Growing San Pedro in a Dorm Room

[Nathanial.Dread]

Hi, I was wondering about the feasibility of growing San Pedro cactus in my dorm room. I go to school in the American Northeast, and it's pretty cold and dark here right now. So my questions are:

- Should I wait for it to warm up before purchasing one? (It would have to be shipped here)
- Could a cactus grow in a dorm room on a windowsill, or would I have to invest in real lights?
- Is there a chance I might get in trouble for it? My school turns a pretty blind eye towards drug use, and I don't plan of extracting mescaline or making tea from it while on campus (this summer at home maybe), but I'd hate to be accused of manufacturing illegal substances.

Once the weather gets nicer, I could keep in outside, on the halls balcony, perhaps.

I like the thought of tending to a living thing, and because of its entheogenic properties and ethnobotanical history, the SP seemed like a natural choice.

 

[dg]

wont grow well inside w/o hid lights
bad idea for other reasons imo

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

Care to elaborate, dg?
My father is a big hobby botanist, I can take one of his little grow lights up with me.

As I said above, so wasn't planning on using it for mescaline at all. Just to grow and care for.

 

[joedirt]

The dorm might be tough.

You will need to keep it in a window were it gets direct sun for as much of the day as possible.

I'll be honest though, it's not gonna work well. My cacti do continue growing indoors in the NE in a sunroom, but they still get long and leggy. All of the real growth is done in the summer outside.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you might wanna wait until you are out of the dorms before trying to grow one.

Peace

 

[joedirt]

Hey what about this option?

Why not start a few from seeds? You could easily grow those indoor under lights for the first year or two...then you'd probably be out of the dorm anyway... just a thought.

Peace

 

[nicechrisman]

You can easily overwinter them indoors in minimal light with no water and cool temps. They go dormant and don't get stretchy from the lack of light. In the spring you can transition it to outdoors. Depending on genetics/climate it may like either full sun, or a bit of shade from the afternoon sun, but gradually introduce it to the sun. If you get a cutting now, I would just prop it in the windowsill with no soil till it starts to push roots, then pot it up in the springtime and water minimally until substantial roots have formed.

Make sure to use a cactus potting soil too. Proper soil is the best investment you can make for the health of a plant.

I wouldn't worry about trouble, but just be aware that sometimes other people might know what it is and might want to take it. From my experience though, few people know about them.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I would LOVE to help!

 

[obliguhl]

Without lights, it'll work very very poorly.
If you have nature somewhere nearby, perhap try guerilla growing terscheckii, as they are supposed to be rather frost hardy (down to -8°C i believe).

 

[nicechrisman]

If it's just inside for winter dormancy it'll be fine with no lights. I've been overwintering mine for years with minimal light with no problems.

 

[Mr.Peabody]

I agree with chrisman, it's doable. Obviously it isn't ideal, but you can make it work. I grew mine inside most of the summer, and I live in the pacific northwest. The new growth didn't get quite as wide as the old, but that's to be expected anyways, as they didn't have roots when I first got them.

Very few people know what they are, and beyond that, you're completely in your legal right to own them. They are even sold at well known hardware stores! Tons of people grow them in the southwest and have no idea what power lies concealed in them. I've even seen them used as landscaping on federal/military installations.

I would caution you though, if you have other things of illicit nature it may be wise to not raise any eyebrows. That's my biggest worry having them, is not getting in trouble for them specifically, but they might be a beacon to someone who knows.