Hello all, a bit about me,
I am a botanist ans plantsman and avid Lophophora collector and it was upon reading a few of the articles and questions raised here that has made me join , a so i can help straighten a few queries out but also so i can share with you all my beloved plants and experiences.
I have grown Lophophora since i was 13 (started early) and my collection consists of plants sourced from all over the globe and the UK and it includes a few rare ones/ one offs.
I am a nurseryman by day and im in my greenhouse of an evening too, what can i say i eat sleep breath it. Cant wait to be able to construct some more indepth posts as time goes on and thanks for having me here, Love n light Mesc

Nice peyote you got there. What other (psychoactive) plants do you keep?

Welcome to the Nexus Koehres, its good to have you

I'm interested in growing some cacti and I am also in the UK so any tips you have would be great.

Welcome to the nexus from another soul in the same country..

Having a few certain cacti growing is something I am planning for (after a future move) so am always happy to learn more in the meantime on how to nurture and treat them with respect

Peace

Thanks, I do have Pelecyphora, and all manner of different lophophora, I use Trichocereus but only for grafting but this is something i only recently did through boredom and wanted to get s few lopho's big quick so i can try my hand at degrafting them. I have grown all sorts of psycoactive plants like Datura, Salvia, Morning glory and so on but never had the guts to try them if i am honest.

Lopho's (lophophora) are easy but slow. Few important things to remember
Soil : We cactophiles all have our own formulas but this is just what works for me, i will say my mix can stay moist for over a week if i water heavy but i only do this in the greenhouse when it is going to be HOT!
They hate acidity so try and avoid peat as a growing medium , I use a 50/50 mix of washed sharp sand or river sand as it drains well and a loam (soil) based growing medium like John-Innes and then i add a small quantity of crushed limestone to give them the calcium they enjoy but you can use crushed shells or even garden lime but be careful not to over do it.
Oh and do not give them too big a pot they don't mind being a bit snug in the pot either and too big a pot can mean too much moisture kicking about that the plant just does not need.

Water: Watering is for me governed by the forecast for the week ahead a single watering a week i find is ample, and i only use fertilizer once a month as i have had plants split wide open or even go hollow through over feeding so a week feed once a month seems to work well for me.
The most important rule when it comes to watering is : No water from September until March (In the UK), Risk a late watering and you run the risk of them being wet when temperatures drop and this can be an expensive mistake especially if an early frost hits them.

Light: I have found (Through living here and there) that lopho's will adapt to most light conditions as long as its not too dark but they grow for me the best in a full sun aspect in as warm a place as you can provide. I have even had days in my green house where it looked as though they had cooked and the skins started to lift away and wrinkle up but after a few days they were back to normal (Since then i ensure i have a vent open to let out the excessive heat and this also stops them sweating in the greenhouse.

Pests: I use 99.9% Alcohol to treat a pest when i have any and i apply it to the whole plant roots and all, this will tackle even the worst cacti pests such as root mealy, Mealy bugs, and the dreaded spider mites.
I will say this regarding cacti pests, I was once a grower that only watered my Lopho's around the sides , being careful not to wet the fluffy wool but a serious bout of spider mite followed by a visit to a large and award winning English cactus grower changed all this. I noticed he watered all his plants overhead (like rain) and his plants were spotless and not a hint of mite to be seen, so i started doing this also. Now granted i am not going to win any prizes for the fluffiest cactus anymore but my plants now are all well on the way to recovery and have put good growth on (especially this year) and i have not seen a spider mite since watering in this way so a good lesson there.

Winter: In winter all my lopho's go into my spare bedroom and have to manage with less light and no water until the warm times return. I have had no problems with ettoilation due to low light. The following spring they return to the greenhouse but are covered with a shade net to help them adjust to the increased amounts of sunlight but after a week or so this is removed and off they grow

I hope i have not made it sound too complex, really they are easy as long as you stick to the rules , Happy growing .

Hi 3rdI, i hope you dont mind but i will paste what i replied to Zenspice with as you both had the same reply , please dont take this as me being idle

Lopho's (lophophora) are easy but slow. Few important things to remember
Soil : We cactophiles all have our own formulas but this is just what works for me, i will say my mix can stay moist for over a week if i water heavy but i only do this in the greenhouse when it is going to be HOT!
They hate acidity so try and avoid peat as a growing medium , I use a 50/50 mix of washed sharp sand or river sand as it drains well and a loam (soil) based growing medium like John-Innes and then i add a small quantity of crushed limestone to give them the calcium they enjoy but you can use crushed shells or even garden lime but be careful not to over do it.
Oh and do not give them too big a pot they don't mind being a bit snug in the pot either and too big a pot can mean too much moisture kicking about that the plant just does not need.

Water: Watering is for me governed by the forecast for the week ahead a single watering a week i find is ample, and i only use fertilizer once a month as i have had plants split wide open or even go hollow through over feeding so a week feed once a month seems to work well for me.
The most important rule when it comes to watering is : No water from September until March (In the UK), Risk a late watering and you run the risk of them being wet when temperatures drop and this can be an expensive mistake especially if an early frost hits them.

Light: I have found (Through living here and there) that lopho's will adapt to most light conditions as long as its not too dark but they grow for me the best in a full sun aspect in as warm a place as you can provide. I have even had days in my green house where it looked as though they had cooked and the skins started to lift away and wrinkle up but after a few days they were back to normal (Since then i ensure i have a vent open to let out the excessive heat and this also stops them sweating in the greenhouse.

Pests: I use 99.9% Alcohol to treat a pest when i have any and i apply it to the whole plant roots and all, this will tackle even the worst cacti pests such as root mealy, Mealy bugs, and the dreaded spider mites.
I will say this regarding cacti pests, I was once a grower that only watered my Lopho's around the sides , being careful not to wet the fluffy wool but a serious bout of spider mite followed by a visit to a large and award winning English cactus grower changed all this. I noticed he watered all his plants overhead (like rain) and his plants were spotless and not a hint of mite to be seen, so i started doing this also. Now granted i am not going to win any prizes for the fluffiest cactus anymore but my plants now are all well on the way to recovery and have put good growth on (especially this year) and i have not seen a spider mite since watering in this way so a good lesson there.

Winter: In winter all my lopho's go into my spare bedroom and have to manage with less light and no water until the warm times return. I have had no problems with ettoilation due to low light. The following spring they return to the greenhouse but are covered with a shade net to help them adjust to the increased amounts of sunlight but after a week or so this is removed and off they grow
Happy growing bud

Oh Man! That is special!

I hadn't a clue about "Lophophora" but I duly Wiki'd it and look what I learned.

Plus, in a few paragraphs you explained all your hard earned knowledge about Lophophora and for that...a big thank you. Inspiring stuff.

May I ask...what's in a name "Koehres"?

I am also in the UK.

We love our cacti...we do now!!!

Hi, nice yote!

Do you only grow them or also consume them?

I have eaten them many moons ago but my big plants are like family to me , some of these i have had for over 21 years now so to eat those would to me be wrong, they are like family.

Hi bud, many thanks for your kind words, Any help you need just give me a shout My names Steve BTW ( When im not in the greenhouse anyways lol). Once the site admin decide im ok i look forward to a bid post about all my lophophora, it will be nice to do a full rundown of the genus and even show the differences between the sub-species but until then that will have to wait. Kind regards Steve

I have eaten them many moons ago but my big plants are like family to me , some of these i have had for over 21 years now so to eat those would to me be wrong, they are like family.

Hi Koehres,

and welcome to the DMT-Nexus!

Thanks for your post on how to properly take care of cacti - I actually acquired several Loph. plants about a week ago, so your info on how to grow these gems is very welcomed.



You know, this is a forum devoted to the responsible use of entheogens (Lophophora/pyote/mescaline, but also other entheogens like DMT :wink, therefore we don´t only plant our "allies", we alco consume them in orther to learn from the knowledge they transmit/catalyse; so that you know where your questions "whether you´ve also eaten them" come from

I also think I will never be able/willing to "eat" the peyote plants I started to grow recently... But I hope I will be able to do so with the Trichocereus cacti I have been growing for some time now...

Looking forward to learning from your further posts

Welcome aboard Koehres!

Good to have another Lophophora enthusiast joining up and I understand fully when you say that the plants you've had for a long time become like family. I've had 6 growing for about 15 years and they will, barring disasters, outlive me.

Any interest in DMT?

Once more, welcome!

Welcome aboard, good work my friend. I am just getting back into cacti growing after a nearly two hear hiatus. My garden will now be a permanent fixture, as I have the space and means to conserve and expand it. I shall look forward to your future contributions.

Peace

Macre