MrXeric's Grafts

All about grafting. How-to information, progress reports, show of your results.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Back in 2021 I did end up degrafting this Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus originally grafted on a Selenicereus megalanthus seedling.
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Since the roots were so low on the scion, I opted to leave the graft junction intact and only cut away the soft tissue around the vascular bundles of the rootstock. I left the cutting to dry for a couple days to help prevent rooting from the rootstock tissue I left behind.
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Check out the roots! This was April of last year when I repotted the cutting. The two smaller ones were seedlings from the same batch that I tried grafting but they failed to take because they rooted while on the rootstock.
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and here it is flowering for the first time this year.
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Here's another grafted pseudopectinatus I've shown before, this is from June of last year right before I degrafted it. I went with cutting above the graft junction.
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and a couple weeks later after letting it callous before potting up.
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and now flowering this year
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...but it has yet to root!
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I probably shouldn't have let it flower so it can focus on rooting instead, but I was curious to see how far along the flower bud would proceed when I first saw it late last fall. :lol:
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by jerrytheplater »

Nine months since degrafting? Wow.

Would you think of taking a slice off the bottom and rooting hormone to try to speed up rooting?
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Hanazono
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by Hanazono »

I believe you remove grafting stock union completely. It is difficult to root if some stock union was remained in the body of scion.
I can not tell in detail because I can refer to your photo only.

The grafting union of Pereskiopsis stock normally embeded deeply into the scion body.
The scion will have a large hole if you removed stock union completely.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

jerrytheplater wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 9:43 pm Nine months since degrafting? Wow.

Would you think of taking a slice off the bottom and rooting hormone to try to speed up rooting?
I degrafted several cacti last year. This and 2 others did not root. This cutting is rather dehydrated and I am worried that if I cut into it it'll just dry up completely while it heals. I am hoping once it warms up as spring rolls in it'll form roots. I think what I'll try is maybe scraping or sanding away some of scar tissue without actually exposing the wet tissue inside. Maybe thinning out the scar tissue will make it easier for roots to form?
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Hanazono wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:45 am I believe you remove grafting stock union completely. It is difficult to root if some stock union was remained in the body of scion.
I can not tell in detail because I can refer to your photo only.

The grafting union of Pereskiopsis stock normally embeded deeply into the scion body.
The scion will have a large hole if you removed stock union completely.
Thank you for the input Frank.
This scion did not have the actual stock stem embedded into it, but I do know that the graft union tissue can extend into the scion anyway. so I cut a few millimeters above where the Pereskiopsis stem was flush with the bottom of the scion. Maybe I should have cut higher up.

This makes me wonder though. What is the best way to degraft from Pereskiopsis when the stock is not embedded into the scion?

Here's an example, Pelecyphora strobiliformis.
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Frank, where would you cut to degraft this? Line 1 or line 2? Or maybe somewhere else?
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Here's another degraft that did not root, Astrophytum myriostigma, one of the Onzuka seedlings that did not show Onzuka characteristics.
Here it was in mid August of last year just before cutting.
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And here it is today.
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I am thinking it did not root because I degrafted too late into the summer. Since the stock was partially embedded into the scion, I did dig out a hole. I know it's difficult to tell from the pictures, but I wonder if I should have gone deeper?
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by Hanazono »

G'morning MrXeric,
where would you cut to degraft this? Line 1 or line 2? Or maybe somewhere else?
The initial cutting is at 1 and cut bit by bit toward 2 until stock tissue disapears on the cutting section of scion.

I degraft short scion such as Ariocarpus grafted on Pereskiopsis is as follows.
Please refer to attachments.

1: Scion
2: Stock
3. Soft tissue of scion around stock (green)

1) Cut off stock just below of scion bottom
2) Sprit short stock by 4 as shown red dot line, a tool is used shown on the attached photo.
3) Since stock end is T-head, surround tissue of stock shown green should be removed. Same tool is used.
4) Insert tool into dot line again. Twist the tool, unuon will loose from scion by this action.
5) Pull split short stock up one by one

I use a drying agent, garden-lime. Fill garden-lime up in the hole.
Remove garden-lime from the hole completely after dried.

Rooting is nessesary a special way because the scion has a large hole. Water can not reach to a nesessay point (A) by normal watering.
I fill the hole up by wet clay grain, ~1mm size.
Watering from bottom of pot is used until rooted.

Frank
Attachments
Degrafting of shot scion
Degrafting of shot scion
IMG_2855 - Copy.JPG (123.2 KiB) Viewed 3422 times
Degrafting tool
Degrafting tool
IMG_2853 - Copy.JPG (68.3 KiB) Viewed 3422 times
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Hanazono wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 12:39 am G'morning MrXeric,

I degraft short scion such as Ariocarpus grafted on Pereskiopsis is as follows.
Please refer to attachments.

1: Scion
2: Stock
3. Soft tissue of scion around stock (green)

1) Cut off stock just below of scion bottom
2) Sprit short stock by 4 as shown red dot line, a tool is used shown on the attached photo.
3) Since stock end is T-head, surround tissue of stock shown green should be removed. Same tool is used.
4) Insert tool into dot line again. Twist the tool, unuon will loose from scion by this action.
5) Pull split short stock up one by one

I use a drying agent, garden-lime. Fill garden-lime up in the hole.
Remove garden-lime from the hole completely after dried.

Rooting is nessesary a special way because the scion has a large hole. Water can not reach to a nesessay point (A) by normal watering.
I fill the hole up by wet clay grain, ~1mm size.
Watering from bottom of pot is used until rooted.

Frank
Frank, this is excellent degrafting guidance! Thank you very much. For the Astrophytum I did not remove the soft tissue around the stock, so maybe that affected rooting. I'll see how it comes along as spring progresses. I have several grafted Ariocarpus I was thinking of degrafting this year, and now I feel better prepared. Thanks again.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Here is a grafted Rapicactus booleanus (Municipio de Galeana, Nuevo Leon, Mexico locality), just before I degrafted it August 2022.
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I cut just above that "neck" portion in contact with the pereskiopsis.
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It rooted last year just before the fall.
Here it is now, flowering for the first time.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

The Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus I degrafted never rooted and ended up drying out.
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Oh well :(
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

A couple more grafts that flowered for the first since I grafted them.

Astrophytum myriostigma 'Onzuka' grafted on Selenicereus sp. (undatus?) from seed sown in 2020. I wasn't home in time to catch the flowers fully opened. They only lasted one day.
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I was planning on degrafting this Pelecyphora strobiliformis earlier in the summer, but I noticed the apex started growing very woolly, so I assumed it would flower soon. Sure enough, buds poked through in the next couple weeks.
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4 days later from the pic above
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the Pereskiopsis straining to keep it upright
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Here's an update on the Yavia cryptocarpa seedlings I grafted in 2021. It's been a long time coming...

In the spring of 2022 I noticed both Yavia scions started growing roots while on their Pereskiopsis grafts.
June 2022:
The proliferous scion with many offshoots.
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And the second scion with only one offset.
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I decided to degraft both scions, thinking they had a good chance to establish themselves on their own roots.
This is a couple weeks after coring out the graft junction and leaving to heal.
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The proliferous plant even started rooting from the cavity while it was drying.
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Here they are a couple weeks after potting up. They seemed to be rooted into the substrate and were taking in water.
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Here's the second plant. The main stem started to wrinkle and shrink, but the offsets remained plump, so I didn't think much of it.
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The same plant several months later, at the end of the growing season, December 2022.
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Obvious growth, but just as obvious, the main stem shriveled down even more.

The single-stemmed plant appeared not to have grown much, so I decided to unpot and check out the roots. This is February 2023.
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Unpotted. The root system was smaller than expected but it appeared robust, fine root hairs and all. At this point it had been kept dry for over 3 months.
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I potted it up and started watering with the rest of the collection several weeks later as spring started. I left the proliferous plant intact, deciding it was better to leave it alone since it had shown good growth months prior.

Unfortunately, neither plant reacted to water. Very slowly, all through the spring and going into summer, both plants kept shrinking.

I finally unpotted them in June 2023.
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I was expecting rot but was surprised to find the roots nearly the same as they were 4 months prior, just dried up. You can see the main root still had a bit of succulence to it. However, the stem was completely desiccated and hard as a rock. I couldn't tear at it with my fingers. I discarded it.

Here's the other plant. Just as dried up as the previous one.
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I found it bizarre how healthy the root system looked. No sign of rot anywhere and they were very plump.
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One of the offsets was still pliable, so I cut it off to examine the insides.
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There was dehydrated green tissue in the very center, but the rest was completely dried up. The base where it connected to the main stem was completely corked through, so it was cut off from water and nutrients.

I cut away into the main stem, removing tough, corky tissue that was uniform in color, until I found some softer tissue with some discoloration that I could more neatly cut a slice from.
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I am not sure why these plants refused to come back from winter dormancy. I saw no signs of pests (though one did have a mite infestation that cleared up the previous winter while it was still grafted). I know this species normally has a massive taproot if left on their own roots. Maybe these degrafts did not like to be kept completely dry during the winter, since they only had diffuse roots and were deprived of their storage organ? The succulence of the roots above seems to refute that. Now, I did have these exposed to the sun all through the winter and part of spring, so sunburn could be suspected. But as soon as I noticed the shriveling, I moved them into the shade. And besides, we had an unusually cool spring with more days overcast than not. I think sunburn was unlikely? I also suspect dry rot. The orange/red discoloration I found was only at the base of the main stem, the tissue higher up was a uniform "dead-plant-tan" color. I have had experience with dry rot before. My grafted Mammillaria bertholdii, luethyi, and a white-flowering theresae succumbed to it. The tubercles dried up and fell off, while the stems shriveled and were completely orange, but dry inside. The rootstocks of each were unaffected. In the case of the Yavia, maybe it was affected by a different pathogen that doesn't discolor the tissue as it decays?

Now, I did graft offsets from both scions as backups.
But I was greedy and grafted one of the smaller offsets from the proliferous plant, not wanting to ruin the look. This was July 2022, a couple weeks after grafting on Harrisia jusbertii.
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The graft took, but just barely. Since the scion was tiny, I figured I didn't need to hold it down while it fused. Obviously this was a mistake. Predictably, I ended up knocking the scion off the stock. I was too confident in the proliferous plant surviving and decided against grafting another offset from it. I am still kicking myself over that. :(

The second plant only had one offset on it and I did a better job of grafting it, using rubber bands to hold it down while it fused.
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Here it is several months later, December 2022.
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And here it is today, the only survivor.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

Cochemiea schumannii 'globosa'. Grafted on a short Selenicereus megalanthus seedling stock.
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The plant to right has more solid colored flowers.
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One of my grafted Discocactus horstii has finally grown a large enough cephalium to put out buds.
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Two days later.
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and later that night.
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Quickly became one of my favorite cactus flowers. :) They have an unusual, but very pleasant scent. It's a clean, sweet, but sharp aroma. Almost soapy. The sharpness is similar to fresh citrus blossoms, but without the citrus notes.

This second plant I grafted only about a month later, but it's barely starting to grow its cephalium (the plant is about 4.5cm in diameter).
Image
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by C And D »

Great stuff
Please show the progress of some of the other grafts that you posted earlier

I rarely post on my failures, but it's good to share things that go wrong, because it's a common occurrence

I had the same disappointing results with Yavia
never getting a plant to live after rooting

Can't believe you are getting flowers on the D. horstii and Pelecyphora at that age
good work
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by MrXeric »

C And D wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2023 11:14 pm Great stuff
Please show the progress of some of the other grafts that you posted earlier

I rarely post on my failures, but it's good to share things that go wrong, because it's a common occurrence

I had the same disappointing results with Yavia
never getting a plant to live after rooting

Can't believe you are getting flowers on the D. horstii and Pelecyphora at that age
good work
Thanks Craig. Yes, I'll be posting an update on the other grafts soon! I have few successful degrafts to share and one not so successful that I'll be sad to lose since it grew into something quite unique.
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Re: MrXeric's Grafts

Post by C And D »

I regrafted my D. horstii on to larger stock after a year or 2

Never was able to get one to stay alive on it's own roots from my seeds
I did have one that I bought from Jurgen Menzel on it's own roots, it lived for many years, until I repotted it the wrong time of year
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