spotting the difference between TORCH and PEDRO (cacti)

[al-laddin]

How would one go about knowing which species is which. I mean physical characteristics. Feel free to include tactile and even taste. I want to know which ones I have been consuming over the years. Every single plant that I have consumed has given me a varied experience and Im trying to get to consistent level. So is there any surefire traits that can be identified ? And for those of you who have tried both can you confirm that San Pedro is a bit more dreamy /less visual and Peruvian torch is more stimulating and visual? This seems to be the general consensus as both plants contain different active alkaloids at varying levels based on species.

 

[al-laddin]

Oh another two questions for experienced users. Many say that mescaline has an MDMA like effect. Personally I don't have experience with mdma (by choice) but form what I understand mescaline does not release serotonin and has a completely different behavior on neuroreceptors so what about it is similar in effects?

Does anyone know if theres any concern to have about Kratom Alkaloids interacting with the cacti?

 

[Ballz_Trippington]

Peruvian Torch has long spines and San Pedro has very short spines. I find that low dose Mescaline has some similarities with MDMA but it's more of a general "Phenethylamine" type feel (as both chemicals belong to that classification of drugs) rather than being very comparable to MDMA.
I was against Ecstacy for many years until I began dating a girl that did E. Do I tried it with her and was shocked at how misinformed I was about the chemical. Pure E is pure Magick. Life changing stuff (for the better).

 

[Solipsis]

I thought Peruvian Torch is on average a bit more potent than San Pedro, and the secondary alkaloid make-up might be a little different.

MDMA and mescaline share certain qualities but not the superficial ones, rather the ones that make them beautifully therapeutic and thoroughly spiritually cleansing.

Beyond that probably too much to ask to have people try to differentiate between the trips though I welcome everyone to attempt that. Maybe the difference between peyote and column cacti is a better place to start, that would also be interesting.
And before that the basic distinction between pure mescaline and cacti.

 

[al-laddin]

Yeah ...Ive dated a few ladies that loved their E and always tried to get me to do it...even though one admitted she had been "permanently damaged" from it.. and continued to indulge once in awhile.....pitty too, a damn fine lookin tart she was.

I havnt yet found mescaline to be therapeutic at all.....it felt very recreational to me....and I have experienced doses high enough to be comparable to probably 200-300 ug Lucy. I love the cacti but I have yet to justify my use for anything but hedonistic pleasure

 

[Ballz_Trippington]

I thought Peruvian Torch is on average a bit more potent than San Pedro, and the secondary alkaloid make-up might be a little different.

MDMA and mescaline share certain qualities but not the superficial ones, rather the ones that make them beautifully therapeutic and thoroughly spiritually cleansing.

Beyond that probably too much to ask to have people try to differentiate between the trips though I welcome everyone to attempt that. Maybe the difference between peyote and column cacti is a better place to start, that would also be interesting.
And before that the basic distinction between pure mescaline and cacti.

I've grown out many different cuttings of P.Torch, San Pedro, and T. Bridgessii. I found that despite what you read on the internet, my San Pedro's and P.Torch's were comparable in potency. Though, I did have a seemingly stronger P.Torch cutting and an equally stronger San Pedro cutting. I think it depends on the specimen more than anything. I'm no longer confident in the notion that P.Torch tends to be stronger. However, I found the T.Bridgessii to be a bit of a more intoxicating trip and a bit more nauseous than the other two varieties. The best experience was achieved by combining 25g of each and eating them in gel caps. Very visual compared to all my other Trichocereus experiences! I also stress the fuck out of my cacti and regularly water deprive them til they look very sucked in then I soak em and they seem to burst with vigour after every distant watering (I only do this in winter). I don't know if this increased the alkloid content but read that it was supposed to so I did it and continue to do it with my Lophophora's.

 

[Ballz_Trippington]

Yeah ...Ive dated a few ladies that loved their E and always tried to get me to do it...even though one admitted she had been "permanently damaged" from it.. and continued to indulge once in awhile.....pitty too, a damn fine lookin tart she was.

I havnt yet found mescaline to be therapeutic at all.....it felt very recreational to me....and I have experienced doses high enough to be comparable to probably 200-300 ug Lucy. I love the cacti but I have yet to justify my use for anything but hedonistic pleasure

Hmmmm, I've never had a cacti trip that wasn't very spiritual or at least I've always felt that my cacti trips very much had a spiritual tone to them. This might also be because of my relationship with them growing them out and caring for them. I've never eaten cactus with the intent to simply have fun. I've always considered mescaline cacti as an entheogen and always treated it as such.

 

[Black]

Peruvian Torch has long spines and San Pedro has very short spines.

the length of the spines can vary wildly in the same plant. one of my cacti has 4cm long spines at the bottom and less than a cm long spines at the upper half. it's supposedly a san pedro.

 

[perpetualdawn]

I havnt yet found mescaline to be therapeutic at all.....it felt very recreational to me....and I have experienced doses high enough to be comparable to probably 200-300 ug Lucy. I love the cacti but I have yet to justify my use for anything but hedonistic pleasure

Hmmmm, I've never had a cacti trip that wasn't very spiritual or at least I've always felt that my cacti trips very much had a spiritual tone to them. This might also be because of my relationship with them growing them out and caring for them. I've never eaten cactus with the intent to simply have fun. I've always considered mescaline cacti as an entheogen and always treated it as such.

I've also found my cacti trips to have a spiritual tone. I've always ate cacti straight up, perhaps this process potentiates a spiritual trip? You have to focus your mind and calm your body in order to put the incredibly bitter cactus flesh into your body, you really face the alkyloids as they go in. I have to really focus on my breathing and center myself in order to not gag it up as I swallow, it's a spiritual challenge in a way. I suspect this ritual sets a person up for something of a spiritual trip.

Maybe the difference between peyote and column cacti is a better place to start

I find it hard to differentiate between the two, so many years passed between the times I ate the two sorts, and only 2 times with peyote, 3 times with San Pedro, so it's a small sample size. The main difference that I can be sure of is peyote is more insanely bitter and more potent. Subjectively, I can't point to any obvious difference between the two that I couldn't blame on differences in my headspaces at the times.

I'd really urge everyone not to seek wild peyote, either self-harvested or by someone else. This plant is really endangered in the wild now, because of over-harvesting and cattle ranching. But you can grow it easily at home! If you have a few decades to wait...

 

[luff]

Both were indistinguishable to me, though my experience was limited. Any difference I can pick out had more to do with preparation than anything else; got sick from cactus goo, way less sick from a powdered prep. Both were really "dreamy /less visual", compared to some other substances.

 

[Azure Cloud]

Like others have said, the lineage of the cacti matters more than the exact species in terms of potency (at least for pedro and torch, ime). A cutting from a potent mother is important. Only obtain from a well reviewed source.

The only other thing I can add is this: do you see the puppy dog in my avatar? He loved my San Pedro cores. I never feed them to him, but after I would harvest the green flesh then I would always compost the white cores. Man I could not stop him from digging out the tailings and eating that shit. Ha ha ha, he would trip balls right along with me. I am not into dosing animals but he did it to himself over and over again. I know that he knew what he was doing because that stuff tastes like pure shit. He would sit there and stare a spot on the wall for hours..... I miss my Frodo

 

[al-laddin]

HHHAHAHAH^^^ Awesome Pup you had ! I found a local cactus nursery! And this guy had some of the most beautiful cacti I had ever scene !! And his cuttings were very inexpensive and They were already in pots ready to go .....I found a very nice torch cutting. I have heard that the torch is downplayed so that people wont seek it out and that it often is far stronger than pedro. Same with Bridgesii, it only recently is getting attention because many people wanted it to remain a secret.

By the way this cacti deal had a plant of monstrosa pachonoi growing....It was freaky and amazing looking.

 

[al-laddin]

I can vouch for this happening with other plants/chems ....there was a kratom strain that was downplayed so i avoided it for a long time but decided to give it a go eventually. I found that 1-2 grams of it was as potent as 6-8 grams of the strongest bali. Later I found out that people were doing this to get there own grubby hands on it hahah!

Also I wanted to add that the strongest pedro trip I had physically felt like a millions small lady hands massaging my whole body. It was quite beautiful. And perhaps did feel devine....but I believe that the ego shattering component was not there which is what I usually equate to spiritual. Perhaps I higher dose is necessary for the ego dissalution with the cacti.

 

[Azure Cloud]

Ibut I believe that the ego shattering component was not there which is what I usually equate to spiritual. Perhaps I higher dose is necessary for the ego dissalution with the cacti.

San Pedro is a gentle teacher. I have no idea of how many feet/meters would be required for extraction if ego loss is the experience one is looking for.

 

[logansquare]

"gentle teacher" is a good way to put it. I like that. Can you tell me Azure, if you know if it loses any potency after being frozen?
gracias, also i can't imagine how much of it you would have to take for "ego loss". i'm sure there are better alternatives.

 

[al-laddin]

Haha YOu guys are missing the point. Im not really looking for ego loss with this compound. I was merely commenting that it hasnt felt THAT spiritual to me and compounds that due have a spiritual characher to them tend to induce ego softening/death in me. Thats just my experience. Im hoping to get a more soiritual effect from the torch . We shall see soon enough.

 

[Solipsis]

Mescaline type drugs do not lose potency when you freeze them, but you should not freeze any cactus that still contains water like fresh cactus. If dried it must be absolutely cracker dry from an oven or desiccant. Otherwise the freeze-thaw process will burst cells and you will have a nasty goo on your hands.

 

[Azure Cloud]

Solipsis is correct. Don't freeze fresh cacti. The extract is nasty enough with out adding such complications.

The great thing about making a tea out of the extract is that the combustion and vaporization temp of mescaline is higher than the temp of boiling water, so you can minimize the volume of a large extraction (the nasty stuff) pretty easily.

Or so I've read. I was always to scared about losing potency so I always steeped at just sub boiling temps. Also performing one extraction with slightly acidic water and one with slightly basic water would ensure a greater yield of psycho active compounds (there are several in the cacti, not just mescaline. Torch is different from Pedro because it contains a different psycho active profile).

Eating the cacti raw always reminded me of crab legs for some reason....bitter fucking crab legs.

 

[al-laddin]

Hey guys, I just tasted a teensy bit of flesh from a cactus and it wasnt bitter Im guessing that it may be a look alike. Has anyone ever had an active cacti that was not bitter?

 

[al-laddin]

I know one of the ways I would know that a cactus was san pedro was to stab it and taste the juice. Bitter=we have a winner this one doesnt have a sharp bitterness