Pereskiopsis- soil molding in humidity chamber

[Shane]

I did my first graft on Friday. I don't think it's going to take, which I expected from my first try

In order to maintain humidity, I placed the graft in a plastic bag with a glass of water (and heated the water beforehand to ensure adequate humidity right away). I also sterilized everything I could, like the pot, cup, tools and I misted the stock with alcohol

When I checked it yesterday, the soil had become very moldy. Obviously it was a consequence of the humidity necessary for Perioskopsis graft success. I'm trying to think of how to keep this from happening on future grafts. Is there a trick? I'm thinking about digging the first half inch of soil out of the (Perioskopsis) pot and replacing it with sterile soil (or maybe rocks, or both). What have you done to prevent mold?

[wilsontucker]

you're supposed to let the peres pot dry out before the grafting, and then don't water for a few weeks after either. Honestly though I got sick of dealing with a humidity chamber and not watering, and humidity and everything else and just switched over to parafilm. No chamber needed, can water the plants as much as want before, during, and after, and you can leave the plants in the same light they were already in. The grafts seem to take easier/faster and start growing a lot quicker.

[Shane]

you're supposed to let the peres pot dry out before the grafting, and then don't water for a few weeks after either. Honestly though I got sick of dealing with a humidity chamber and not watering, and humidity and everything else and just switched over to parafilm. No chamber needed, can water the plants as much as want before, during, and after, and you can leave the plants in the same light they were already in. The grafts seem to take easier/faster and start growing a lot quicker.

Interesting I'd never heard of that method. Sounds better than what I did though...

I wasn't able to find too much about it on the internet. I did find this detailed description though

https://mycotopia.net/topic/59188-graft ... -parafilm/

Does this look about right?

[wilsontucker]

https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewto ... lm#p351924

here's the link from this forum that I used as a guide. I bought the half inch wide parafilm from ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Parafilm-Nurse ... 2749.l2649

I had previously bought a 1" wide one, but it was more plastic than wax and wouldn't stick to itself, so stick to something that has a waxy look to it more than saran wrap.

My success rates and growth rates have skyrocketed with the method from the top link, and I don't have to worry about jostling the grafts or humidity or anything else (Besides 1-2 that I absolutely bashed into stuff and broke the grafts off, they're very sturdy).

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

Shane I use the method you describe as well as wilsontucker with quite a bit of success. In your case, you may find it better to withhold watering a day or two before grafting and if you can increase the humidity enough to prevent drying out. That's the culprit of so many failed grafts. Instead of placing a water dish in there use a dome that is a little larger and taller that also has vents at the top that you can control. In such a case I get the humidity high when I'm grafting and then in the following days I use those vents and opening of the dome for an hour or so so as to get a bit of fresh air and maintain sufficient humidity levels. I have not tried it but others swear by plastic bags over just the connection point.

I was initially hesitant to recommend Parafilm because it appears I had counterfeit or imitative material that did not hold up. The real stuff is great and really does take a lot of the chance with humidity and mold out of the question. However, I find it to be more time consuming (I graft 50-100 in a session) and it can be challenging based on the size and age of the scion. Some larger or strange shaped scions may not allow it or may require a different method of attachment. Opuntia spines still work great for impale grafts. I will not use Parafilm with seedlings that are only a month or two old. It's probably the shakiness in my fingers, but I end of squishing or having the scion slip off the rootstock so much. I have 75%+ success just slicing and placing right on top of the rootstock and going with the humidity dome.

[Hanazono]

I think people use various methods of grafting and get reasonable results.

I use a humidity chamber method but it is not a plastic bag, is a large plastic box.
New off-shoots cuttings of Pereskiopsis are use for grafting stocks.
Grafting and rooting are carried out by one process.

Stock: 15 cm new off-shoot Pereskiopsis cutting
Pot: 5 cm square tube
Potting mix: organic-base wet mix
Box A with a lid: filled in water on the bottom, 18 tubes are possible to accommodate.
Keep cutting in the box A for 4 days only.

Grafting
Scions: Ariocarpus-2 months old seedling, Astrophytum-1 month old seedling
Since cuttings are just kept 4 days, they have no roots when scions are grafted.
No-roots stock shows higher success rate of grafting, more than 98% in my case.
They are moved in box B after grafted, which is same setting as box A.
They are kept in 10 days in box B and complete the grafting process.

Stocks with scions are removed from 5 cm square tubes and are moved in 9 cm square pots which are permanent pots.
Since wet condition is just for 14 days in total, I have never seen mold covered over surface.
5 cm square tubes are just used for grafting/rooting and so mold is not matter anyway.
Stocks just start to form roots at that time.
High nitrogen manure is fed into 9 cm square pots.

Since I use 2 boxes, I can graft 18 scions every 10 days.
I graft more than 100 scions every year since 2009 but I have never seen mold covered over 5 cm square tubes.