Would Austrocylindropuntia make a good grafting stock?

[Shane]

I have an Austrocylindropuntia sp. (presumably cylindrica or subulata, I'm leaning towards subulata) that grows pretty well in my climate and was wondering if it might me good grafting stock. Has anyone tried grafting to Austrocylindropuntia or heard anything about it?

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

I wondered why no one was giving these a try since they're available at most big box stores and greenhouses cheap compared to something like Harrisia which is usually expensive or hard to find in quantity. I tried grafting some seedlings of various Astrophytum and Gymnocalycium with no luck. I even tried grafting tape and what I was left with was a big liquid mess within a few days. I would love to find out how to reliably use these.

[DaveW]

In theory any cactus can be grafted on any other cactus. Usually the faster growing stocks are used to push the scion on and probably an Austrocylindropuntia would do this, though some say it is best for other Opuntias and there are better stocks for other genera.

In other horticultural fields like fruit trees vigorous growing scions are often grafted on slower growing dwarfing rootstocks, rather akin to grafting a Cereus onto a Rebutia, but few would want to slow a cactus down or keep it low enough to easily pick the fruit.

See:-

http://www.cactus-art.biz/technics/Graf ... rience.htm

https://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30742

If you cannot find grafting stocks in quantity Pereskiopsis you need to propagate your own. Simply chopping up and rooting 2" pieces of Harrisia or Trichocereus schickendantzii and spachianus, also Myrtilocactus or Trichocereus pachanoi will provide offsets from the top of the cut stumps that can soon be rooted down and used for grafting. Also removing offsets off the stocks of present grafted plants will provide a start, since you only need a single stock to start propagating from. Echinopsis oxygona offsets if grown on a bit provide good grafting stocks and there are plenty of offsets usually available from them.

You can also easily obtain seed of these from seed merchants since many on the Continent do to raise their own stocks from seed. A seed merchant I used to know in Holland said he got orders for thousands of seeds for grafting stock each year. Obviously it depends how much grafting you do as to how long it takes to build up enough stocks.

[Shane]

In theory any cactus can be grafted on any other cactus. Usually the faster growing stocks are used to push the scion on and probably an Austrocylindropuntia would do this, though some say it is best for other Opuntias and there are better stocks for other genera.

In other horticultural fields like fruit trees vigorous growing scions are often grafted on slower growing dwarfing rootstocks, rather akin to grafting a Cereus onto a Rebutia, but few would want to slow a cactus down or keep it low enough to easily pick the fruit.

See:-

http://www.cactus-art.biz/technics/Graf ... rience.htm

https://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30742

If you cannot find grafting stocks in quantity Pereskiopsis you need to propagate your own. Simply chopping up and rooting 2" pieces of Harrisia or Trichocereus schickendantzii and spachianus, also Myrtilocactus or Trichocereus pachanoi will provide offsets from the top of the cut stumps that can soon be rooted down and used for grafting. Also removing offsets off the stocks of present grafted plants will provide a start, since you only need a single stock to start propagating from. Echinopsis oxygona offsets if grown on a bit provide good grafting stocks and there are plenty of offsets usually available from them.

You can also easily obtain seed of these from seed merchants since many on the Continent do to raise their own stocks from seed. A seed merchant I used to know in Holland said he got orders for thousands of seeds for grafting stock each year. Obviously it depends how much grafting you do as to how long it takes to build up enough stocks.

Thanks for all the info. I'd actually never thought of growing stocks from seed. I haven't found a great source of cactus cuttings online yet either. I do have perioskopis, though not much (recently it's been growing much better and I think soon I will have lots). I'm looking into other stocks too. Kada's Garden has some great guides I've been studying

Looks like I'm not the first person to have this idea, though it doesn't seem too common. When I get "good at grafting" I'll have to do some experiments and write a guide if it goes well. Sounds hit or miss as to whether it'll work for a given species. Though it might be premature for me to think about using Austrocylindropuntia since I have yet to graft a single plant!

I'm curious on how to efficiently increase my A. subulata plants. I have one currently, will it grow many new branches if I decapitate it? Thinking I'll maybe cut the top off and cut some 2" stem segments and plant those too. They seem to love this climate, growing maybe an inch or two a month for me

[Carbo]

I've grafted to a.subulata and grafts typically take on but not all of them grew. I remember grafting christmas cactus on it and they fused together quite nicely but christmas cactus never grew, it would just stagnate forever, but of course any opuntia and related species would grow very well. I think a. subulata is a monster, when I had it years ago I would plant it directly in the ground and it could grow 5 times it's original mass and size in one growing season.

[wilsontucker]

I grafted a Tephocactus Geometricus ball onto A. Subulata a month or two back and it's grown faster than the one I grafted to a Myrtillo on the same day. Also the top already rerooted and started to grow again.

[phil_SK]

Avoid using A. subulata monstrose form.

[Shane]

Carbo and wilsontucker, what type of grafts did you do? And do you have to keep it in humidity like pereskiopsis, or are there any other "special" requirements or techniques?

[Carbo]

Carbo and wilsontucker, what type of grafts did you do? And do you have to keep it in humidity like pereskiopsis, or are there any other "special" requirements or techniques?

I did both flat grafts and idk the term but the one where you cut V shape cut in the stock. The vascular bundle is easy to see but it's not circular as in some other stocks. Grafting procedure is same as with any other stock, I think increased humidity is a must whichever stock you use for at least a couple of days. Personally I think a.subulata is a great stock it's just that not all species seem to grow on it even though they fuse with it, I'm not sure what is the reason for this, probably something to do with phytohormones.
I had lots of this cactus but one exceptionally cold year it froze to death. I think I'll try and get some more and experiment with grafting on it, will post results here of course.

[wilsontucker]

Carbo and wilsontucker, what type of grafts did you do? And do you have to keep it in humidity like pereskiopsis, or are there any other "special" requirements or techniques?

I just did the standard chop off the top, put the graft on it flat and then tape down to the sides of the pot to apply gentle but firm pressure. I did a tephrocactus geometricus ball on it, and it's about doubled in size so it definitely connected good. I didn't do anything special after, no humidity box/tent/bag, just put it on the top shelf of my plant room so it got some mild morning sunlight. I live in missouri and the back room isn't air conditioned, so it was probably 75-80 in there most days and somewhat humid.

After 7-10 days I took the tape off and put it under the lights for a few days before moving back outside with everything else.

I only did one graft with it, as I only had one random piece i'd found on the ground at Home Depot and grown. Gonna try and find a nice pile of 10-20 of them for future grafting stock now though as it worked well.

[Shane]

Wilson and Carbo, if you need a few cuttings to restart your A. subulata growing, I think I can scare up a few (message me if you're interested)