hoodia grafting

[planthelper]

whats the best grafting stock for hoodia gordonii?

ceropegia woodii got recommanded to me but,...

"i get no yes" on that one...

gomoas spoke about stapelias gigantea with the hope they might contain similar goodies like the hoodia. i believe stapelias would make better stock for hoodias.

so are there any other, better asclepiadaceae suitable for hoodia grafting?

[smogs]

slightly off topic but im interested in growing a hoodia but i remember reading they are a bit tricky to grow and rather pricey?

do you need much material to get noticable effects? my girlfriend wants to lose a few pounds but i dont really want her on any stimulants (potentially dangerous).

[gomaos]

Well I think I can answer that :

they are a bit tricky to grow

i suppose... I just put my first hoodia with my other cacti, mainly pachanoi,

and we had some good rain, and a few days later it was all rotten.

Now I have 3 growing under a light bulb near the window, so they get plenty of light but are sheltered from the rain, and they look like they are loving it.

i give them a saucerful of water per week each

and rather pricey?

yes they are I traded them at a value of $20 per 1cm seedling.

That even exceeds the price of peyote..

but I'm cool with it

[planthelper]

they are just allmost "hypnotic to look at".

and got no spikes,

thought its a cacti, but no...

keep them sheltered,

water little.

somewhere i read:

hoodias grow in situ, in winter rainfall areas.

maybe, dont starve them over winter, i mean.

they can take frosts, claim minus 9 C deg no probs.

and flower at spring early summer.

give them rather a lot of light.

{maybe, realy maybe likes a little lime??!(any thoughts?}

[ 04. January 2004, 13:11: Message edited by: planthelper ]

[Absinthe]

Pricey? I got mine for $8 and it was about 25cm long and rooted, but Lester has no gordonii left. Be careful with too much water, mine tends to sway a bit because its a little soft right now. Don't expect to use it for its hunger alleviating properties right away, you would need to build up a renewable supply (a couple of years, maybe less depending on your original amount or how fast you can grow them). As for grafting, a fast growing stapelia such as gigantea is supposedly good. The tubers of Ceropegia woodii also. Many other ascelpiads are just not fast growing enough or too small. Perhaps a different Hoodia species would be good too.

Jon

[Felix]

Lester is a good bloke, rarely will he charge high prices even for popular plants, but I missed out on his bargain hoodias. I've tried one graft onto a ceropegia woodii tuber but was lazy and botched it. I have some just rooted stapelia gigantea cuttings to try next but I think the ceropegia has more potential as its easy to graft onto and doesn't rot as easily as stapelia. At the rate my seedlings are growing, I think grafting is the way to go.

[gomaos]

"Lester"? Who's that?

Could someone throw me a link?

He may be out of hoodia but I'd like to see what else he's got...

[Felix]

He doesnt have a website but you can get his plant list if you send a SAE to

Lester Meyers

44 Wamboin Street,

Gilgandra NSW 2827.

I stumbled on his name when looking for obscure trichocereus but he didn't have any of interest to me.

[gomaos]

Thanks, man.

[planthelper]

thx, aswell...

off, to get me a chain of hearts!

[Felix]

I've got spares, ill send you some.

[gomaos]

Chain of hearts?

Please explain?

[planthelper]

im not the expert on this, but hmmm.

ceropegia woodii, commonly chain of hearts.

maybe usefull to graft hoodia gordonii onto,

hmmm.

but which stapelias/duvalia members "are root rot save" grafting stock?

@felix i pm u

[SaBReT00tH]

during the last few 43 degree days my 1 or 2 hoodias have suffered and started to rot in the middle. With the arrival of some stapelias finally I attempted to graft the top of a hoodia to a stapelia. I put a coke bottle over the top for humidity (kept inside out of direct sunlight) but quickly noticed the hoodia starting to rot so I took it off. I'm wondering, is there any chance of the two succulents bonding successfully without any humidity?? The stapelia I grafted to also had no roots but was curved at the bottom like it could quickly grow some.

[Pisgah]

I doubt the scion will take if the stock is expending energy producing roots, without any vascular flow to the scion.

[teonanacatl]

i dont use humidity for my cactus grafts, then again humidity here is always above 70% just hold it down and put in a cool shaded place.

[planthelper]

suges, i lost a few hoodias to this rot. you have to make sure to cut away all of the infected tissue. this rot travels like wildfire, eating your hoodias up over night.

however i manged allways to salvage some uneffected parts and after callusing them for a while i managed to root them! i used small pots with a high drainage mix. the mix was dry when i inserted the hoodia cuttings and i watered the pot the first time after 8 weeks or so, good luck.

i repotted my hoodias some months ago and they thanked me with a healthy growth flush.

since that one rotted on me, i haven't watered them at all...

i use cacti fert on them once in a while and they seem to love that stuff, same goes for my loph babies which grew in halve a year as much as it would take them in one year, in my old days, before i deepend my relationship with them.

if you graft a seedling, graft the stump aswell, like this you don't waste a thing.

rev told me that trick and i used it with good results with loph babies!!

makes me want to cry if i think that i used to waste all those baby loph root stumps.

what's my reward for today after all work is done?

one loph to peres graft, hehe!!

[planthelper]

ahhh, one more thing.

instead of using a big section of hoodia for grafting, you might want to try just a sliver.

i mean a small part of the hoodia containg one ore more spikes...

i think you call it grafting an eye.

anyway, i cut some pedros yesterday for propagation and when i cut the top part in a fashion which allowes for easy recognition which side is to be planted up, AND allowes water to drain off, i used the aereoles for grafting onto peres.

chances are they will not make it, however if you cut the eye into a narrow sliver, but aswell not to thin one can see a white dot, which is the inside of the aereole. this is, i think the trick, just align the dot with your peres vascular and hope for the best.

if you leave to much flesh and the white dot doesn't shows up than there will be no contact of the virtual parts, ahem, this is just my theory....

if you leave too much green, the relation of area covered by skin versus bare, is not in your favor either, as i made this mistake once trying the loph aereole plug grafting methode.

i failed because i left too much flesh.

[SaBReT00tH]

do any of you guys have an update on the growth of your grafted hoodias, or found any better grafting stock species in the meantime?

[Rev]

I doubt the scion will take if the stock is expending energy producing roots, without any vascular flow to the scion.

Not IME at all

unrooted succulents make fine stocks

hoodias grow in situ, in winter rainfall areas.

maybe, dont starve them over winter, i mean.

they can take frosts, claim minus 9 C deg no probs.

i find this information is much more reliable and in conflict with what u read

The kalahari is summer rainfall zonthey grow in summer for me and i keep very dry over winter

mine purple with the old but take light frost -2/-3 at the most(least?)

Hoodia gordonii

(Masson) Sweet ex Decne.

Family : Apocyanceae

Common names : bobbejaanghaap, bergghaap, bitterghaap, bokhorings (Afr.); Khobab (Khoi)

Hoodia gordonii

Hoodia gordonii is one of the most sought after succulents due to its medicinal properties. It has been called one of the wonder plants of the twenty first century. Trade in this plant is restricted. See Information document on trade in Hoodia gordonii and other Hoodia species for further details.

Description

Hoodia gordonii is a spiny succulent. In the early stages only one stem is produced but at a later stage the plant starts branching. Mature plants can have as many as 50 individual branches and weigh as much as 30 kg. Plants under ideal conditions can attain a height of 1 m. Flowers are borne on or near the terminal apex (top part of the plant). The flowers are large and have a carrion-like smell (smell similar to rotten meat). In some ways the Hoodia flowers resemble a petunia flower. Flowers vary in colour from pale straw to dark maroon. Flowers are normally borne in August or September. Flowers can reach a diameter of 75 mm. Seed is produced in October and November. The seed capsules resemble small antelope or goat horns hence the Afrikaans common name of bokhorings.

Distribution

Hoodia gordonii has a very wide distribution. It occurs in the northeastern part of the Western Cape, the north and northwestern regions of the Northern Cape and southern Namibia . It is used to extreme heat (above 40°C), but it can survive in relatively low temperatures (–3°C).

The plant appears to have a wide tolerance of growing habitats, found in deep Kalahari sands, on dry stony slopes or flats and under the protection of xerophytic bushes.

Growing in dry habitat

Hoodia gordonii can under ideal conditions live for 25 years in cultivation. In the wild they probably don't live much longer than 15 years.

Derivation of name and historical aspects

Hoodia gordonii was discovered by Paterson and Col. R.F. Gordon in December 1778 in the Upington area. Mr Francis Masson, a famous botanist, named this plant Stapelia gordonii with the specific epithet named after Gordon. In 1830 the genus was later transferred by Sweet into the genus Hoodia, which was named in honour of Van Hood, a keen succulent grower.

Ecology

Pollination is done mainly by flies. This unusual pollination biology is referred to as myophily (pollination by flies). Myophily takes place in some of the following genera, Stapelia, Huernia and Ceropegia.

Uses and cultural aspects

Several species of Hoodia are eaten raw. Obviously the spines must first be removed. Hoodia has been known for many years as an appetite suppressant. These appetite suppressant properties have now been developed and Hoodia derivative products are now marketed in many western countries where obesity is becoming a problem.

Growing Hoodia gordonii

If you plan to grow these plants in South Africa, you must contact your local Department of Nature Conservation. See Information document on Trade in Hoodia gordonii and other Hoodia species for contact details.

Propagation is done mainly from seed. Cuttings are not really an option, as the severed ends very rarely form a callus from where roots will eventually form. Seeds are produced in October and November of each year (southern hemisphere). The seed horns must be semi-dry and starting to split down the middle before seed can be collected.

The seeds are light brown in colour, are flat and have a pappus of fluffy hair attached to their one end. This pappus acts as a parachute when the seed pod splits open. The seeds are blown some distance from the parent plant where they will establish themselves. Life for a young Hoodia plant begins under the protection of a nurse plant. A nurse plant is a shrub under which the young plant germinates and grows, protected by its leaves and branches from the suns strong rays.

Use sandy loam with a small amount of very well-rotted, sieved compost. The seeds should not be planted deeper than 0.5 cm. Do not crowd too many seeds into a seed pan, this can lead to damping off when they start germinating. The sowing medium must be well drained. Do not over-water, too much water at a time when the seeds are germinating will ROT them. Only water four times a week under warm conditions, 28°C or above. During the winter months only water once every two weeks. Move to a sunny location.

Sow the seeds in March or April (southern hemisphere). By April of the following year the plants should be strong enough to be planted in a small, 9 cm plastic pot, using a well-drained potting medium.

Hoodia gordonii once established will grow quickly. These plants respond well to organic foodstuffs. In a three years plants can attain a height of at least 250 mm and have up to 10 branches.

References

* Barkhuizen, B.P. 1978. Succulents of southern Africa. Purnell, Cape Town .

* Stearn, W.T. 1967. Botanical Latin . Clark, Edinburgh, UK.

http://www.plantzafrica.com/planthij/hoodgord.htm

look at the soils

rocky sandy freedraining

imagine yourself there then think how similar a climate it looks to townsville or outback qld and WA

agamemnon reckons they grow fast and easy up at his place

http://www.hoodia.jp/hoodia-gordonii.html

Edited March 30, 2006 by Rev