTwoJoints, a 1000 seeds is a very good number to find some very nice individuals.
Even if germ rates are low.

I plan on taking the head of my old grafted peyote and try to have new pups on my mother pachanoi to start over with her. There should be enough left.
She is in the dirt now and looks ok, the massive peyote on top looks like she is tired and does show new growth but very slowly and I plan on starting over by taking some cuts from her. I will see if I can give her to somebody who would consume her, she is over 20 years old and has been through some rough times in her lifetime.
I do believe she will have higher alkaloid levels.

It is winter now here, would now be the time to take the peyote from the pachanoi and let the wound heal?
I think so but would like to know your opinion?

Thanks.
 
Swifty said:
It is winter now here, would now be the time to take the peyote from the pachanoi and let the wound heal?
I think so but would like to know your opinion?

Thanks.
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I'm really not sure @Swifty Previously with San Pedro, I have waited till around Dec and I've just let the cuttings dry on a table top. This time around the cut has healed quicker & more cleanly than any other previous attempt, so I'll be using the cardboard box/airing cupboard combo again.
I think like you, my main obstacles to success are the environmental fluctuations of a European winter!
I have a 60x40 tent, heat mat & 300w CFL I can use for germination and initial growth, and if I was to attempt grafting, I'd do it in the tent to have a steady environment to increase the take rate.
I can recommend the lava lite for rooting the dried cuttings. I soak it in water that I've let gas off in a bucket overnight, then drain & fill a 1&3/4 inch deep tray & rest the cuttings cut side down on the top. The just keep the lava lite damp, without letting any water collect or pool in the tray. I've taken cuttings of my San P nearly every year and usually just give away. I only have a few of my original peyote stock left, yeah, badly neglected & abused through the years, but still here & rocking on. I've told them to hang in there as a new greenhouse coming where they will be coddled well into retirement.
This will be my year of grafting! I have some quality apple & pear stock I want to graft onto root stock I've grown from seed. I've also committed to creating a cannabis frankenmother so I only have to take one plant indoors next autumn, which will free up some space to seed run some autos over winter.
I'm planning on grafting some Peyote onto the San P, but will be my first serious attempt, so I can't really give any advice there, other than that I think a steady warm & dry environment is key to success!
Please keep me updated on your progress!
 
DannyTwoJoints said:
I'm really not sure @Swifty Previously with San Pedro, I have waited till around Dec and I've just let the cuttings dry on a table top. This time around the cut has healed quicker & more cleanly than any other previous attempt, so I'll be using the cardboard box/airing cupboard combo again.
I think like you, my main obstacles to success are the environmental fluctuations of a European winter!
I have a 60x40 tent, heat mat & 300w CFL I can use for germination and initial growth, and if I was to attempt grafting, I'd do it in the tent to have a steady environment to increase the take rate.
I can recommend the lava lite for rooting the dried cuttings. I soak it in water that I've let gas off in a bucket overnight, then drain & fill a 1&3/4 inch deep tray & rest the cuttings cut side down on the top. The just keep the lava lite damp, without letting any water collect or pool in the tray. I've taken cuttings of my San P nearly every year and usually just give away. I only have a few of my original peyote stock left, yeah, badly neglected & abused through the years, but still here & rocking on. I've told them to hang in there as a new greenhouse coming where they will be coddled well into retirement.
This will be my year of grafting! I have some quality apple & pear stock I want to graft onto root stock I've grown from seed. I've also committed to creating a cannabis frankenmother so I only have to take one plant indoors next autumn, which will free up some space to seed run some autos over winter.
I'm planning on grafting some Peyote onto the San P, but will be my first serious attempt, so I can't really give any advice there, other than that I think a steady warm & dry environment is key to success!
Please keep me updated on your progress!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your experience and info DannyTwoJoints, very apreciated!
I will update the thread here with how things progress.

I have seedlings from Peyote and San Pedro that will be used to be grafted on each other in an attempt to some what recreate my grafted cactus.
I will also try to make new cuts from my old peyote that is now grafted to my pachanoi base and in the proces I will try to have new cuts from the pachanoi base.
I will try to graft these on to each other if all works out.

I hope to keep these genes alive and I will take better care them.
I do love them very much but keeping things alive and well for such a long time is a daunting task and I admit that I fucked up a couple of times.

This is a fun hobby and for some reason I feel emotionaly attached to my old cacti.
I hope they live on and feel that this is the best way to try to save them.
✌️

Anyone with an opinion or info, please share as I want to learn and I most surely want to succeed in my plan to keep them going.

Thank you and greetings.
 
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