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I love it . . . it sounds like you really know your stuff.

right now my grafts are growing like that . . . cool-warm temps, soft LED light.  

I find that lopho grafts have robust spines . . . due to the columnar scion thickening the thin lopho spine.

I also really mess with their lighting schedule . . . stress them good.

The others are in darkness.

Excellent Post Kada

Thank you for teaching me etiolation.

Why do they do this?  suppose it happens when they get covered in sand?

As for being bad for the plant . . . none of mine died . . . but surgery revealed a thin spine.
That could account for the potential weaknesses.  
It would also mean that using for grafts would be bad, and rooting would be harder.

But could it still be used to increase mature production rates

spans of etiolation for part of the winter say?

So, here is what happened.  And why it may be Commercially applicable.

Last Winter, I placed my whole cacti collection in the dark.  Or so I thought.
A light source was always left on by negligent people I lived with.
So, I draped the only blanket I had over their location.  A blue blanket.

The light pollution continued, and what happened shocked and scared me.
Very fast white growth began in all the peyote.  Which grew  in a gradually thinner (pointy/conical) columnar fashion!

So, you know in the spring, when they grow quickly, and the new growth appears white.
This happened at an alarming rate.  Under very low blue light.  
I may have watered them thrice that winter.

When I returned and found them this way I was upset.
I thought they were dying . . .I took no photos at the time . . .
I still have the mutant specimens, and all recovered their colour.  
Grafted, Rooting Grafts, and standard buttons all showed this growth.
They did not seem sick at all.  Only bleached.

I have not reproduced these conditions this season; however,
I have since purchased a blue spectrum LED light,
and noticed excellent growth rates during winter months.

Others should note these findings and try to reproduce them!

on the occult side . . . I dreamed of a six-foot peyote,
resembling my finest graft, in a twighlit greenhouse.

Lesson: they want BLUE LIGHT.

I am having troubles.  Very finnicky.

Has anyone had success germinating these?

If so, please share your technique!

I plan to Bonsai them, Canada is harsh on sub-tropical species.

Lophophora Williamsii
T. Pachanoi
T. Macrogonus
Trichocereus 'PENIS'
Astrophytum
Mammilaria Heyderii
Myrtillocactus
Opuntia
Salvia Divinorum
Leonorus Leonitus
Artemisia (wormwood)
Ephedra
Ipomoea (purple/white)
Stevia
et al.

hey roach!  Did the areole grafts ever go through?