I'll say first off, I am not entirely new to cactus. I've had a few mildly successful and two very successful trips with pedro and torch.

My first question is this:
Has anyone noticed or found any documentation on the potency of skin color? I was thinking the darker the green skin, perhaps the more potent. The skin I mean is the second layer just after the hard waxy outer skin. I wondered this because I was preparing a cactus yesterday and part of it had been damaged and had large sections of scab, where the under skin was light and in some places almost not green at all. I know this is probably due to a lack of sunlight and chlorophyll production.

It seems to me the darker green means more potency, since higher amounts of mescaline are found in the outer skin, which is the green part. But also, the higher mescaline could just be attributed to the fact that the plant makes mescaline in its skin.

Which brings me to my next point:

I have read various things about stressing cactus to increase yield. Things like keeping them in the dark, withholding water (would have to wait a while for that one!), and others. Does anyone have any first-hand experience with the results of this?

Finally, for now, what is an average dose in weight? I know most folks go by length, but I have some Pedros that are about 5 inches wide, and some that are barely 3. That's a huge difference in overall mass per length. I read that Mew said 3 feet of Achuma was a most intense trip, but Achuma is often skinny compared to others, especially Torch.

I know it's a crap-shoot as far as potency goes, at least for Pedro and Torch, but I really wish the standard measurement was by mass, and not length.

I have heard that with some plants like the peruvianoids and pachanoids that the darker ones tend to be stronger, but with bridgesii this is not the case, but I know of no formal studies.

Some form of stressing do seem to work, but again more study is needed.

If you have a good and well grown clone then you need about half a lb, or a bit over 200g fresh for full effects, many other clones take about 2-4X this amount.

Thanks ALbertKLloyd!
Perhaps if I get the time, I may do some analysis of the effects of stressing. It wouldn't be too hard, I think.

Another thing I was wondering about was tasting it. I know people taste the pulp after making tea, and if it is not bitter any more then the pulp has been well used. So would this same logic apply to tasting the cactus before hand? I'm thinking of having two unknown cacti, and doing a comparative taste test, and if one is markedly more bitter than the other, could it be assumed that it is more potent?

I have this exact scenario right now. I skinned two cacti yesterday, and one does seem a bit more bitter than the other. My problem as far as testing goes, is I don't have much money. If I have cactus, I like to make tea or resin instead of extracting. I don't have enough of each to really trip from, and the body's reaction can vary from day to day.

I guess maybe the best idea is just have the idea of "you get what you get." I really like cactus, but it is so much trickier than mushrooms or DMT.

Bitter can count for a lot, however there are issues with it.

Some poorly soluble and not especially active alkaloids can be bitter, and so can some other somewhat inactive alkaloids. Some weak strains/clones are very bitter. This makes it all complicated.

Still many of the stronger clones (not all) are usually bitter.
Since it does not give us much information bitterness tests tend to indicate further testing is needed.

I have used them myself but consider them inconclusive. I have done this extensively, however and have observed a lot of changes in bitterness and flavor due to various treatments and storage methods.

Very interesting....That's kind of what I was thinking, as well.

I guess we'll just see. I have quite a few different cacti from different genes. I have a decent torch clone I made my last batch from, but that one is only about 12 inches tall now, after I ate about 2 feet, so I'll have to wait for that one until next year.

I was kind of thinking I'd brew it all up together and kind of diversify. Maybe some strong ones, maybe some weak ones, but I should still get some decent trips.