Hello everyone. I've been doing a lot of thinking about cactus, and how to recognize potency.
Now I have limited experience... but building from the experience of others, as well as my own, it seems to me that the darker the green flesh - the more potent the specimen. I've taste-tested (I do understand that bitterness is only a rough estimate of alkaloid concentration) numerous Trichocerei, and without fail - darkness corresponded to bitterness, bitterness indistinguishable from alkaloid bitterness. It's also known that plants that are shaded (in general) will increase their chlorophyll content to absorb a higher ratio of the lesser ambient light. I posit that the increased chlorophyll content correlates with increased mescaline content.
Maybe the plants use this mescaline as an extra energy storage system, as a result of lower daily energy intake? If that's the case, then the Gibbs Free Energy of the mescaline reactions should shed some light on this theory. I do not have this data. If somebody would be so kind as to show this to me, I'd be very grateful. If mescaline was used for energy storage, then it should provide energy when it's enzymatically broken down into whatever it's broken down into.
I've also read of shade-stressing, where the plant is stressed by growing it in the shade for a year. This is probably the same thing. Although I think the stressing theory usually invokes 'plant defenses' to explain increased content. I've also noticed on my pachanoi that they become glaucous on the shaded portion of the plant. I'm unsure of the reason for this. I have also known peruvianus plants in full-ish sun to become highly glaucous. I suspect that is more a genetic trait though. If someone knows more I'd appreciate the input.
So some pictures of dark plants (which also happen to be described as very potent plants):
Photo showing a Pachanoi (2nd from right) with 4 other cacti employed by Peruvian shamans as "San Pedro".
This pachanoi was quantitively tested to be very potent. Information at image source.
This is Teo's favourite peruvianus clone.
This is Phlux's potent clone.
This is some of my pachanoi. This appears to be quite a potent clone. It was originally grown behind a south-facing wall, in the southern hemisphere. If I'm not mistaken, this is the position which will receive the LEAST sunlight of all four walls of the house. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
This was also one of my cactuses. It was extremely weak. It's very light in colour... I don't know how this one was grown. But it looks quite sun-damaged, and I suspect that's the reason for it's inferior potency.
Now what I am fully unsure of is if simply moving a full-sun grown plant into the shade will increase it's potency, or if it needed to be originally grown in the shade. If anyone has any plants that they know to be highly potent that were grown in full-sun, can you please post pictures? Or just simply pictures of highly-potent clones. Thank you very much.
