modern.shaman

I enjoy variegated plants as much as the next guy however just some food for thought... Variegated plants are considered 'weak/undesirable' genetics by those that are commercial hybrid growers worldwide (Spain, Taiwan and others). Variegated plants do draw big bucks on some plants (some companies seem to sell exclusively variegated plants) however when created a new cultivar it is not a plant they choose to cross with to 'stabilize' the traits.

Just to let you guys know... there is a Variegated TBMC in existence. I am not going to post a picture however due to not having/asking permission to share it and it not being my photo. Just like the variegated penis cactus this plant came into being from a 'normal' tbmc.

Sterilizing the blade is mostly when I drop it in the soil. I do wipe it down once before starting but do not do it ever graft.

If you push the growth too much via grafting (possibly also hydro) lophophora and trichocereus both have hollow spots in the center. This seems to be very common with crested cacti when grafted IME. A bubbler isn't a necessity with this setup but MAY provide some benefit. I change my tap water/nutes once a month and don't have trouble with roots lacking oxygen or w.e. maybe someone can do a side by side comparison with a bubbler vs monthly water change vs weekly water change.

A small amount of H2O2 will fix/prevent any algae from growing but roots grow grow better in the dark. Noticed typo from my last post... "I've noticed quicker" root growth when the roots had the amount of light exposed to them reduced; placed my amber jars into black plastic. I posted new pics of my water cacti on the nook as a follow up to this thread. Sorry for not posting pics here but I want to keep my updates exclusive to thenook

Nice job. I've started a similar experiment with trichocereus and lopho however started from cuttings rather than seedling. I change the water once a month and it doesn't seem to have caused any problems yet. The lopho cutting growing in water for about the same time as you but the growth has not been as much because of the cold weather (winter) and lower amount of roots. Mine is growth outside using sunlight so the growth should be a little slower than yours due to the amount of light.The trichocereus is already 4 months in and is growing rather quickly despite the cold weather (Just under an inch per month) If anyone is interested in looking at the progress www.thenook.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=87527#entry958402 Gimli is right in suggesting the use of a black container. I've noticed quicker It's nice that its clear for taking pictures however your roots will grow faster in dark container. Hydroponic lophos seems to be common practice in Thailand. This can be done with any cactus however you should not submerge any of the roots in the water and only allow the new roots to touch the water. The root tips become 'water roots' allowing the cacti to grow without rotting. http://keinhong.tripod.com/hydroponics.html This website sheds some light into this topic Lapshin also has two articles on this topic explaining a bit of how a grower does this http://www.lapshin.org/cultivar/kniga/hydro-v1-e.htm http://www.lapshin.org/cultivar/kniga/hydro-v2.htm

Spray H202 (Hydrogen Peroxide) at 3% to combat cobweb mold. You need to increase air circulation by venting out your tray atleast once a day. I personally never 'nuke' my soil and after some trial and error I don't get much problems with mold anymore by adding quite a bit of perlite/pumice and venting them once a day. You can also let the soil dry out a little but not not more than a day at such a young age.

I haven't ordered from that site specifically but czech republic sellers are known to take a long time to complete an order. 2 months wait time is not uncommon however once payment is sent it usually ships within a week or 2. If I understand correctly you sent your payment with your order? If that is the case you are at fault. You should send your order form and you will receive the automatic response "Received thanks." After they complete your order, within a month or two, you will receive an invoice showing the complete cost of each seed (some seeds may be missing if they were sold out) and states please pay within 2 weeks or w.e. After you send the money it is quite quick to ship to you. You need to be aware that they receive orders from all around the world and takes time to complete the orders. It is quite easy to become overwhelmed with orders especially after a break from Christmas/new years. Good luck with your order.

May not be applicable to you but I use 'distilled' water produced from my dehumidifier for my TC. I bought powder forms for all my material and they had expiration dates on the containers assuming you store them according to the label. Most including MS are listed as lasting 2 years but I'm sure they can be used for longer, NAA is listed as only 1 year though. You should consider getting PPM or an alternative. I've had great success introducing material however quick callous growth and pupping have eluded me so far. I'm only 3-4 months into it and am not giving up do to feeling close to making progress. I may transfer to a media without PPM to what I have last longer. I've been working with cacti and will likely start a leafy plant just for faster results.

Cereus ming thing

This maybe limited to certain species that have less 'protection' or are not adapted to the conditions (from indoors to outdoors during summer peak). The grower that published his observations mentioned that it was the damage was caused by the heat rather than direct solar irradiation. He left his cacti covered by plastic and shade cloth which limited ventilation raising the temperature of his greenhouse. He even mentions that most of his cacti are actually lacking sunlight causing unshapely appearance with some cacti. Seems like the duration of the high temps is during the entire season. "a number of observations are summarized, which can be interpreted as the effect of too hot growing conditions (too high temperatures in the greenhouse). Fasciation, variegation and other growth anomalies were observed in so diverse genera as Ariocarpus, Astrophytum, Eriosyce, Gymnocalycium, Mammillaria, Parodia and Rebutia." This was not a direct attempt to achieving these results but rather an observation of the effect of thermal damage so durations and ages where not provided but seems to be 'mature' cacti. I have recently had an increase in crested/variegated trichocereus (not nitrogen crosses) which I left my seedling try in full sun and 85-90+ temps. Most have been died perhaps due to excess stress at such a young age. There has also been 4 crested aztekium ritteri from 4 random seeds not showing any traits. I do leave all my grafts and seeds in high sunlight causing most to stall for a while and take on a purple hue. A specific clone is nearly black (not sure if just excess light) and also has a high frequency of crested pups. I keep circling this topic and have way too many experiments in the works trying to find a protocol to inducing these traits. I leave my seedlings in the most extreme conditions I can provide like not treating pests, high sunlight, limiting water and will experiment with some chemicals in spring.

For those that are interested in crested/monstrose cacti.... allowing your cacti to get damaged by very high temps cause this to occur. It is by no mean is an exact science but there seems to be around 6-7% rate of mutation in affected cacti. This has been noted by a few people and even published recently in an article in Cactus & Succulent Journal. I have had a high rate of crested cacti recently and have associated it with light damage and the article seems to confirm my theory. The author of the article mentions temperatures ranging from 40-45 °C (104-113 °F). There are ways to induce variegated plants however not always 'safe' to due to without precautions. Copiapoa tenuissima forma mostruosa has been obtained by many people from normal plants that have been thermally damaged.

You got pups and seedlings that were removed from humidity dome to take? Congrats; I've always had trouble with those and read lots of others do as well; but I do treat my pereskiopsis differently then what you described. I do stop watering a few days before but I water as soon as I remove the cling wrap... after 2-3 days. IDK I guess it just me? PS: Are your grafts outside? Perhaps that's what causes my troubles when not using clingwrap?

I have near 100% success rate using cling wrap method. Besides providing pressure that is needed when the pereskipsis oozes; also provides high humidity without moving the pots from their location and doesn't take up space, like a large humidity dome. Everyone has their preferences and this is pretty cool however its not for me. I haven't tired parafilm however I'm satisfied with cling wrap. Small seedlings like aztekium do need pressure no matter the size although that's the only exception that I can think of.

I used crushed scoria... to keep it simple use a closed bag for the first year. I grafted all of my a.v. however my ritteri and hintonii are doing well after 3 months in high humidity and weekly waterings.

Does anyone own or have a photo of a non monstrose bridgesii crest? I would be interested in seeing a long spine crest

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.

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.

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. This is the same graft as shown before

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. Dreamwalker posted an image of different stages in the OP.

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. 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.

These were sown from seed.

Sabry are you sure that those numbered 'clones' are actually from poached plants. From what I understand the only poached plants are those that are own roots and are a few centimeters large. The numbered clones that I understand are labeled so that people purchasing know that the plants can be crossed for seeds and are not the same plant. I can tell you right now that a grafted aztekium pups like crazy and are easily multiplied. Sadly my variegated aztekium has died but I have been blessed with two crested aztekium.

Try crossing with a trichocereus

After rereading the article again it seems like the graft is actually not done invitro. This would explain the reason for the relatively high concentration of IBA used. The reason I jumped to the conclusion that it was an in vitro application was due to the mention of it in the introduction and the term 'micrografting' is usually used in tissue culture publications. The application is most likely a foliar spray to runoff like GA3 applications are applied in greenhouses for uniform flowering throughout the nursery. I use to have an interest in creating a chimera however after further reading it's come to my attention that NO chimera is stable and the differentiating cells 'holding' the chimera will soon outgrow one another and will cause reverted growth of a single plant. What you would want is to create true hybrids by crossing flowers and using embryo rescue techniques to help underdeveloped or incomparable seeds to grow. Protoplast fusion would also be far superior technique for a true hybrid although not a easy task for home hobbyists.