Peyofox

Good job raising them, they look healthy.

Nice work mate. Young seedling tails can also be grafted to pereskiopsis. Here are a couple of pics of the same seedling I did quite a few years ago. You can see the tiny root still hanging there.

I've had this specimen in the ground for over 10 years now and it has only flowered twice during that time, the second time being just recently. If anyone could provide an ID, I would be grateful. Unlike the other cacti around it, this plant hasn't really grown much, but the pink flowers it produces are almost as large as a Trich flower and are super speccy.

Thanks EG.

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Trim 'em. They only get in the way.

Let's hope they don't poison themselves again in the process this time..... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-18/fruit-fly-chemicals-blamed-for-sickness/9459634

This graft was done as an experiment back in 2011, to see if multiple cacti rootstocks could be used to support a single scion, and observe any effect it would have on growth rate. In this example, 4 Pereskiopsis plants were used as rootstocks, to support 1 Lophophora off-set. Each Pereskiopsis was approx 30cm in height to begin with. They were positioned around the 4 sides of an empty pot, and held securely in place with vinyl (electrical) tape. The leaves were removed from the top of each Pereskiopsis. The stems were held together using non-adhesive teflon tape. A healthy Loph off-set was selected and removed. The Peres stems were cut. The edges were evenly bevelled. To maximize surface contact area with all 4 stems, a small piece of flesh was removed from the Loph. The Loph was held firmly in position using the same vinyl tape. It was left to heal, undisturbed and out of direct light for 1 week. The hold-down tape was then removed, and the plant(s) were reintroduced into normal growing conditions. The tape holding the stems together was left in place for an additional week, allowing time for them to adjust, and grow into their new shape, without pulling away from the scion. After close inspection, each of the 4 stocks appear to have made a successful union. The graft sat dormant throughout the first week, as it continued to heal and recover from the initial shock. During the following weeks, growth literally exploded. Pics were taken over an approx 2 month period, during which time the Loph had been in almost constant flower. In the last pic there were approx 14 off-sets with more visibly forming.

I like your thinking. Yeah, a caespitosa would go absolutely nuts! I have plenty to experiment with too. Maybe one day.

They mainly split from the top. It could have been that they were simply impaled a little too deep when grafted. It wasn't major and they still kept growing. The main button just stalled, but produced a heap of off-sets.

Cheers. I've grafted countless trichs on Peres and they grow fast enough on a single stock, although you're probably right, in that they would be less likey to split. I choose a Loph because, well, they are way cooler plants to grow.

Hey mate. I have a raised garden bed with excellent drainage. Plants get full sun during the day and my yard is quite sheltered. Where I am situated (fairly coastal), I very, very rarely get any frosts. Although they have been through plenty of hail storms over the years and it didn't seem to bother them at all. For a small place Tassie has some very varying weather conditions. However, from my experience, trichs are very tough and forgiving plants to grow. Start them off in pots and plant in the ground once they are reasonably established.

Cheers mate. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With it's attractive symmetrical growth patterns, the spiral Aloe would have to be one of my favourite succulents. This Aloe started off in a pot and was approx. 10cm in diameter when first put in the ground back in 2010. It is now over a meter accross and has flowered routinely for the past several years. It has never been fed or manually watered and seems to thrive on neglect. This year it formed an off-set and for the first time produced two sets of flowers.

DualWieldRake, Inyan & cactusjames, thanks for the comments. cactusjames, from my observations it certainly did increase growth/pupping in the short term. How much faster? It's hard to say. The biggest problem that I came accross when doing these multistock grafts, was having the scion split open. This didn't kill the plant, but it did increase the risk of disease/infection setting it and ruined the appearance of the Loph. The upside of the plants that split, was they generally produced alot of pups, on plants that usually wouldn't pup very much.

At the time, this was done purely for fun. In hindsight, similar or potentially better yields could have been acheived using 4 seperate stocks and scions. However, this Loph was degrafted/regrafted early, so it's full potential was never really known. I tried a six stock graft, which produced alot of pups, but split pretty early on. As fun as it was, I don't think I'll be going down this path again.

Thanks MS, for reminding me to post up some old work I did on this topic. I maxed out at six rootstocks and then the scion just consistantly split open. It wasn't a total loss though, as many pups were produced, which were regrafted back onto Peres. Nothing ventured, Nothing gained.

Depends on where you are and what species are being grown. Trichs absolutely love my outdoors, Southern Tasmanian environment But yeah, a greenhouse is definitely a must have to grow certain species down here. I'll be performing a cull in the near future, Gambeard. Will try to remember to send you a PM, or just keep an eye on 'Seed & Plant Exchange' section.

You won't regret buying a Hawkins, YM. They are built to last and are a trusted brand that have been around since the 1950's. I've had a 'Big Boy' for about 10 years now. It is rated at 15 psi and has worked flawlessly during that time. I purchased mine from the Pressure Cooker Centre. www.pressurecooker.com.au

I've yet to grow reapers, but I do grow quite a few 'super hots' every year. I store them fresh in the fridge until I have enough to dry a batch. When they are completely dry, I store them in air-tight jars. I then grind them as required with a mortar and pestle, to use in cooking throughout the year. It's easy to control the heat this way and none goes to waste. A little goes a long way.