Etiolation on a San Pedro cactus top cut and How to avoid it (Trichocereus Pachanoi)

With a San Pedro top cut, it is sometimes difficult to avoid etiolation, which is the new growing part being thinner than the rest of the body. Here I give you some tips on how how to avoid it.
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If you are interested in buying pure, well identified San Pedro seeds and seedlings, as well as San Pedro relatives, please email me at: [e-mail]
If you have a question, I will only reply to questions about cultivation. Please no questions about the psychedelic properties of these cacti.

[@jasonlynch6936]

thank you for taking the time to make and share, you have a cool voice too!

[@gary6212]

I wish your channel existed 20 years ago; but I'm glad it exists now. This is a great resource - thanks for sharing your expertise; I'm going to get back into cultivating cati again.

[@XavierBetoN]

Hi, I asked about leaf sizes in another video but you explained in this one! Thanks a lot for the video!

[@tshephard2793]

Your videos are very thorough. Thanks for the great information!!!

[@sanpedromastery6262]

Thanks!! :)

[@gavinbrinck]

your channel is a constant help. thank you so much

[@MrPhleking]

Always great videos ! Please continue 👍🏻

[@sanpedromastery6262]

Thanks! I will !!

[@astib102]

Another excellent video! Thank you.

[@cacamal13]

Another great video! Thank you

[@Halfrightfox]

Super informative thank you!

[@lutleroy]

Very informative..thanks ..

[@TrenT83]

brother)) hello from Russia.... .... thanks for the video!!)

[@thespoiledtexan3904]

Thank you for helping those of us who really want our plants to be healthy and look sexy! 😉

[@newmanmansell760]

Great information😌🤲💖I come from Japan. Born in New Zealand and came to Japan 20 years ago. I grow cacti. I don't have any San Pedro cacti. I want to try

[@communitiescreate]

Thank you for your videos, I find them to be very helpful and informative. I have subscribed to your channel. I have a San Pedro from Ecuador. I’m new at this. But it has developed extreme etiolation. I live in New York City in an apartment and the plant is sitting on the windowsill. It gets little direct sun light, only a couple of hours in the afternoon. I bought some clip on LED lights and put them about a foot above the plant. Not sure what to do next. Any advice or resources you can point me toward would be highly appreciated! Thank you!

[@nathantedesco]

Please make that video about the rooting/planting of etoliated cuttings. I have two pieces right now that I’m experimenting with.

[@damiandossantos5077]

Great videos man, thanks for sharing. i just have a question about the first picture of a san pedro cutting featured in the video; i noticed two of my trichs, with those same light green/yellow discolored spots.. any idea what causes this? and is there any way to prevent or treat it? i had an idea it was tobacco mosaic virus and ive read the only way to stop it spreading is to discard the whole cacti so i would really love to know. Thanks in advanced

[@fredbranson8463]

Thanks so much for these vids. They're brilliant. With a top cut, would you recommend option 1 or 2 for repotting from your vid 'How to replant a San Pedro cactus cutting ( Trichocereus Pachanoi tutorial)'?

[@nothinginterestinghere7612]

Love your channel! Could you please make a tutorial video on how to graft peyote onto a san pedro root stock to make it grow faster?

[@jaimedelgado7529]

The white stuff inside aloe vera is full of rooting hormone and totally organic. There are other plants like willow also but aloe is best. I use it all the time for my cuttings. Different crop but still

[@renevandenberg8668]

Very informative. Can you please tell me what those light brown spots are? Some appear on the areoles. Mine have that. Is is a pest, sunburn, scale - or simply normal?

[@MikeJoseph007]

Could the small pots cause an issue since the root systems can't spread out and absorb the needed nutrients? I noticed some of the pots in the video were quite small.

[@gavinbrinck]

this guy is great

[@jethroe.davids132]

How do I maintain the blue-green colour on a trichocereus without etiolation?

[@shanekinkade9012]

my pedro has etiolation on the top does that mean the cactus hasnt rooted? ive had it potted for at least 6 months now

[@TheChurchofCacti]

How often do you check for roots after planting? 2 months?

[@kaizersuze9000]

I stopped smoking tobacco thanks to this plant 👍👍

[@Moeron86]

Whats a nutrimant? Just messing with you but its nutrient. Thanks for your help!

[@jmurphy5928]

What if you were to foliar feed at night while the stomata is open?

[@klausrostock4163]

Can cinnamon be used in lieu of rooting powder ? Anyone know , please help, thanks

[@mr_hejl]

What happens to the bottom cut after. Does it continue to grow?

[@maksymilianzielinski3712]

Does etiolation have imoact on amount of mescaline ?

[@1neAdam12]

I'm experimenting with removing etiolated sections and regrafting the tips back onto their rooted stalk. The thin (etiolated) double-cut sections are then rested upright in soil till rooted, then replanted properly.

[@humanbuoy1123]

How’d u go?

[@1neAdam12]

@@humanbuoy1123 Excellent. The grafted tops shot up over a foot in just 4months, and each sent up three basal pups which also grew to extraordinary lengths. All the etiolated pieces I replanted as logs, and each one produced a single shoot, that are only a few inches in height, but that's OK, I'm going to use those for grafting Lophophora onto this spring 2023.

[@basedvato]

So basically there is no way to avoid it etiolation? I think every "phat" cutting I ever had, has never grown to previous size, until years later with established roots. Seems like best way is to just let it root, and let the pups form full sized columns.

[@LindaDurbesson]

Thanks for the info. Now im curious where is your accent from?

[@risenfromyoutubesashesagai6302]

I had my mother plant bare root, sitting on top of the fridge during winter dormancy. Turns out it wasn't dormant and tried to grow, causing etoliation. So I just cut it into 11 pieces, rooted them, turning them into "pup factories."

[@LindenRanch]

Cinnamon powder can be used as a safe non toxic antifungal rooting hormone.

[@charleshendrix232]

Consuming it is part of its reason for existence

[@jeepljwith40s]

Hi there, love the channel and have a quick question: I bought a group of 3 San pedro from a nursery and they all are etiolated. The most severe case goes from a diameter of about 1 3/4" to 3/4" and has grown about 5" taller in this manner. Do you think I should cut the top off, and if so what time of year would be best to do so? Thanks

[@sanpedromastery6262]

It's up to you. If you don't cut the tops off, they will most likely carry on growing thin. Now if you decide to cut them, what is the best time? If your cacti are outside in the winter (if you live somewhere warm), then you could cut them now if you wanted. If they are indoors during the winter, then I would wait until spring to cut them and leave them outside (the cut ends need good air circulation to heal).

[@PersianWombat]

I have an opportunity to take a 6in in diameter, roughly 6 foot tall top cutting of a tichocereus pachanoi, does this have a better chance at growing without etiolation than a smaller top cutting from the same plant?

[@sanpedromastery6262]

It does have a much better chance although there is no guarantee. Etiolation on a top cut is always such a hit and miss thing. Sometimes the tip growth is kind of put on hold until the cutting makes new roots, and lots of them. That is your best case scenario. Some other times, it keeps growing (thin), without waiting for roots.

[@PersianWombat]

@@sanpedromastery6262 this pausing of growth is what I think might help avoid etiolation in my situation- Im in santa cruz California, we are just at the end of a mild winter, so I will try my luck! Thank you for the knowledge!

[@isaakpenunuri3242]

I have some Loph seedlings that are less than a month old and are etiolated, what’s the best thing to do?

[@sanpedromastery6262]

Give them more light, making sure that you reduce the light if they turn red. But first, make sure they are etiolating indeed. Compare the way yours look with photos of other peyote seedlings on the internet.

[@isaakpenunuri3242]

I’m confidant that they’re etiolated, they look like tricho seedlings lol

[@isaakpenunuri3242]

San Pedro Mastery thank you for the advice!

[@HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke]

@@isaakpenunuri3242 How did that work out? Did they normalize?

[@guyfawkes6657]

❤❤

[@vanessadodd5797]

Should I grow my in full sun and if so how many hours of direct sun should it have? Thank you video great info!!!

[@sanpedromastery6262]

Thanks! It depends on how strong the sun is where you live. Here in the Mediterranean coast, they don't like full sun. A few hours of sun a day are enough. If your plants are a nice shade of green or slightly blueish, you're good! If they are turning yellowish, they are getting too much sun.

[@alessandrosala5272]

If I keep my san pedro inside, is it okay if I cut it during winter?

[@hexerey]

Absolutely not!!

[@alessandrosala5272]

@@hexerey I did it and everything went really well, now I have a beautiful big pup :) But I guess it wasn't the smartest move :p

[@hexerey]

@@alessandrosala5272 Ok, then u had great luck! When the cactus is in his normal winter pause (I dunno if that's the right word for it - I'm from Germany btw) it stops growing and the healing process won't work that well because the cactus is "asleep". I mean the cut is an open wound that is vulnerable to pests. Next time u must cut it during growing season so the chances of surviving are high. Greets from Germany, Berlin💚

[@LamiNalchor]

Have to love the French.

[@ReisterJP]

This guy would love growing cactus in El Paso Texas. ven a ver mi jardín de cactus. Tejas es un niño de España, así que hablamos español aquí también.

[@Lizz033torres]

Hi. Vende cactus? I am also in Texas and have not found anywhere around to buy any. I just ordered one from California but it's a mid cut and still not sure if I planted it the right way would live to have any kind of Cactus. Igual hablo español

[@ReisterJP]

@@Lizz033torres what part of Texas?

[@Lizz033torres]

@@ReisterJP Dallas

[@ReisterJP]

Remind me this fall and i will send you some cactus pups from my collection in El Paso.

[@Lizz033torres]

@@ReisterJP awesome! Thank you!!

[@brandonhofmann5479]

i have one San Pedro with etiolation can I cut the parts?

[@sanpedromastery6262]

Yes you can. Whether you should or not depends on how severe the etiolation is.

[@brandonhofmann5479]

Its pretty bad how I can save my Pedrito :C @@sanpedromastery6262

[@brandonhofmann5479]

its pretty bad did you have instagram so I can send you seme images @@sanpedromastery6262

[@sanpedromastery6262]

@@brandonhofmann5479 I don't have instagram yet, I am a disaster with social networking! But you can send me an email. I think you will find my email address in the "About" section of my youtube page.

[@brandonhofmann5479]

thats fine bruh, There is not Email but my email its [e-mail] @@sanpedromastery6262

[@Futt.Buckerson]

A "more natural" way to use root hormones is to make your own from weeping willow. And several of the most common rooting hormones are chemicals naturally found in Willow, Maize, and other plants.

[@Futt.Buckerson]

@Lobster Johnson I used the term "maize" because a reference article used it and I didn't want to look up the difference between corn and maize. I'm aware that maize includes corn. But I figured it might have a different connotation, since it also includes the types of corn that we typically don't consume.

[@drakeweddner]

Even better than that is seed sprout tea made from lentils or corn

[@Futt.Buckerson]

@@drakeweddner better in what way?

[@drakeweddner]

@@Futt.Buckerson easier, more effective, more concentrated mkre uses

[@tomoneill8892]

Use BAP cream

[@JohnMartin-jx1wz]

They only look bad to people who seek perfection.

[@dillonchamberlain]

“Nutriments”

[@tonybucks5709]

You didn't talk at all on "how to avoid etiolation", but more about "it's ok a little etiolation". Not cool man.

[@HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke]

Three pieces of useful advice I took from the video on "how to avoid etiolation" (during taking cuts, which is where I'm having problems.) 1. Try to use middle cuts, so they are preparing to pup during the drying out and rooting phases. 2. If you have to use top cuts, try to do it with big big pieces, so they have lots of stored nutrients to grow full width during those phases. And, 3. If you have to use top cuts, try to do it in the winter, because they tend to go dormant and stop growing then.

[@jamesmcpots5390]

You can use organic honey as a routine hormone.

[@sanpedromastery6262]

I didn't know that. You learn things everyday! lol I will try it.

[@jamesmcpots5390]

San Pedro Mastery I just Learned it like a year ago been doing it ever sense.

[@Taydrum]

Try aloe vera gel. It works wonders

[@grumpyken9151]

I really enjoy these videos and your channel. the majority of powder rooting hormones do not contain dangerous chemicals at all. most are 99% inert and less than 1% indole 3 butyric acid which occurs naturally in certain plants. with exception to the rare allergy, it is completely safe and non toxic to humans. www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/fs_PC-046701_1-Aug-00.pdf