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Dreamwalker.

how small a seedling can be grafted?

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I'm having a problem successfully grafting my San p x cereus seedlings.

The seeds sprout easy enough, but tend to die off (not sure why) by the time they get to "J" below.

So they grow ok for several weeks, then start to die off.

Most tend to be albino (not all,some are green), I have tried to graft them onto per, but as they are from G to J stage, I only have about 3 - 5 mm to work with, & as they are maybe 1 -2 mm thick, even a sharp razor blade tends to compress (squish them slightly).

Ideally I can graft ok when seedlings are at the L to M stage, is it possible to graft seedling before the column emerges, ie pre K?...as they never survive to the K stage.

any suggestions?

a11f1.jpg

Edited by Dreamwalker.

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You can graft as soon as the seedling emerges completely... I would wait a couple weeks before grafting just so they are a little easier to handle.

I have been able to graft seedlings in the I and J stage. The way I do it is cut at an angle and place onto the pereskiopsis. I don't press on blade onto the seedling but rather slice it. I have become rather good at grafting small cacti by lightly pinching them with one hand then slicing with the other. With razer blades they are sharp enough to cut without squishing. Box cutter blades work for trichocereus but not smaller seedlings like aztekium IME.

post-14238-0-36772500-1411190124_thumb.j post-14238-0-30416500-1411190598_thumb.j

Practice makes perfect so don't be upset if you fail the first few times. The reason I cut at an angle is because its easier to place and more chance of aligning the vascular rings.

post-14238-0-36772500-1411190124_thumb.jpg

post-14238-0-30416500-1411190598_thumb.jpg

post-14238-0-36772500-1411190124_thumb.jpg

post-14238-0-30416500-1411190598_thumb.jpg

Edited by modern.shaman
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What are the seedling stages you two are using?

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You can graft as soon as the seedling emerges completely... I would wait a couple weeks before grafting just so they are a little easier to handle.

I have been able to graft seedlings in the I and J stage. The way I do it is cut at an angle and place onto the pereskiopsis. I don't press on blade onto the seedling but rather slice it. I have become rather good at grafting small cacti by lightly pinching them with one hand then slicing with the other. With razer blades they are sharp enough to cut without squishing. Box cutter blades work for trichocereus but not smaller seedlings like aztekium IME.

Thanks for that....I didn't want to waste anymore..but if its practice, no prob....

I like your angle method & will try it.

Insidently, I have been cutting new shoots/pups off my crafted per, but on your pic you have left it on, so you can let them sprout ok from the side & that doesn't take any potential growth from the graft?

What are the seedling stages you two are using?

for me "I"

Edited by Dreamwalker.

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No, lol, I mean what is the name of the classification system that groups seedlings into letter groups.

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Thanks for that....I didn't want to waste anymore..but if its practice, no prob....

I like your angle method & will try it.

Insidently, I have been cutting new shoots/pups off my crafted per, but on your pic you have left it on, so you can let them sprout ok from the side & that doesn't take any potential growth from the graft?

I do cut the new shoots off of the pereskiopsis however the seedling will grow either way. Leaving the shoots may actually be a good idea with tiny seedlings that tend to pup excessively. I did remove the shoot from the graft soon after that photo.

No, lol, I mean what is the name of the classification system that groups seedlings into letter groups.

Dreamwalker posted an image of different stages in the OP.

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from the reading i did, they generally talk about grafting 2 week old seedlings

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OH, my firewall was blocking it as a malicious IP and I didnt see the little blinking thing by my clock :lol:

My bad

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You can graft as soon as the seedling emerges completely... I would wait a couple weeks before grafting just so they are a little easier to handle.

I have been able to graft seedlings in the I and J stage. The way I do it is cut at an angle and place onto the pereskiopsis. I don't press on blade onto the seedling but rather slice it. I have become rather good at grafting small cacti by lightly pinching them with one hand then slicing with the other. With razer blades they are sharp enough to cut without squishing. Box cutter blades work for trichocereus but not smaller seedlings like aztekium IME.

attachicon.gif336153661-IMG_20121119_153233.jpg attachicon.gif076495846-IMG_20121020_150723.jpg

Practice makes perfect so don't be upset if you fail the first few times. The reason I cut at an angle is because its easier to place and more chance of aligning the vascular rings.

I am going to try this. Do you apply pressure onto it with glad wrap after you are done? How much pressure i always squish mine :|

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I am going to try this. Do you apply pressure onto it with glad wrap after you are done? How much pressure i always squish mine :|

Yes I used saran wrap with a clip to hold it. I add a bit of pressure and using a slant cut prevents it from being squished. I do normal cuts for globular cacti BTW this is only for columnar cacti.

post-14238-0-64281500-1411322425_thumb.j

This is the same graft as shown before

post-14238-0-64281500-1411322425_thumb.jpg

post-14238-0-64281500-1411322425_thumb.jpg

Edited by modern.shaman
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That black metal clip looks brutal.

I use clothespins with rubber bands coiled on the end, the coil can be moved up or down to adjust tension.

post-146-0-96126500-1411325131_thumb.jpg

[The white stuff is thread seal tape, you cant see through it but its more elastic than saran wrap, its made of teflon, and its still pretty cheap. Cons might be that it doesnt make a humidity 'tent' like saran wrap does.]

100_6478.JPG

100_6478.JPG

Edited by Auxin
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The clips are the perfect size for pereskiopsis and do not damage it but hug it tightly. Clothes pins works but I have yet to be let down with my black clips.

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Honestly guys, you don't need weight on these... A dab of leaf juice on the cut section of the stock, put the scion on, offset the vascular rings, and then put the whole thing in a humidity chamber for a week. That's it. Simple as that. Weights etc are for the bigger buttons etc to pach.

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I have had good results by placing in a humidity chamber like Gilligan said. As soon as I cut it and place the scion I put it in the chamber and don't touch it. The more fiddling I do the more I botch the surgery.

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Yeah. I never use any sort of support for my seedling grafts and I get 95-100% success usually.

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Everyone has different techniques for grafting. I use the cling wrap because it works best for me; I also use 'leaf juice' before placing the scion onto the pereski. I began using a humidity chamber in the beginning however the join would be held by a very small connection. I use well watered peres and the cut oozes causing the scion to be pushed off. I also prefer the cling wrap method due to it not taking up space and I can cut the pereskiopsis to any length. I also only keep my grafts with the cling wrap for only 2-3 days and remove it completely.

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"Everyone has different techniques for grafting."

That's for sure. I dry my peres out for 3 days before I'm going to do the graft to avoid the water oozing through. Then I put vaseline on the seam, darkness for 3 days, and humidity for 7-14 after that. Depending on how it looks. I also don't water it untill day 10 after the graft. Has been working well.

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Honestly guys, you don't need weight on these... A dab of leaf juice on the cut section of the stock, put the scion on, offset the vascular rings, and then put the whole thing in a humidity chamber for a week. That's it. Simple as that. Weights etc are for the bigger buttons etc to pach.[/quote

Gilligan my success rate with pere grafting went from less than 50% to over 90% when I started using cling film to apply pressure to the graft. I was ready to give up before I tried that method because most of them wouldn't take

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A thought occurred to me.

If grafting at stage I, how do you get them to there?

I imagine most cacti would go that far on a filter disk in a petri dish with a squirt of dilute ferts.

No soil would mean less contams.

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course sand will be fine for 2 weeks and doesnt have organisms like soil

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