Lophophora Williamsii Cactus Care

Peyote like bright and warm environment. In its natural habitat it grows under a bush or near other cactus. Lophophoras really like very hot day temperatures and cold nights. Peyote also enjoy the company, so it is usually found in clusters. Indoor, a southern facing window is great, and they can do very well under a lamp.

A good soil for lophophora needs a ph little basic. Good drainage and aeration is a must. You can use those ingredients to make a good soil: sharp sand, limestone gravel, belonite clay, perlite, pumice stones, Zeolite and thin ground. Just adapt the best ingredients for your climate. If you are on a budget, pumice stones and sand is enough. It works great, in our environment, with a ration of 3:1. 3 parts of pumice stones and 1 part of sand. It is recommended to change your soil every year or so. Here is a step by step instruction video on how to proceed: https://bit.ly/3mMkY7e

Watering is really important for your peyote, and the most common mistake is to overwater them. Therefore, in that case, less is more. Wait that your soil is totally dry before you give them water. The best way to check your soil is to put a toothstick inside, if the stick is not humid when you put it out of the soil, then you can water your cactus.

You have to adapt what is in your soil according to your climate, humidity, air… Always check how your lophophora adapt to any change, if it doesn’t like it you will notice soon that its shape will change. So be careful and act before it is too late.

Cacti are used to dry conditions and therefore should never be given too much
water. The best time to water the Peyote cactus is in spring, and you can keep
watering them until autumn. When it is really hot, you should water them more
often, but always check and be sure that the soil is dry in between 2 waterings.

In winter you shouldn’t water your peyote much, especially if you keep your cactus outdoor, because the cold combined with the water can damage the Peyote. Only give little water in the winter to prevent the cactus from completely drying out.

Peyote cacti are growing actively in the period from spring to fall. In this period
they need the most water and nutrients, if you want to. For nutrients use special cactus nutrients and always be very careful no give them too much. Good cactus nutrition is always low in nitrogen and high in potassium and Phosphor. These are indicated
by numbers at the label of the bottle in a NPK value. A good NPK value for cacti
would be 4-7-7 or even 2-7-7.

An excellent way to water the Peyote is to “bottom” water them. Just put them in the sink
with a small amount of water for a few minutes. The “bottom” watering method
will assure strong roots because the roots have to reach out for the water.
Although this is a good way to water them, it’s also possible to occasionally water
them from above.