I'm planning to buy three 12" cuttings. Just can't decide between Pedro or Torch? Any thoughts on potency?
i've always heard that peruvian torch is usually capable of being quite a bit more potent than san pedro. of course due to things like location, how they've been cared for, genetics, etc., some san pedros may still be more potent than t. peruvianus.
--“Mescaline has been found in 12 species of Trichocereus, the highest concentration in T. peruvianus.” To support this, Ott cites the only published reference on the isolation of mescaline from T. peruvianus which showed .817% mescaline by dry weight.1 Unfortunately, he appears to have ignored the data found by Poisson who, in 1960, found 2.0% mescaline by dry weight in T. pachanoi.2-- I found this on erowid. Apparently, the mescaline content in San Pedro can not only be greater than that of Peruvian Torch, but also greater than some Peyote. http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_article1.shtml
If grown in the US, Torch is usually more potent. In their native habitat of Peru,it depends on altitude. However, in general...torch is stronger. Ever heard of doping your cacti? Once a year(late summer) I add 3 quarts mustard and one quart DMSO to 30 gallons water and mix thoroughly. Then...I water my cacti with this solution. since mustard is high in alkaloid content, the DMSO makes for easy uptake by the root system of the cacti. I have lots growing and it hasn't hurt them a bit and I believe that this will ultimately increase the alkaloid content of the cactus. Ofcourse...I could be wrong and it will end up tasting like a hot dog!
