WTF is eating my graft

[sharxx101]

I have a graft I bought from a cactus grower, it seems to have some parasite that has burrowed into it. I found a small entry hole and a bit of yellow goop that I noticed a few days ago. It seems to be getting worse and has stunted the flowers from opening. I get the feeling that some sort of parasite has burrowed into the loph and keeps pushing its shit out which is yellow. I have had a look in the hole to see if I could locate it but it maybe in deep now.

Here is a pic, I have never seen anything like this before on a peres graft.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp163/sharxx101/IMG_7644.jpg

Any treatment advice appericated as this is really shitting me and I have considered regrafting. I have already sprayed with pyrethium spray but it doesnt look like it has worked as the bug seems to be internal.

Help please!!!

Edited December 8, 2009 by sharxx101

[culebra22]

Sounds and looks like a grub has burrowed its way inside.

the larvae of a moth or possible beetle.

I had the same thing happen with an offset of a grafted Astrophytum. The bastard hollowed out the entire offset!! heaps of its shit was on the outside near the entry hole as you describe. By the time I discovered this affected offset it was too late. I pulled the offset off and it was completely hollow so I broke it in half, guess what was inside? a large wriggling pupae! wtf One of the strangest things I've ever had happen, in this case it didn't really matter to any degree as it was not the main head which was attacked, just a sizable offset so the plant just pupped again.

I also remember seeing an illustration of this in a book whereby a wild Turbinicarpus specimen which appeared superficially fine from the outside had been dissected vertically to reveal the presence of a large grub which occupied practically the entire inside of the plant! its really what you don't want to find on your plant.

I have no idea how you would go about getting it out (IF this pest is the case, which I suspect it is).

Perhaps a small long shanked fishing hook could be used for extraction?

[sharxx101]

Sounds and looks like a grub has burrowed its way inside.

the larvae of a moth or possible beetle.

I had the same thing happen with an offset of a grafted Astrophytum. The bastard hollowed out the entire offset!! heaps of its shit was on the outside near the entry hole as you describe. By the time I discovered this affected offset it was too late. I pulled the offset off and it was completely hollow so I broke it in half, guess what was inside? a large wriggling pupae! wtf One of the strangest things I've ever had happen, in this case it didn't really matter to any degree as it was not the main head which was attacked, just a sizable offset so the plant just pupped again.

I also remember seeing an illustration of this in a book whereby a wild Turbinicarpus specimen which appeared superficially fine from the outside had been dissected vertically to reveal the presence of a large grub which occupied practically the entire inside of the plant! its really what you don't want to find on your plant.

I have no idea how you would go about getting it out (IF this pest is the case, which I suspect it is).

Perhaps a small long shanked fishing hook could be used for extraction?

 

Thanks for your reply bud it aint looking good no matter what I do.

[bit]

I wouldn't have a clue what it is, but if it is a bug of some sort your loph is history if you do nothing.

If it were me I'd sterlize a knife and cut to get at it, with the hope of being able to bind the plant back together after removal.

[KanJe]

ROGOR!!!!

Either that or you could smoke him out.

[PD.]

Either that or you could smoke him out.

I cant think of a better way, ill give ya a hand sharxx.

[culebra22]

That, or how about covering up the entry hole(s?) completely with something like blutack or tape so he suffocates?

simple but it might just work?

check this out:

THAT'S NOT GOOD!!!

Edited December 9, 2009 by culebra22

[ENtiTY]

Chemicals ain't good but this is your only hope I think.

You want a systemic and you want it asap before that lil bugger gets to big with an appetite to match. Rogor, confidor, have a look at whats available where ever you get your supplies but make sure its a systemic pesticide. Give the peres stock the brunt of the pesticide as it will take it up faster than the graft. You will prolly have to watch for bacterial and fungal infections until the loph heals itself.

Best of luck, time is of the esscence in this case, immature insects have varacious appetites!

[Barking Lotus]

whilst travelling through a northern jungle a friend had a beetle take up residence in his ear... after the usual techniques failed to remove it he syringed cooking oil into his ear and once satisfied the crunchy critter had drowned and was dead after, considerable hours waiting anxiously, he syringed fresh water into his ear repeatedly and eventually flushed out and removed the dead beetle!

maybe try that on your cactus? oil coats and blocks the breathing holes of the beetles exoskeleton...and the beauty is its environmentally friendly:-).

cheers,

BL

[ENtiTY]

whilst travelling through a northern jungle a friend had a beetle take up residence in his ear... after the usual techniques failed to remove it he syringed cooking oil into his ear and once satisfied the crunchy critter had drowned and was dead after, considerable hours waiting anxiously, he syringed fresh water into his ear repeatedly and eventually flushed out and removed the dead beetle!

maybe try that on your cactus? oil coats and blocks the breathing holes of the beetles exoskeleton...and the beauty is its environmentally friendly:-).

cheers,

BL

 

Yeah... That might be fine for an organism that has an immune system and can thus mount an immune response, but in a cacti... You might kill the pest but what about the after effects of squirting a foreign oil into a Lophs inards. Possibly just as bad as the pupae having free reign until it morphs. I agree, chemical use is not always the right choice but sometimes, it is. They are an option and sometimes they are the best option.

[shruman]

I had the same thing happen to a dffusa graft he burrowed under at the graft union but only into the diffusa the bugger made two little openings in a u shape so I used the hose to blast it out, I thought it worked & it started to plump up & then grow again for about a month but then I put it away for winter & when I brought it back out it had died, others did just fine, dunno if the attack was the reason it died or not though.

Sidenote, diffusa suck, everything wants to have ago at em, unlike williamsii.

Good luck with it.

[Chiral]

I wonder if submerging the whole plant in a bucket of water would drown the pest, you wouldn't have to leave it submerged for long, maybe 12 - 24 hours would do it, surely it wouldn't hurt the plant too much if any.

I remember having some cactus seedlings in pots and the pots where all lined up inside a stryofoam box down the side of my house, it pissed down for a week one time and when I remembered about them I went around and saw all the stryro boxes completely full of water. I emptied out the water and rescued all the seedlings...they all survived..

[Evil Genius]

Even if you could drown the bug(s); you wouldnt get that cadaver out of the cactus. The combination of the corpse, bug shit, slime and the remaining water would ultimately lead to fatal rot on the inside. I dont think there is a way to save that cactus, if the bug doesnt leaves voluntarily and the wound doesnt heals up by great luck! You can open the hole up and try to get everything out that doesnt belongs there. Its worth a try though i dont think that the cactus survives this procedure. bye Eg

[Chiral]

You could cut the loph in half like an apple...Mind Expansion gave me a little loph about 6 months ago, one complete half had rotted away, so the bad section/half was cut away and the plant has survived and is living happily now, in fact it's growing like a crest would, kind of rolling back across it's self, looks cool actually.

[Evil Genius]

yeah, chiral is right! You can cut and try to graft again what´s left. But make sure to cut with safety distance in case the bug left some eggs.

[culebra22]

But make sure to cut with safety distance in case the bug left some eggs.

Grubs are the larval stage of moths, beetles etc, so fortunately will not lay eggs.

(that is if it is a grub, but I can't think of what else it could be?).

This is not to say that another attack in the future is not possible, as eggs could still be laid by whatever the grubs metamorphosise into.

Edited December 10, 2009 by culebra22

[apothecary]

Do it like the ancient egyptians do to a brain...Contents of hole, meet tiny hook.

[mutant]

let us know how it went, take pics, good luck!

Yeah, Chiral's idea is possible but not too easy I think. I have seen half-half grafts or even quarters, awesome trick!

Edited December 10, 2009 by mutant

[mac]

Either that or Felch him out

Edited December 10, 2009 by mac

[sharxx101]

I wouldn't have a clue what it is, but if it is a bug of some sort your loph is history if you do nothing.

If it were me I'd sterlize a knife and cut to get at it, with the hope of being able to bind the plant back together after removal.

 

Regrafted with success, the bug ate right into the core of the peres and destroyed it. Lucky the loph has been saved!

[culebra22]

Regrafted with success, the bug ate right into the core of the peres and destroyed it. Lucky the loph has been saved!

 

CONGRATS! Always good to hear a happy ending mate.

What stock did you regraft it to?

Was the bug still inside when you cut it? Or had it already left by then?

[mutant]

congrats man! Long lived ;)

[sharxx101]

CONGRATS! Always good to hear a happy ending mate.

What stock did you regraft it to?

Was the bug still inside when you cut it? Or had it already left by then?

 

Regrafted the loph to a pedro with success, now it has started to develop a bit of black rot under the graft and it aint looking good!

I wonder if a bit of bug shit or something was on the cut end of the graft, maybe this has caused the rot? It looked fine at the time of grafting. Hopefully I have a good enough union with the graft to grow it a little to regraft it.

The bug burrowed into the peres and was eating the vascular system and leaving its bug shit in replacement for it! Saved a small bit of the peres by cutting out where the bug was, down to where the vascular system wasnt damaged.

[culebra22]

Regrafted the loph to a pedro with success, now it has started to develop a bit of black rot under the graft and it aint looking good!

I wonder if a bit of bug shit or something was on the cut end of the graft, maybe this has caused the rot? It looked fine at the time of grafting. Hopefully I have a good enough union with the graft to grow it a little to regraft it.

The bug burrowed into the peres and was eating the vascular system and leaving its bug shit in replacement for it! Saved a small bit of the peres by cutting out where the bug was, down to where the vascular system wasnt damaged.

 

The black rot doesn't sound good mate.

Yeah I would think that because the bugs mouthparts, shit etc. are not sterile (like contaminated) it would make what remains of the loph very vulnerable to rot.

Fingers crossed it makes it!

[sharxx101]

The black rot doesn't sound good mate.

Yeah I would think that because the bugs mouthparts, shit etc. are not sterile (like contaminated) it would make what remains of the loph very vulnerable to rot.

Fingers crossed it makes it!

 

Well I can post a happy ending ofr once the graft has taken and grown, regardless of the black rot I will post a pics soon. I am glad she made it as she is my only frucii loph I have she is gonna flower soon too