(Trichocereus) How much does girth play a role in dosage?

[Budman]

Trichocereus related!


Hello all. Long time lurker here :]

I notice a lot of people giving dosage advice, give the dosage in inches/ft.
Wouldn't this be a wildly inaccurate when dealing with different sized plants?
I would imagine 1 ft of a thick Bridgesii cutting would be a lot heavier of a dose than a slimmer 1 ft cutting of similar Bridgesii.

I have many different sized plants in my collection, choosing a nice dose for my first experience is ideal, so any help is appreciated!

 

[coAsTal]

Greetings, and welcome--

You're right that inches is a very inaccurate method of gauging dosage for plant matter. But that's not even the real issue, since every plant has a unique potency (generally anyway) which compounds the issue even further.

I have read of 2.5" thick bridge only 6" long that are strong, where 12" of a 3" thick sample of another bridge was a good but not spectacular trip.

I have seen people use total wet weight to try and standardise, and that isn't a bad idea-- but you're dealing with a highly variable plant so it'll always be something oof a crap shoot on the first try of a particular plant.

I think the rule of thirds is wise, where you first try a third of a chosen plant to see what it does for you-- then you'll have 2/3 remaining if it felt weak-- though you risk having a weak third, leaving a weak 2/3 left where the whole amount might have been a good time if not split.

It is a well-accepted truth is that the older/thicker your plant, generally the stronger it is expected to be by weight or inches. Bridges are pretty consistently active, so you might start with a fatter one at 6 or 8" length and see how it goes... but the truth is that since you are never dealing with a truly consistent amount of alks between plants (unless they are exact clones of a known strength--and it was also grown in the same conditions-- you're always taking a leap of faith on potency that first time.

Another thing to note is the dark time the plant has experienced leading up to the harvest-- it appears pretty consistent that alk concentration increases by a mild to moderate amount by sitting cuts in darkness for weeks/months ahead of preparation-- so that can factor as well.

We're all just guessing in the end, until we get to know out individual plants--

 

[Budman]

Thanks for the quick reply!
Yeah, you aren't joking about dosage being a bit tricky overall with this species. I know different parts of the same plant can have different alkaloid concentrations as well, which just adds to the confusion.
When the time is right, I will likely start with around 1ft of one of my less girthy clones, and work my way from there. That is if I ever get around to giving any of my plants the chop :X

 

[FranLover]

You can send them to me, I bioassay them and let u know if they are potent. Free of charge!

But jokes aside, you'll tell if its strong. If its a 12" bridgesii which is 3" thick, its gonna be a good trip.

I found the dosages people give on Ayahuasca, on DMT, on mescaline, all precise. In the case of mescaline pieces are sold by the 12" cut which is a solid guideline. Variations are to be expected of all these psychedelics--from one shroom to another, one batch of Caapi to another, one Psychotria Virids tea to another. Variables is the name of the game. Still, the knowledge people lend is very precise (most agree in general terms that 30mg DMT can warrant a breakthrough, and that 2-3ft bridgesii cant warrant a breakthrough. I find these dosages acurate.

 

[Grey Fox]

The girth plays an important role in determining how much cactus to use. Not only do fatter cuttings contain more plant material than thin cuttings, but they also come from more mature plants that tend to be somewhat stronger anyway. Like Coastal said, another option is to measure by weight. Thats not a bad idea. But a lot of people work with cuttings based on length because its an easy standard of measurement, and because cuttings are often sold by length. As you become more familiar with the cacti in your collection you get a general idea of how big a piece to use to get to the desired level of effects (at least in the ballpark). But even then there are cuttings that will suprise you.

One way to gauge potency is to eat a small piece of the cactus. You can take a piece that is 2 or 3 inches long. You can pull out the spines with pliers and then you carefully peel off the skin (it is like scotch tape) without removing any of the dark green flesh. If the central core ring is woody you can cut it out; if its not woody then you can eat it too. By eating that small piece of cactus it should give you a very low dose range of effects for that particular cactus plant, and then you can use that info to base your full dose on the next time.