Hi. I'm a keen grower of sacred cacti in the U.K. and would like to hear from other growers in the U.K. and to share growing tips, methods of use and availability of species, strains and cultivars. Currently I'm growing pachanoi, peruvianus var. rimac, bridgesii ( monstrose and regular), Lophophora williamsii (northern and southern forms from Saltillo and Eintroque respectively) and the caspitose williamsii. As I currently know nobody who shares my rampant enthusiasm for growing these wonderful organisms I have many unanswered questions and much to discuss. Thanks for reading

Well, i'm not from the UK but the environmental conditions in the netherlands are more or less the same as in most of the UK.
I have some peyote's growing in my home. I have little knowledge on cactus biology. They seem to have very little needs. I harldy ever give them any water, yet they are doing fine. Once in a while, some of them suddenly have a pinkish flower on them wich seems a good sign to me. I had a few sanpedro's two, but they've ended up in cactus soup. Sanpedro's can grow quite fast and have little demands as well.

I started growing a small variety of different cacti about a year ago. I have a loph and another stone type cactus sitting by my window, these guys don't grow so fast so I'm not going to rush them. Then I have a t. peruvian, t. pachnoi and a t. bridgsii growing outdoors and they have doubled in height in 1 year, bearing in mind they came as 3" seedlings that I had to repot, I think they've done pretty well.

I keep all my columns by a cold north facing window in the winter and I don't water them late october through feburary. As a beginner I'm quite proud of my efforts so far.

I also have a variety of different strains of peruvian seeds which I am hoping to germinate soon. Though I still haven't got that part down yet, but someday I'm going to be surrounded with green glory. Mark my words

I've got 5 Lophophora Williamsii growing and Ive been nurturing the little dears for 12 years and do they grow slowly...

I've recently germinated a load of Trichocereus Peruvianis seeds-I'd had them for a year and thought they might not be that fertile.Hence I planted about 70 seeds and I reckon two thirds are sprouting.A very forgiving species, the peruvianis.

Snap! I've got 5 Lophophora Williamsii buttons too And three Peruvian Torches.

I initially put two of the Torches outside, but then brought them in after a few days of heavy rain because one of them looked like it was going to drink itself to exploding point!

Soulfood - what kind of light do your cacti get in the garden? I'm a bit confused about where to put mine (although I've herd that they're happiest outside), because I'd imagine that Torches can cope with British sunlight quite easily but a lot of info recommends a shadier position out of direct sunlight - what do people reckon is best?

I've picked a spot in my garden where they get 7am-9pm sunlight on the 21st June. Once you get them used to the sun, they can take it pretty well. If there are some heavy rains I will move them inside, but other than that I keep them there as much as I can.

I'm lucky enough to have access to a heated glasshouse but i do prefer to keep them outside in the summer months. I've observed that they put on a growth spurt around may/june and rest for a couple of months before another growth spurt in late august. Has anyone had any successful bioassays? I've had one very successful but many more unsuccessful. The success was with my oldest (approx 10 years) multi-headed pachanoi.. I'm wondering if, once a single stemmed cactus is cut and becomes multi branched, it builds up greater concentrations of alkaloids as it recovers and regrows. All bioassays made with single stemmed pachanois of equal weight were failures.. A result of age, or are cacti which have been previously lopped more potent? Also, is the predominant cultivar pachanoi, aka backeberg's clone, the most commonly available in the uk?