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How long does it take to dry cactus?

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behindthelight

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I chopped up some san pedro into half inch stars and put them in my dehydrator. I've been drying them for like 2 days now on 105 degrees. They look totally dried, but I ripped one open and there was still some moisture in there. Is this normal? Cactus must take a few days to totally dry out huh?
 
half inch thick takes 4-7 days at those temps in my experience
try 1/4 inch, they can dry in about 2 days

you can also use an oven at modest temps, the alkaloids tend to be stable at modest heat, around 250*F is fine for them, though the cactus sugars and such can carmelize...
 
Well, I can crank the dehydrator up to like 165? Would you recommend that? I just didn't want to ruin the alkaloids.
 
I'm currently running my dehydrator at 145F to dry some stars and have had no problems at those temps with cactus in the past. I believe they would be safe up to 200F probably but have not tried.
 
Ok, I turned it up to 145 for now. Hopefully this finishes drying them today.

Thanks.

Just curious, what are you going to do with them once they are dried? Extraction or capsules?
 
behindthelight said:
Ok, I turned it up to 145 for now. Hopefully this finishes drying them today.

Thanks.

Just curious, what are you going to do with them once they are dried? Extraction or capsules?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about doing a 1/2 isopropyl 1/2 hcl water long soak on the powder, and then evaporate that for resin. Then do an a/b on that resin with limo or sunflower oil to get hcl x-tals.
 
Damn man, you must really know your stuff. Wouldn't even know where to begin with all the stuff you are talking about.

I'm thinking about trying Ron's Tek.
 
behindthelight said:
Damn man, you must really know your stuff. Wouldn't even know where to begin with all the stuff you are talking about.

I'm thinking about trying Ron's Tek.
Click to expand...

Go for it! that's where i got started with cactus, and slowly learned what i liked best in all the cactus teks and combined them in my own way. But rons tek is sound and will get the goods it just takes a little longer.

I remember having my first mescaline experience from fumarates i pulled from rons tek, good times :d.
 
beyondthelight,

If you have scales, would you mind weighing the dried cactus and post it in the cactus section weights thread along with the dimensions of the original cactus cutting? Just helps people that don't have access to fresh cactus make a comparison in trip reports where people talk about dosage in feet and inches! :-)

Thanks and good luck!
 
Yeah, I didn't weigh the fresh cactus, but I have a rough idea of how big they were. I will weigh it when it finishes drying.
 
i make mine into little cubes of smaller than 1cm by 1cm then oven dry em with a fan - it takes about 18hr to be powderisable
 
Food dehydrator tip to save time and energy:
rotate the racks vertically (mine has 5) every 3-4 hours, and if they don't spin via a motor, then spin them manually at the same time. Some pieces will always dry out faster than others, so remove those and set aside until all are dried ... as the number of pieces declines, keep moving them towards the upper racks. Depending on moisture content (which can vary wildly) usually takes 18-24 hours.

Works great on cactus as well as tomatoes.
 
I've got an Excalibur dehydrator which is a horizontal one....pretty much the best one you can buy....no need to rotate trays or anything....thanks for the input though.
 
Why does everyone have a food dehydrator? I don't know anyone with one. Is it a big thing in America or something? (not to presume the lot of you are from America)
 
it takes about 3-4 days for me to dry at around 28c dunno what that is in fahrenheit. have stopped using dehydrator because seems to just take forever. a friend of mine told me his friend no longer attempts any cactus dry extraction tech because it is so time consuming. he prefers Phlux's tech because of simplicity and it uses less limonene
 
behindthelight said:
Madcap said:
Entheojen said:
Why does everyone have a food dehydrator?
Click to expand...

entheogens are just a tool to push food dehydrator sales.
Click to expand...

lol...so true....that is the only reason I bought one
Click to expand...

Ya have found a food dehydrator to be a pain in the ass. dutch boiler seems much easier and more efficient. have never heard of anyone having problems with it
 

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