Hello all, I was hoping some cacti aficionados out there might be able to give me some advice on a couple of San Pedro cacti I have just bought. They are looking a little pale green / yellow-ish and Im wondering if I should try to get them healthy before I attempt any extractions. Is it likely that their apparently unhealthy condition will mean they have a lower mescaline content than they otherwise might?

Im thinking I should give them a feed with some cacti fertiliser? Is there anything else I can do?

My climate in SE Aus is cool temperate, we are currently getting temps around 10-17 Celcius, lots of overcast days, not much sunshine.


For the record, I plan to attempt a couple of A/B extractions using Citric Acid, NaOH and Xylene. It will be my first time attempting these kind of extractions. I will need to prepare dried powder from the fresh san pedro and I am currently researching the best way for doing this.

Thanks for any advice.


Here are some images:

Hey man thanks for the link and info. Thats some useful info about growing San Pedro on that website. I know that they dont like direct hot sunlight.

I guess what Im really wondering is: are those yellowish looking sections of SP likely to have low mescalin content? If not then Ill just chop em and start preparing to to do some extractions now. Or alternativeky, if giving them a feed and getting them nice and green and healthy will help alkaloid content, then Ill take the time to do that.

Cheers again.

My babes get allot of direct sun. They aren't as dark green as some some that I bought from the guy who's site was linked. They are not yellow though, not even close to the color of your guys there.

If you read through verne's site, he will tell you to upsize the pots. Brush any compacted soil off the roots (gentle) and repot with fresh loose well blended quick draining soil.

As for alk content... I can't say for sure. But, you could always do an experiment and let us know. Gram for gram, which had better content.

Phlux posted a great cactus prep tek. Dry out the result in the sun of a food dehydrator. Then into a coffee grinder.

Do nit put it in a grinder unless it is bone dry. Otherwise you will have a green caked on mess.

Just noticed the weeds and grass growing in the pot. Repot your new friends!!! Happy plants.

Hey Madcap, cheers for your advice. I think I will try to get these guys a bit healthier before I cut some pieces off for extractions. I will repot them and give them a very light feed with fertiliser, then wait a couple weeks and hopefully they will get a nicer green colour.

And thanks for the heads-up on Phlux's preparation tek. I found it: https://www.dmt-nexus.me....aspx?g=posts&t=9693

This is exacatly the type of info I have been looking for. I knew I needed to get the waxy skin off and separate the green flesh from the core, but a detailed step-thru with images like Phlux has done makes the process much easier to follow. I will follow Phlux's tek to prepare the fresh cactus, then dry it and powder it. I plan to make an 'extraction log' with pics, because it will be my first extraction and if i document it, then it will be easy to get help if I screw it up.

Cant wait , Im gradually getting together the various reagents and equipment I need.

Hey man.

Yeah when I first got mine they were in a bad way, and I was devastated at losing 2 of the 6 I purchased, this shocked me into action.
I basically gave them alot of natural fertiliser, any fish containing ones are great for cacti (seagro especially) but mine tend to like the stuff that you get from earthworm farms. Just remember to dilute sufficiently. then all they need is a steady amount of water - I now people go on about over watering cacti, but the bottom line is that they are full of water so if they are yellow, and soft/squishy to the tough then they need some fattening up, and water will do this.

The sun thing is one of my main concerns as I live in a exceedingly hot climate during summer, which yellows them alot, but yeah shade cloth does the trick, why not construct a wooden frame you can move when you want? Although as you say its overcast at the moment, so I wouldn't worry too much.

All they really need is love, food, water, and a constant eye.

Hope everything turns out alright with your babies.

Following some good advice from helpful Nexians, I decided to repot my San Pedro to get them nice and healthy before I do some extractions.

Here's how they were when I bought them. A bit weedy, yellowish and in need of more root space.



Got myself a couple of larger sized pots.



Prepared a mixture of Perlite, propogation sand and good quality potting mix.





They weren't really root bound, but you can see where the roots were coming up against the sides of the pot.



Teased the roots out a bit with a hand fork.



Finished, although I have decided I need to get another larger pot like the one on the left, as the smaller of the two wasn't really that much bigger than the original.

the old dirt looks like, well dirt- no wonder they look starved.

i'd bare root them, get rid of all the crappy dirt

your new soil mix looks good, as long as the pots drain freely you are in bizness

Well, you can't tell from the pics but they were originally potted straight into scoria (which is like a crushed up, porous rock. Good for drainage, but not good for holding nutrients I dont think which would explain their yellowish colour; under nourished!!!)

So I knocked alot of the scoria off the roots and mixed it up with the soil I prepared. After I potted them I gave em a few handfuls of all purpose pellet fertiliser too... Now sit back and wait a month or so and hopefully they will green up a bit.

In the mean time, Im thinking I might chop a greener section off the larger of the two to do a mesc extraction