This will be an on going report that needs feed back from y'all. The swimster is a noobie to working with San Pedro but not to mescaline. There will also be comments on the grow and advise needed. Y'all ready to play? Here is what is happening. Swim bought 4 12' cuttings. The tips were removed and will be planted when the ends seal. Then was cut into 4 inch pieces and used an apple corer/slicers to create wedge shape piece and remove the core. These are now drying in a garage on a sheet of paneling. Does this sound reasonable to you? How long do you think it will take to dry well enough to powder? Swim is planning on doing a alcohol extraction with the dried powder cactus. The dude was torn over what method to use. What do you think is the easiest method of extraction with the highest results? He likes the alcohol method because it is like the extraction he did of morning glories. Could or should he first soak the powder in naphtha then to the alcohol or is there any reason for that? The growing will be done with available materials. There is a bag of sand that will be mixed with a little Miracle Grow potting soil, a handful of fert thrown in, and some compost on the very bottom of the pot. Or just and fert? Does San Pedro grow in zone 8 outside? With the winters warm than normal this does not seem to be a problem. Let the comments and advice begin!
Lose the whole SWIM shit, you aren't fooling anybody. Did you peel the translucent skin off? Some say that increases nausea and contributes to the slime factor. What are you actually going for here, an extraction of mescaline or just a means of consumption without having to choke down cacti chunks. The fastest and most straight forward approach is to brew tea with it, cuttings don't have to be dry for that and will yield results in hours rather than days. Next would be the alcohol extraction. It takes a lot longer, but will yield an end product that can be put in capsules and consumed. Eliminates having to gag down some of the most noxious swill you'll ever taste. San Pedro is a very hardy cactus and people have grown it in many climates. You should have no problem with it as long as temps don't dip much below about 50-55. If it does get colder than that at night, plant them in pots that are portable and bring them inside in front of a sunny window. They also prefer morning sun as opposed to hotter afternoon sun. From what I've seen and read, cacti grown with full exposure to morning sun, but protected from direct afternoon sun fair better than all day exposure.
Thanks for the heads up on the swim thing. I thought it was stupid but another site you have no choice. No the skin was not peeled off. Didn't know To get the most bang for the buck which method works best? The alcohol method seems the easiest. Some methods require a lot of work but it may be worth it. The idea of using lye in some methods just didn't boil the crayfish.
If you don't want to endeavor to be a garage mad scientist, then I would go with the alcohol extraction. It's simple, the needed materials are readily available, and you don't have to glug down horrid tea, although I have always had good success with the tea, it just takes about a year to forget the taste. :ack2:
Back in the day before all the cattle pastures where gone around here we made shroom tea. Talk about bad, I still gag a little just thinking about the taste. About a 1 hour later your body was trying to rid itself of the foul brew that you had put in but then euphoria.
The cactus is drying rapidly because of the heat wave. I was wondering would it help remove some of the nastiness to soak in naphtha , dry out and then put in the alcohol?
I am still drying but forgot to tell you that I started with 2.9 lbs of SP slices. I let you know the dried amount. I think I will dry it for another week just to get it good and dry. Then it should be easier to blend into a powder.
