That was my concern as well.

My first pachanoi was "cactus-Kate" brand, and after an early bioassay on the first arm it sprouted activity was confirmed.

The second Pachanoi came from a friend who swears that they are "powerful medicine" and assured me it's a true Pachanoi.

Whoever runs sacred cactus seems to be in a feud with keeper trout over this issue, ...I'm not sure what to make of it...

http://troutsnotes.com/pachanot/
Above link is trouts take on it....


Below is sacred cactus


Seriously though, all this really has discouraged me from pachanoi...

I think bridgesii, peruvianus, or macrogonus would be more certain options, and it would save you from entering the "pachanoi vs. Pachanot" debate...

-eg

These pictures are of the pup that was potted with one of the large potted stalks.

This pup displays glaucous features with blue green color, it was suggested that I wait until my pups become glaucous before I clone, so I figured I would post an example.

The others are just random shots of this same stalk, I really have not been documenting it as thoroughly as the others...

-eg

A new pup sprouted from the stalk with the "long arm", brining this stalks total to 3 New pups and a long arm.

I took a few updated pictures of the largest pups, which were first budding when I started this thread, but which have become quite large, as well as the two newer pups on that same stalk, which look like bloated lophophora buttons growing into each other.

I also found 2 little white mushrooms growing in my trichocereus cacti soil, I started an individual thread on that topic, but I'll still put a picture.

-eg

Saludos
Check this 5 months pup.

My pups have been sprouting up and growing large very very quickly...when I first started this thread there were only two pups just starting to form, now, I'm up to 6 fairly large pups...



-eg

Yessss!

Lavish them with love and you surely will be rewarded. It's prime growing season over here and daily growth is visible. Misting 3 or 4 times daily they really seem to love. Over the years a few of my specimens have needed nursing back from what seemed like the brink of death - this has proven to be highly instructive; certainly this highlights the futility of worrying about these plants!

So activity has been confirmed for at least one of your specimens? Have you described a procedure for this anywhere? Mine were recently tested and it appears that 12" per person would be quite sufficient...
This was after leaving them for a year after harvesting (the cut stems, that is).

The piece I tested was about the diameter of a pop-can, and was nearly 12 inches tall. I removed the spines, then proceeded to chop the cactus into "stars", where the woody core was removed from each "star", the remaining cactus flesh was placed in a blender with a small amount of water, I then ate the resulting mush, it wasn't as bad as I thought, I took about an hour to eat it all...

I didn't want to mess around with teas or extracts...I wanted to simply "eat the cactus like a cucumber", but was advised against this, and was told to prepare the "mush".

Activity was definantly confirmed.

As for the other cactus, the person I got it from assured me it was "powerful", but I personally can't say.

-eg

The stalk that your pup is sprouting from looks like a genuine Pachanoi, very rounded in shape, glaucus blue/green flesh, deep set areoles, short spines...good stuff...

It can be very hard to tell these apart, the best way involves the flowers, pachanot has very hairy flower-base...

Though as I pointed out before, there is dispute of the "pachanot theory", personally I trust K. Trout, his publications have been an amazing resource for me, and have thus far been very accurate, but then I see things like this:

Honestly though, this person seems very angry with trout personally, and seems to attack trout more than his theory...

It looks like this guy's entire store of cacti were shown to be "pachanot", and he took it hard...

But honestly I can't weigh in on the situation, I don't know either party or what transpired between them...

I still keep trouts pachanot theory in mind, though I have seen true Pachanoi cacti display pachanot features and vis versa, I think the flower may be the "acid-test" in this situation, the low-mescaline USA grown "pachanot" will have long grey hairs covering the base of the flower, where true Pachanoi will have a smooth flower base or short dark hairs. ( Picture attached )

Though what it really comes down to is mescaline content...

Both Pachanoi and pachanot produce mescaline, the main difference seems to be the quantity produced...

Again, I really can't say what the deal is here, in my case I had to actually bioassay my cactus before I could be satisfied that it was in fact an Entheogenic Pachanoi, as for my other Pachanoi, I was promised it was "powerful" by a trusted friend.

...This is why I'm deciding to only go for macrogonus, peruvianus, or bridgesii from now on, avoiding this whole issue

I trust trout and appreciate all the work he has put in, I'm not saying this means he is always correct, but I am saying that based on the work he has done his opinion is valuable, I'm not sure who this other person is who he is in this dispute with, though this other person does attack trout more than his theory...

I don't know what to make of it all...but if I'm going to go out of my way to purchase a cactus, I'm going to buy another trichocereus to avoid this concern. Though if I come across a pachanoi or am giving one I will gladly care for it.

What do you guys think of the whole pachanot/Pachanoi debate?

I also see some ceaspitose lophs in your collection, no?

Interesting cactus set up...it's hard to tell from the photos, but that stalk on its side looks like a true Pachanoi, good stuff.

-eg

Thanks for your attention
All of the wachumas under my care came originally from 2 pups brought from Cuzco, Peru. It was some 20 or so years ago.
I dont think any of my lophos are caespitosa, been taking care of them for over ten years now and havent seen the kind of growing usually related to the caepitosa species. Only williamsii, frici and a couple of difussas.
About the setting: well I´m also a stone/crystals collector so both hobbies correlate here.

Updated pictures

(I only had a chance to upload and post these real.quick and have not seen any responses yet, I'll reply when I'm done working and have the time, for now I decided to.quickly upload some photos of the progress of my cacti growth.)

-eg

That stalk is having issues again though, it may be a little hard to tell from the picture, but there are some orange color spots on part of the stalk that are concerning me...the pups seem to be fine, but the stalk...This stalk has had a hard life, and it's managed to pull through, so I hope I'll be able to help it...

-eg

It's a cool set up.

I knew the trich looked like it had the features which trout describes as true Pachanoi, your lucky to know for sure the origin.

As for the lophs, I only speculated they were caespitose (growing in clusters) because of the two lophs growing in very close proximity...but yeah, I can see how I could be in error.

I have a caespitose loph, and some standard williamsii as well, I'm no expert, but I do my best.

-eg

Yet another pup is starting to form! Look close, at the very end of this stalk next to two other large pups, a new pup is beginning to emerge from an areole!

8th pup this season! And the 5th pup on that stalk!

-eg

The bottom pup on "the long arm" stalk has 7 ribs!

On the other stalk it goes: 6 rib pup then a 5 rib pup, the other two pups further up the stalk follow this pattern, first a 6 rib, then a 5.

But I git a 7 rib pup on the long arm stalk...

Still no 4 rib yet...

-eg

It's hard to tell from the pictures but I'd be suspicious of this being red spider mite damage. Looking closely, can you see any tiny orange specks moving around? Are the orange patches slowly spreading up the cactus?

These would be the tell-tale signs of red spider mite. People suggest spraying with soap solution in that instance. I just mist regularly with plain tap water (as you have probably gathered by now - and this is the reason why!) but if you live in a hard water area it would be advisable to use distilled or deionised water.

Really though, it's all looking rather good. If you pot them on as cuttings you'll soon have more cacti than you know what to do with

Not spider mites, thank God.

I'm thinking it's time to change the soil, that orange patch showed up around the same time as the mushrooms...

It's doing good, just some discoloration...I'm still concerned, but the threat seems minimal as of now...


-eg

Having seen a few more older cacti of late, I'd like to mention it's worth bearing in mind that the bases of older cacti lose their green colour and become woody. Perhaps what you are seeing could be part of this process.

here's a pic of one:

Who knows, I'll get a better picture if I can.

It looks like a spot on the skin just turned orange, like under the surface...

I'm constantly doing research, and have not had much time to devote to figuring this out.

I figured so long as the pups looked good, and so long as the Orange was not spreading, I could just leave it alone until I know what it is and what to do...

-eg

Just some photos documenting growth...

Keep in mind that there were only two pups just beginning to brake through when this thread started...

I got a picture of the of the new pup forming, as well as the progress of the pups on the long arm stalk.

In the picture where you can see the full "long arm" you can see the stalk with 4.5 pups on it, however if you look at the long arm stalk you can see these pups poking up from the corner, it is disappointing that I can't get all my pups in a single photo, but you can almost see them all in the picture being discussed, I'll post this picture first.

-eg

The stalk with the discoloration turned to liquid...

I numbed into the base of the cactus, and it moved like wet paper, so I took a razor and cut it open, mush, green liquid, ...bummer.

I saved all the pups and eventually re-potted them.

Then I saved any usable cacti matter.

I ate a 3" slice of cactus, very bitter, possible threshold effect, though this may have been purely psychosomatic, possibly associated with the taste of alkaloids.

Any way, rest in piece damaged cactus stalk, may your pups grow strong and live long.

-eg