So I have a strange little san pedro that wanted to give up its life as a 5 rib cactus and transform into a 4 rib. Has this ever happened to anyone before? the 5th rib just stopped growing and the 4 have grown a inch or so past it now. Also it grew some very srange spikes that look like roots or something but I have no clue what they are, hopefully someone can enlighten me on what they are.

San Pedro? That looks a lot more like a bridgesii to me... Though I have heard "San Pedro" used in reference to bridgesii as well. Ambiguity can be a pain...

What an interesting cactus, I have never seen one "outgrow" one of its ribs. Those little spikes look like they are probably root buds.

Cool specimen! Better hang on to that one!

Some say the four-ribbed ones are considered very lucky and are highly prized. Whatever way, very cool

definetly looks like bridgesii

Nice bridge. I've got a couple that do the 4 sided thing from time to time.

aerial roots. nice cactus!

thanks everybody yes i think you guys are right on this being a bridgessii. I got this guy with acouple of 6 packs of "san pedro" seedlings so ive just guessed on it until now.

I have also heard that the 4 rib is highly prized as well i guess this one was just ready to transform early. Im curious to see what it does over this next year, this be most of my cactis first year of serious big growth so im super duper excited

and ariel roots? thats weird but sounds like the most apropriate title for the alien appendeges

4 ribbed usually points towards it being etiolated/unhealthy ime. Sellers like to market 4 ribbed plants as "4 winds" so they can make some extra cash. But in reality dropping rib count usually just means that it's unhealthy. Sometimes semi-monstrose bridgesii drop/add ribs a lot though. The aerial roots are also pointing towards it not being in the best state. It's searching for nutrients.

I have had a couple bridgesii go down to 4 ribs when they weren't getting enough light. Then they continued to grow that way even after giving it adequate light, but if i were to cut the tip and let it pup the pups wouldn't be 4 ribbed.

Here's an example. This seedling started getting etiolated because it wasn't getting enough nutes/light. I then grafted it. It continued this 4 ribbed trait. But it is no indicator of anything special. Like I said it is just a result of it being unhealthy in most cases. Unless it's a semi monstrose or the melted wax clone. But yours does not look like it.

As for the aerial roots it's an indicator that there isn't enough water in my experience.

I have a couple extremely healthy beasts of bridgesii that are 4 sided. It can be a genetic trait. It carries some significance in the Andean traditions. Plus just kinda a novelty.

Yeah. Mine is pretty healthy now and it's still 4 ribbed. But if you were to take any of those 4 ribbed plants and cut them then they most likely wont have 4 ribbed pups (unless it's a melted wax bridgesii). I honestly believe that it was mostly hyped by sellers to make more money of 4 ribbed plants and they're doing a great job of it. There isn't really anything special about most of them. I think all bridgesii have this trait to occasionally go down to 4 ribbed in certain situations like etiolation and general ill health. The only trichs i've had go down to 4 ribbed were bridgesii for some reason. I guess scopulicola does this too sometimes. I have a semi monstrose brigesii that is 4 ribbed at the moment, but it adds and drops ribs regularly. That one actually has some special genetics, but most of the 4 ribbed plants that i've seen marketed as "4 winds" don't.

Mine started as 4 sided and changed to 5. It has since pupped a VERY fat column that is 4 sided.

The other one was given to me by a friend and is huge in a 20 gallon pot and throws the occasional 4 sided column. I wouldn't describe it as monstrose per se, but it does occasionally shift numbers as many trichos will from time to time.

I agree that many vendors may hype this, but I also would say that there is such a thing as an extremely healthy 4 sided bridgesii, because I have a couple of them.

I see. That's how mine is and it's a semi-monstrose. I'm guessing yours is too. By the way, do you have any links to info about the Andean myths of the cactus of the four winds?

http://www.elmundomagico...actus-of-the-four-winds/

I wonder if the reason it is so highly regarded is simply because it is bridgesii which is known to be generally much more active than other trichos, and from my bioassay experiments, a different feel. I could see bridgesii being not super common in Peru as they are mainly native to Bolivia from what I understand.

Yeah, bridgesii are found in Bolivia. But at any rate, if somebody showed me a 4 ribbed pachanoi i'd be impressed, but it's fairly common with bridgesii.

Is it really even clear that they were talking about bridgesii when they mention the cactus of the four winds, or is it just in general just 4 ribbed trichocereus?

Im pretty sure four ribbed cacti have been revered longer than there have been online vendors of them.

In many of the ancient art the san pedro are depicted with four ribs, representing the four winds.

San pedro is after all called the cactus of the four winds!

I have a 4 ribbed bridgesii that is fat with 4 ribs at the bottom, and it etoiliated at the top and became skinnier, but picked up 3 ribs in the process.... .

Ive heard several things about 4 ribbed cacti, both that they are great luck, and highly sacred, and also that they are "specifically for excorcism, and cause visions of hell"

who knows

I would guess bridgesii simply because I've never seen any others besides scopes do the 4 sided things, and I've always heard scopes are usually very low potency.

Maybe the four ribbed ones could be more active because they have less spines and therefore are more prone to predators. The cactus could produce more alkaloids to scare them off.
Imo that makes more sense than that they are more active because of a sacred four winds story.

That is if they are more active. I don't think there is real scientific data on that assumption.

Anyhow that 4 ribbed cactus is a nice one!