cosmo's grafts

[cosmotoad]

Hello, I started a seedling journal the other day and thought I might as well start a graft one here too. I don't have nearly as much to post for grafts, and probably won't for a while, but until now I rarely wrote down dates of planting/grafting of any kind and this is a good way to keep track.

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This is a trichocereus peruvianus grafted on a pereskiopsis, which is the only grafting stock I have as of now. I've got a small myrtillocactus geometrizans that I can maybe use in a few years, but for now it's all pereskiopsis. This is I think the 3rd attempt with peruvianus, already lost a couple at least. It's been in the humidity chamber for about a week or so.

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Did this one today, it's a matucana aureiflora. Before it was an astrophytum myriostigma v. columnare seedling that did not attach at all. Since I'm having a pretty low success rate so far I'm just picking seedlings based on if they're crowded or way on the edge of the pot or if they're stretched out, etc. I did try a couple lophophoras earlier but they didn't work so I'm trying to conserve those now.

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This is my only successful graft so far really, if you can call it that. I posted it in another thread earlier and it's actually grown a little since then. It was grafted some time in October 2013, so not a whole lot has been going on in the past 5 years. It's a lophophora williamsii v. Cuatrocienagas.

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These are more pereskiopsis cuttings I'm raising for future grafts. Only have a few now but I'll try to multiply them as much as possible. The one in the back is just a stick and hasn't shown any signs of new leaves, but eventually I think it'll figure something out.


So that's it for now. The one graft which is old and alive but very unproductive, and the two new attempts which could easily go awry. I'll probably try more in a month or so when my newest seedlings are big enough.

[cosmotoad]

The stock did not like that t. peruvianus either, so this morning I'm trying again, this time with a trichocereus bridgesii seedling. It's a good thing I have more than enough seedlings, but it would be nice to stop sacrificing them to this picky pereskiopsis. Anyway, I'll leave it alone for 10 days or so and see what we see.

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[Hanazono]

I refer to the 1st photo.

I can not see a "Lift" at the union of the scion and stock.
The inner tissue around union of Pereskiopsis becomes higher than skin of the stock when the grafting worked successfully.
The critical period is around 48 hours after grafted.
It seems the union was dried up before that time.

I think the humidity is not high enough in the humidity chamber.
Do you keep water on the bottom of chamber?

When I graft seedlings to Pereskiopsis, the scion is graft it near the top end of the sock.
It is 15~20 mm from the top.

[cosmotoad]

I do have water at the bottom of the chamber for my current attempt, but on the failed one there wasn't (not in the first 48hrs at least). So humidity should be higher this time around.

[Licespray]

I saw in another thread someone using Opuntia as a graft stock. Perhaps another option for grafting? They grow quick (here)

[cosmotoad]

Yeah I've seen that before, even multiple seedlings grafted on to one opuntia pad I think. I've got quite a few opuntias but most are pretty small and I wouldn't want to cut them up yet. There's one opuntia humifusa big enough that I wouldn't mind taking cuttings for future experiments, maybe when I get bored this winter.

[olof_n]

Hi!

One technic that I like is to use some plastic wrap around the seedling.
Look at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPe6qCEG3mc

Another thing I do is to use plastic bottles that I cut in half (or just the top) and place over the pot with the graft for a week or two.
That guarantees high humidity and removes the need for a humidity chamber.

[cosmotoad]

Thanks olof, right now I use some old clear plastic containers with lids and start them in there, but I only have 2 of them so I may have to cut up some bottles for future grafts.

I believe this matucana aureiflora graft was a success. It's been out of humidity for about a day and looks healthy, and maybe a bit bigger as well. Now I'm just waiting a couple more days for the bridgesii graft, and waiting for the pereskiopsis stocks to multiply.

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[cosmotoad]

Just did this ariocarpus graft. It's from a mixed packet of seeds so I don't know which ariocarpus, but I'll know soon enough if the graft takes. This seedling was a little skinnier than the rest so I thought I'd give it a chance to ascend.

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[greenknight]

On the subject of using Opuntias as graft stock, I found this video of a guy mass-producing Pediocactus knowltonii by grafting rows of tubercles on Opuntia pads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3ZIjHGKZ0

[cosmotoad]

I won't be trying anything like that but I might do a single graft on a small pad to see how it goes. I've recently set up a new grow space so there's lots of room for experimenting. Might be doing that later today when I get some daily tasks done with.

[cosmotoad]

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Haven't done the opuntia thing yet, I'll probably root a pad first before I try anything. Today was a week from grafting the t. bridgesii so I moved it to open air, seems OK so far. There is some kind of union but it looks thin. The matucana is doing well so I'm glad I don't have a 100% failure rate anymore.

[cosmotoad]

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Here's the opuntia compressa pad I'll be using for grafting at some point. Haven't rooted an opuntia cutting for a while so I don't remember how long that takes. I could probably graft as it's developing roots but I'll just wait.

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And I moved these two grafts to the newest grow chamber; there's lights all around but they're mostly under a 6500k 125W CFL bulb. It's in a mostly unheated shed, although some of the lights give off a good amount of heat. May need to add a small space heater when it gets frosty outside. The trichocereus graft is still looking healthy after 12ish hours of open air, so we'll see what it looks like tommorow morning.

[cosmotoad]

The t. bridgesii graft was dried out and not looking so good, so I chopped another cm or two off the pereskiopsis and shoved a lophophora diffusa on there. I'll give it a week or so and see what happens.

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

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This is my only successful graft so far really, if you can call it that. I posted it in another thread earlier and it's actually grown a little since then. It was grafted some time in October 2013, so not a whole lot has been going on in the past 5 years. It's a lophophora williamsii v. Cuatrocienagas.

That's amazing that it has remained that size in a five year period. I would have expected it to achieve that size in six months and now be pupping and flowering since it's been five years. What do you think of the colour? It looks like a pest or a fungus is stressing it.