Parafilm Frustration

[Shane]

Whatever I do, I can't seem to get parafilm to work the way it supposedly. People say it works because it sticks to the stock and itself to form a seal. But in my experience it's about as sticky as a sheet of paper

I'm going through what I do vs what people have said to do and I can't find anything I'm doing wrong. Maybe somebody here can. My parafilm handling is as follows:

I stretch the pfilm over a blunt object and create a space slightly larger than the scion. Then I place the film over the scion/stock union. My understanding is this is the part where the parafilm is supposed to start sticking to stuff. But mine refuses to stick. I can kind of get to stay by creasing the film around the stock, but it's very loose and certainly isn't airtight or adhered

Other possible factors:
I work at room temperature
I use the pfilm with the underside down (i.e. the part that was towards the middle of the roll is touching the cactus)
I bought the pfilm on Ebay, maybe it's counterfit?
My work space tends to have dry air

Does anybody have any idea why the pfilm is doing this?

[wilsontucker]

You need to cut off a small piece of parafilm, stretch it longways a bit then wrap it tightly around the top of stock 1-2 times right below where you're going to cut and place the scion.This will stick to itself and the stock well, and give you something to stick the piece you put over the graft.

Then you cut off another piece and stretch it until the middle is about tissue paper thin, if you can kinda see through it then that's good. Put it over the graft and then press all the edges down onto the parafilm that's wrapped around the top of your stock. You want it to be holding the scion on firmly without smashing, something you'll get the hang of as you do more.

If this doesn't work, you could have shitty parafilm. I bought one off eBay and it was bad, then I bought the actual "parafilm" brand one and it was much better. If your parafilm looks and feels like saran wrap (plastic wrap) then it might suck. It should look more like waxy tape until stretched thin.

I keep mine in a plastic back sealed just in case it does dry out, has worked fine so far.

[phil_SK]

Apart from a little bit to get it going you have to stretch as you wrap. It's that little bit of tension in each layer that holds it all together. Not easy on a cactus; worth practising on a pencil, maybe.

[Shane]

This is a lot of good info. Thank you both

You need to cut off a small piece of parafilm, stretch it longways a bit then wrap it tightly around the top of stock 1-2 times right below where you're going to cut and place the scion.This will stick to itself and the stock well, and give you something to stick the piece you put over the graft

Ah ha! This sounds like a critical step, and I wasn't doing it

It's that little bit of tension in each layer that holds it all together

Well no wonder my efforts to squish it together didn't work...

Not easy on a cactus; worth practising on a pencil, maybe

Will do

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

Apart from a little bit to get it going you have to stretch as you wrap. It's that little bit of tension in each layer that holds it all together. Not easy on a cactus; worth practising on a pencil, maybe.

I agree. It took me a long time to realize this too. I don't know if the phrase "sticks to itself" is the most useful. It's true that it does, but it's method of sticking is not as apparent as something like glue or even tape. I think "adheres under tension" is better. Forming the bubble for the scion to fit in with a pencil is helpful but not necessary. The main ingredient for success is the tension.

You can approach it from a couple different angles after stretching it. You can adhere one side of the Parafilm to the stock and gentle drape it over the scion to the other side then twist the remainder of the two sides on the stock. Doing so will create the tension and you will see the scion pull into the stock slightly. I have also laid the Parfilm wide over the scion in the middle and simply used my fingers to push the Parfilm on each side of the stock and twist it like a candy wrapper is assembled.

And yes, counterfeit Parafilm does exist. I am not aware of Parfilm expiring or going bad due to humidity or temperature though I'm sure it's entirely possible at home. Mine stays dry and cool in the dark.

[Shane]

So I did two more grafts last night, and thanks to everyone's advice I had a much better time. It was easier and I think better quality than all my past attempts

I also realized a few other mistakes I was making. One, the piece of parafilm I was using was too large, making it difficult to get enough tension. Two, I was using too tall (.5+ in) scions, which had all the stability of trying to graft a pencil on top of another pencil. In fact, the second scion I grafted last night I forgot to do the p-film strip around the top but when I went to take the p-flm off to add it the film seemed pretty stuck so I left it alone