Peyote

The Peyote cactus has been, and still is, one of the most important sacred plants amongst many Native American tribes. The use of Peyote originated in Northern Mexico and the most southern part of the United States, from where it quickly spread troughout North America. The natural range of the Peyote is desert shrubland, where it lives in very sunny and dry conditions. Learning about your cactus’s needs and imitating it’s natural habitat will improve the health of your plant and increase your succes in growing.

Growth habit:
Peyotes are a small species of cactus, called Lophophora williamsi. They have flattened button-like bodies and a large taproot reaching deep in to the soil. It’s common for older plants to sprout new heads around the sides, some varieties start doing this at a very young age. They are very slow growing, from seed to flowering plant (±3cm) can last from 1,5 up to 8 years.

Soil:
If possible, grow them in a pure mineral soil, this goes for all button-type cacti. If you can’t, they do just fine in a standard cactus potting soil with some extra perlite mixed in. Drainage is the most important quality your soil should have, allowing water to drain freely and enough air to reach the roots. Peyotes are sensitive to rot when their roots stay wet for extended periods.

Watering and fertilisation:
Watering cacti is quite simple, only water them when the soil has completely dried out from the previous watering. Give less water when the weather outside is cold and rainy, or nothing at all in winter. There’s more harm to be done by giving them too much water than too little. An easy way to check if the soil has dried out, is sticking a clean toothpick in the soil. If the toothpick comes out clean with just a little dust on it, the soil is completly dry. If there are still soil particles sticking to the toothpick, it doesn’t need water yet. Be sure to check the bottom layer of soil, not just the upper part, which can be dry while there’s still enough moisture below.
As for fertilizing your peyotes, this is not neccesary, if you do, it’s best done by giving them a diluted standard cactus fertilizer.
 
Light and temperature:
These have the most influence on the growth form of your cactus; when there’s not enough light, the temperature should be low as well. Having your cactus too warm with not enough light, will make it stretch toward the light and makes it more succeptible to disease and pests. Give your cacti as much light as possible, but introduce them slowly in high light conditions to prevent sunburns. This means that when you buy or repot a plant, or when taking them outside after overwintering indoors,  you should keep it in dry shade for a few weeks to let it adjust to it’s new environment. Expose it gradually to full sun over a period of a month. During summer, peyotes that are in a greenhouse or outside under raincover do better with a bit of shade from the mid-day sun.