It is possible buying San Pedro cactus online?
. This South American Cactus is found wild in the southern Andes mountain range, at 1000 – 3000 m.a.s.l (6000-9000 ft). At this altitude, temperatures can go below zero (37° F) and precipitations are high. These conditions have made it a very resistant species. San Pedro Cactus can adapt to a variety of conditions, soils, and weather.
It is relatively easy to grow and it is very appreciated by gardening and cacti enthusiasts mainly for ornamental purposes. As a result, nowadays can be found in other parts of the world like the southern United States. This cactus has increased its popularity around the world but it is well known in Peru and some areas of Ecuador and Bolivia for centuries for its medicinal and cosmetic uses.
Buying San Pedro Cactus online
This increased popularity has made the offers for buying San Pedro Cactus Online increased dramatically. There is high demand for buying all kinds of cacti including their seeds, small plants, and fresh tip cuttings for their propagation. You can also buy all the necessary products for growing and taking care of them such as fertilizer, compost, subtract, and antifungal.
However, like all the products you can buy on the internet you have to be extra cautious so you do not buy imitations or cacti other than San Pedro. There are some recommendations you can follow for buying San Pedro Cactus online, as well as their seeds, soils, and fertilizer necessary for its germination and propagation.
San Pedro Cactus and fresh tip cuttings
You can buy the San Pedro Cactus online in a pot or the fresh tip cuttings. They can be bought in several sizes. You can buy a small plant or a fully grown cactus of 35 – 50 cm (13 – 19 in) tall. If you want the fresh cuttings you can buy them in sizes up to 1.27 m (50 in). However, some sellers offer other cacti as if they were San Pedro. Fortunately, some features make San Pedro Cactus unique, and you do not have to be an expert to distinguish them.
First of all its shape, San Pedro Cactus is long and tubular-shaped. It grows faster and taller than similar species, reaching up to 6 meters (19.7 ft) tall and 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter, even more in the wild. It generally has 6-8 ribs or columns, they are not pointy but more bulbous than other cacti. It does not have arms and all its branches or stems come from the same base or crown.
Second of all, its areoles and spines. This type of cactus has white areoles equally distributed along its ribs, with a separation of approximately 2 cm (0.8 in). Its spines are light brown in the base and grayish to white on the top. They are not very long, reaching only 2 cm (0.8 in) and some of the most popular cultivated varieties of this cactus are almost spineless. Finally, the cactus color goes from light to dark green and sometimes glaucous.
Following this simple guide, you can know if you are really purchasing a San Pedro Cactus. But if you want to buy seeds to germinate and grow your own cactus, it is important to know what kind of seeds are the best.
San Pedro Cactus seeds
San Pedro Cactus seeds are small, black, and not edible. They must be fresh. Seeds older than two years are almost useless. However, if you use fresh seeds, they can give, with the perfect conditions, a germination rate close to 100%. A way to find fresh seeds is to buy them in San Pedro or cacti-specialized shops. Generally, in not specialized shops, they buy their seeds from wholesalers and most of them sell old or badly identified seeds.
To buy them from sellers who produce their own seeds is ideal. They probably will have fresher and hand-pollinated seeds. It is better to buy seeds that come from hand pollination. This process guarantees the fruit gives 100% San Pedro Cactus seeds and not hybrids. Hybrid seeds come from San Pedro Cactus pollinated with other similar species, this process is more likely with natural pollination.
It is also important to avoid mixed seeds. You can take seeds from two different fruits of the same cactus and they could be different. That is why the process of pollination must be hand-made and very controlled. Finally, the seed must be properly washed. The seed must be taken from the fruit as soon as it opens. If the seeds are left in the fruit until rotten and they are not properly washed, they will be contaminated. They will produce smaller cactus prone to suffer from mold or other diseases.
Soil and Fertilizer
San Pedro Cactus is very resilient and versatile but it needs good, well-drained soil. You can buy it online or you can make it yourself. Good soil for San Pedro Cactus should have a proportion of 50% earth, 20% gravel, 20% sand, and 10% perlite. Fertilizer is also important if you want healthy cactus.
Just like the soil, you can buy special fertilizers for cacti online. San Pedro Cactus prefers fertilizers rich in potassium and phosphorus but low in nitrogen. The ideal NPK ratio for them is 4-7-7 or 2-7-7.
By using the right soil and fertilizer, you will have a healthy San Pedro Cactus. that will grow up to 50cm (20 in) per year and will produce a beautiful, very fragrant flower. Just the beauty of the flower alone, which opens at night and lasts just 2 days, makes it worth the effort of planting and taking care of this enigmatic, South American Cactus.
If you follow this simple guide, you can purchase online your San Pedro Cactus or everything you need for its cultivation in your house or garden, without being caught out by a scam. It is important to know that purchasing and growing San Pedro Cactus for gardening and ornamental purposes is completely legal in most countries including the United States.