One of the peruvian torch cacti I've been raising for several years now finally succumbed to rot over the winter. I've read on other threads that it should still be easy enough to extract, however it will likely be very difficult to powder the cactus. Does anyone have experience extracting from rotten cacti that could help me out with a few tips on how to prep the material?

It depends on the present state of the cacti, but the good news is that yields from rotten cacti will tend to be good because all the cells will have been burst, freeing up the (alkaloidal) contents. That this happened in winter is also likely to be a bonus as the lower light levels are likely to lead to an increase in alkaloid content.

Because the rotting process frees up the intracellular fluid you should be able to skip the acidification step - just mix the rotten cactus pulp with lime and proceed from there. (Have you seen the new "CIELO" tek? It might be worth a try here.)

On the other hand, once rotten cacti have dried out completely, they powder very easily.

How did the cactus start rotting? Was there any frost damage, or was it down to the cold, damp conditions? What state is it in right now (solid/liquid/wet/dry, etc.)?

[As a general tip, when cacti do get knocked down by an unexpected hard frost, cut them straight away. Even if immediate processing is not possible they can be sliced for drying or/and stored in the freezer.]

Why the need to dry it and powder it? Just slice it up thinly and cook a tea out of it and do an a/b on that. I done dozens extractions this way.

You mean with rotten cactus? Why simmer cactus for hours when you can just mix it to a paste with lime and pull that with solvent? If a cactus has gone rotten and then dried out, I'd say it's better to finish the drying process, then powder it so that the rehydration goes more smoothly.

For non-rotten cactus, I'd just make and drink the tea, preferably using a wood fire to save fuel costs.

It would be great to hear a bit more about your cactus extraction experiences though!

Thanks for the advice! I was initially planning on following the Kash AB tek but I'll have to look into the CIELO tek now, it looks much simpler and less time consuming. The cactus rotted while I had it inside. It had been partially rotted for a few years due to overwatering as I was initially very inexperienced growing cacti. I put it outside and gave it a small amount of water about a month ago (temps were around 80 degrees F) but then a frost came followed by a long period of cold weather so I brought it back inside, at which point it rotted. Right now it is still solid/wet, I just started drying it yesterday. At this point I have 0 experience with cactus extractions but have done over 100 AB extractions on root bark so I'm pretty confident I can get it right if I follow the tek.

One more footnote about the utility of drying cactus before extracting: because the moisture content of cactus can vary quite considerably, starting with dry material gives a more standardised indication of final yield (for those who are interested in playing the numbers game).

If you're not bothered about quantification of yield then the most straightforward route with soggy cactus is to run it through a blender and mix in lime to a paste, using extra water or lime to adjust to an optimal consistency for pulling.

If it's rotten enough, you won't even need the blender (I tried this once, it works.)

Somewhere in the literature - probably Trout's notes - it's stated that "very good" yields were obtained from a rotten cactus. Got my fingers crossed for you.

Maybe you're right. I just never tried STB on cacti or any botanical for that matter. As i was concerned about yield. Maybe i'll give it a try and see.

I always did a/b on cacti. Only time i did a STB i just run the cacti slices into a centrifuge juicer several times to yield a frothy creamy green milkshake. When all the frothing was gone and seived i was a clear green slime. I based this with NaOH and pulled with a blend of isopropyl and technical grade hexane in a plastic water bottle. Decanted and evaporated. Dissolved in some water and did two mini a/b cycles on it with dichloromethane and citric acid. I was left with a crystal clear freebase mescaline. Forgot about it for a Day went back to it to find it a white semi crystalline Mescaline freebase/mescaline carbonate blend. Added some citric acid to this and it fizzed a lot of co2. this tincture was the purest mescaline trip i had. It resembled MDMA a lot. Didn't really appreciate it the pure stuff much really.

The same bredgesii cacti pulled with different solvents brought a different kind of trip. A/b pulled with dichloromethane was the highest yielding and the most full spectrum experience. It was always divine. It felt like as you mixed every possible drug all together in one experience Only a dichloromethane left me with a persistent itchiness at the sole of my feet. Similar to the common morphine itchiness after come down.

Scariest and deepest and most alien like experience on mescaline was pulled with technical grade hexane. I traveled through time to first living cell and seen that evolve ever more complex until where we are now as humans and then traveled to future to see us become more like energy instead of a matter. I had the perception that ia am very very super smart i was even doing math in my head and testing my capabilities. Cars outside had this futuristic sounds they were alternating between matter and energy felt extremely real while am sat at a cafeteria outside nighttime sipping my tea witnessing all this..my hands are rotting with worms decaying then reconstructed and back fresh alive this went back and forth in cycles dying and coming back to live and me i was amused by this. Kids walking the streets were white glowing angels light. Sometimes i'd look down at my body and there is nothing am just a soul, then i look at my friend's body and i feel i am HIM! SUPER strange.. when he moves or says something i feel it's me doing all that! When i eat i feel like it's the body that's eating (not me) and this realization makes me giggle in amusement. Enjoying how great this feels to be dead and a wondering soul ..no warmth neither cold..not hungry neither full.. I don't walk i just float.

But i said it was scary because it tricked me at the end of the trip when i was coming down ..it picked back up intensely in a very frightening way.. i just seen a person who I really dislike who walked by and my anger was taking over the trip. I was frightened not from him but frightened from my anger and my thoughts of wanting to hurt him...it took all of my strength to fight these thoughts that i am a dangerous person who will commit some crime. I first isolated myself somewhere safe and turned the music loud.. songs about love and enjoying life.. about letting go and was sobbing shaking...wished anybody at the moment would reassure me that i am a nice person. I fought all this and fought and fought checking the time on my phone praying this trip will end soon. Till it was over...when it was over i was feeling VICTORIOUS..I was high feeling invincible feeling like i figured all my life out and to this day that trip was the highlight of all my experience with psychedelics and the most clear message i had from cacti

That message is: STOP WALLOWING IN HATE AND SEEKING REVENGE YOU MORON you don't even understand how powerful hate is and you really don't want to carry it.
Looking back at it now i realize that i was telling myself during the trip that i will forgive only because i was trying to calm myself to end the bad trip not that i have forgave for real. i feel as long as i don't forgive i may still have a similar experience if i see that person again while tripping.

I think i need to move this post to experience thread. My apologies for the mis-convinience. I just had This random flash back while am writing about the extraction. I hope you learnt something from this report. Never underestimate mescaline it's all a nice high and fun and it wraps it's arm around your shoulders like a good old friend showing about life till it one day smacks you across the face and tell you off about your stupidity and make you pee your pants.