Ace

if mushrooman were to cut the scion, (loph) whilst it's still attached to the stock leaving a few areoles on the scion, (taking enough of the loph to regraft) then cutting out the regrowth of the trick, (stock - meristem) would the loph pup and continue to be a happy graft? No - the scion was not properly grafted in the first place (by the look of it) and leaving any would result in it just shrivelling up. You can certainly do this with a happy, healthy graft and rapidly expand collection numbers, but I doubt it would be successful with this particular one. To do it with a healthy graft, just cut the top of the scion (enough to root on it's own or to use as another scion) and the remaining scion will callous at the wound then pup, forming new heads which can also be degrafted/regrafted. Edit - just saw mushroomman's post. On second look, I'm not sure if you will have any luck regrafting being so dehydrated and calloused. You may be better off degrafting and trying it on its own roots. It may survive as a regraft, but I'm just a little wary of the split, callous, dehydration and the size of the scion. Never know your luck though

It appears that the stock tip was not cut low enough and the apical meristem has continued to grow through the scion. Unless the scion is regrafted elsewhere, it is likely to be terminal. Did you ensure the stock was cut a few inches from the tip, or was it cut close to the tip when the graft was done? It just doesnt look like a pup - moreso a tip coming through the scion.

what are y'all's thoughts? About what? The advice above is pretty sound, if that is the question. As far as human cloning goes, over an elongated period of time, cloning of clones will weaken each set of genes to the point of causing negative mutations and severe health problems. I wonder what happens w/plants... It's called senescence. It affects all organisms from fungi cultures through to plant cuttings.

Just stumbled across this fantastic book. Well worth a look for anyone who enjoys foraging and has a keen interest in consuming mushrooms. LINK So damn good I'm going to find a hard copy!

Should I just cut the very tip off and graft to that, or would it be better to cut them in half, graft lower down and replant the upper halves? I always let the stock cutting get to around 30cm, then chop around 10-15cm from the base. This gives you a decent stock and enough of a cutting to make a steady start and ready to do anoth graft in a month or two. Can you graft to an unrooted cutting? I've never tried it, however I think it has been done by other members with success. I agree with blowng in that it is always best to use an actively growing specimen and it is best to work with a rooted stock. Once grafted, is it better to leave indoors or out? Does it need humidity to take? I put a wet drinking glass over the top (ensure enough room so it doesn't crush the scion and there is no gap around the base of the glass/soil) and sit in a shady spot outdoors. The idea behind wetting the glass (using ordinary tap water) is to ensure a nice humid enclosure so the scion doesn't dry out and helps to form a clean graft. Finally, when placing the scion to the stock, all you need to do in ensure the vascular rings overlap, correct? Is there anything else I'm missing? That's pretty much it. Use a clean, sharp knife (wipe with metho and let dry before making each cut). Bevel both the stock and scion to make sure the grafting surfaces stay connected. Overlapping rings is vital to a fast growing, successful graft. It is always annoying to find the scion isn't doing anything after a month or so - this is almost always due to the rings not being properly aligned. Also, make sure you don't water the fresh graft until about a month after it has been done. If you water too quick you'll find the scion rotting due to water build up between the stock and scion. To hold the scion on during the graft, use clean strips of stockings/pantyhose. They work a treat and are easy to hook over stock spines - just make sure they are tight enough that the scion will not move and not too tight that they restrict initial growth/swelling of the scion once it has taken. The stocking strips can be removed once the scion has begun swelling up - generally around a few weeks to a month and a half (depending on species). Lastly, don't expect every graft to take however after one or two trials you should find close to 100% success rate as long as you stick to the simple grafting rules. It's a great way to enjoy cacti cultivation and you'll soon have a hell of a collection when you get grafting nailed

Wouldn't think it likely that mites could do that sort of damage so fast, but if there were a large population that had maybe been located in the potting mix or something, it could be possible. Such an odd scarring - not quite sunburn, not quite mites, not quite rot, but possibly any of them. Very curious to see what did the damage

Looks like sunburn? Was she left in full sun for any length of time? If it was an indoor specimen that copped even a short stint of full sun exposure without being acclimatised, it often ends up looking like your caespitose clump. Otherwise it may be rot of some description - keep her nice and dry if the soil is damp (if it is, perhaps take it out of the soil and place in fresh, well drained, sandy soil and keep watering to a mimimum). The un-evenness of the scarring looks like it also may be a mite infestation (sun burn will usually be quite evenly spread where the sun struck the plant, whereas mite damage will be where ever the little buggers can get a good feed). Usually mites take weeks to do damage on this scale, though, so it's a little hard to tell what culprit did the damage. I'm thinking it'd have to be one of the above (sunburn, rot or mites), all of which are treatable if you get in quick. P.S. To get a good, clear shot of the plant, find the 'Macro' setting on your camera. Once you have that on you should be able to get a really clear, close-up shot of her.

Why don't you read the thread that you've just posted in Teotz? Is it really that hard to read 29 posts or use Ctrl+F and search for your name? Someone mentioned your name (sorry for the spoiler) and Teonanacatl (a fantastic ontributer to the forums) asked that person to ensure yours and his names are not accidentally mistaken as the same person (or accidentally dragging Teonanacatl's name through the shit that you've left in your 2,700-post wake). Yeah you have nothing to do with the thread, but FFS, read before posting if you aren't aware of what is going on...

How's your varigated loph going Ace? Hope all is well Heya Blangschpeer, all is well. Unfortunately the verigated clones all eventually succumbed to rot. It's kinda wierd (and horrible) to watch because they started shrivelling on the yellow patches and then the scions eventually collapsed into a dry shrivelled corpse. The green patches were the last to go, but they did eventually all snuff it One degraft made it to another member here, but I dont know how it is going. It was only a fairly small one way back when I passed it on. Hoping she's doing ok though! If I were to come across another verigated button I'd graft the hell out of it to maximise the quantity of buttons so if some die from rot, at least the clone lives on through the survivors. That said there were half a dozen buttons of varying sizes and they all ended up dying within a month or two of each other. Verigation. Beautiful to view, incredibly hard to cultivate. I hope yours is a little hardier!

Hope it's a great one man

That last one of Paradox's - Art Attack?

Looks to be Trichocereus with the spines leaning toward a peruvianoid or other heavily spined species, however it really could be anything at that age. Even pachanoi will be that heavily spined at that age and then lose them as it matures, so it's anyone's guess.

Fantastic man! Love all of them

They loved the Canberran temps last season, in the ground with plenty of rain during the coldest winter months (very hard frosts for a good 2-3 months). Just gotta really watch overwatering during the cold season, roots can crack open as cells freeze with excess water and then the roots rot as the cells return defrost. But yeah, pedro grow in mountainous areas and are hardy as hell. Certainly wont mind that location by the sound of it - and no dramas on planting them in the ground. Perhaps opt for a more sunny area (a north facing wall would be a safer bet), but they should be fine almost anywhere.

Pic 1: Generally pretty rare (at least IMO), but you may find one stalling (my bet would be the bottom). Never know, they might both grow just fine as side branches. They generally do pup from different ribs, seems odd to have them stacking like that. Cacti certainly have their curiosities! Pic 2: Damaged tip resulted in uneven growth (probably from bug bites). She'll grow out just fine in time, but will always have the scar on the side.

sugar is intended to feed a species of fungus and improve the smoke! Never heard of that. Only ever read of sugar water (and various other things) being sprayed onto buds prior to or after harvest to add weight. Never heard of some of the above though. 'Coke' as in coca cola, or verrry expensive coke? Either sounds pretty nasty. Fibreglass - honestly, some people might as well be selling rat poison in pills. And gravox grass? Man there are some odd characters in that industry...

Agreed, chop an inch or two above the base, lay the columns down in a trailer/wagon and dig up the root ball for transporting. Ensure all wounds callous before returning to the ground (particularly if you get a lot of rain - if you are in a really dry spot then you should be right to put the rooted section in pretty much immediately). And yep, T. pachanoi PC

I hope they were donated by the owner of the cactus, and not some drunken guy who was after active ones. The topic of pinching cacti is quite a big one and very shunned around here. And yes, Cereus peruvianus.

Awesome! And I second Kadakuda's comments. Very prone to rot, even when grafted. I'd probably go with columnar too, depending on how big the button currently is. Damn that's a healthy bunch of buttons!

Good to hear things aren't quite as bad as they sounded (or at least more managable). All the best with things Ed, please ask for help here if you need it. It might only be mental support, but it's always handy to come out of a dark period.

So you only cultivate native Oz plants? JFC Teotz... WHY QUARANTINE IS IMPORTANT - TEOTZ, PLEASE READ: Over the centuries there have been many plants and animals that have been introduced to this great island that is Oz. Some have been relatively harmless, others have been devastating on the native flora and fauna. Take the cane toad or prickly pear as two examples. If you dont understand what is so bad about them, please do a bit of research (it takes 10 mins on google/wiki). Pereskiopsis, while looks fairly benign, is extremely fast growing. If some were imported and fell into the wrong hands (i.e. airport staff who thought it was harmless) and it was thrown in a dumpster, then taken to the tip, over the course of a year or so, the tip would be covered in pereskiopsis. This would cause havok for any native or rare fauna and could replace the local flora (extreme example, but again, see the two above examples which look just as harmless). That is the reason for quarantine. Yes, there are plenty of anti-drug laws here, but quarantine is one of the few laws that is justifiable and is WORTH standing for. We've had this discussion at least twice in the past, please do your research and put it in the past already...

'Stunts' PC game from the mid 90s. Race a premade track or build your own track then test it out - racing against the clock, against the computer or take turns with a mate to get fastest time Ahh memories! 'Raptor' PC game 'Dune' PC game 'Aladdin' NES game 'Monster Bash' PC game It's been said several times already, but this is a kick ass thread!!

times past dont make who u are now. Damn straight man. No doubt something serious has happened, but don't make a mistake that you will regret for the rest of your life. Take some personal time, get back into the positive mindset that you've had for the last 15-20 years and try to put whatever this is behind you. You are a great bloke and you know the difference between right and wrong. Make the right choice. Peace.

Agreed with Michael - mites. They are quite a pain to control because their populations soon explode and will move on to any and all cacti in the area. Killing them off as soon as possible will limit the scarring they cause, but there's no way to reverse it. Luckily, as in Michael's diffusa photos (which are fantastic, BTW), a happy plant will soon enough grow out of the scarring and look good as gold in a few years. Another alternative to pyrethrum is using dishwashing liquid diluted in tap water (just a tiny bit in the spray bottle then top up with plenty of water) and spray onto affected plants (spray once or twice a day, morning and evening). The mites soon pack their bags and leave. Apparently they don't like a soapy plant, but overdoing it and keeping the soil too moist can also create rot problems, so don't overdo it.