sclaws

I am told I am rubbish at taking advice and yes the advice was to degraft and yes- I must confess that I chose not to and guess what....more weirdness from this graft...not the best pic- i'll try to take a better one soon but thought I'd share it all the same... many pups sprouting- some of them with roots....

This old mama has flowered for the first time this year today. The main plant is 10cm in diameter, on her own roots- some new pups (not visible) just peeking through the soil...

Anyone had much joy grafting on selenicereus grandiflorus (queen of the night)? I've found it to be a remarkably good stock for grafting...interested to know what results other have had as I find it last longer than peresk and grow more true to form.

Not just another day in England....and today the sun god did smile and all the devotees of the blue deer did turn up their flowering faces with blooming good cheer...then did Sclaws rejoice for the thought of many seeds....

Any loph can grow in the caespitose form (I have jourdaniana and koerehsii as caespitose). It is also the case that williamsii has been produced for some time in a stable caespitosa form the seeds of which are always caespitose. The originating breeder (or one of them- at least the one I know), based in the the UK, has produced cloned stock the seeds of which tend to flower younger and more frequently than more original caespitosa- in turn their seeds are caespitosa. My guess is that what started as a "sport" or oddity is now reliably stable. Since caespitose has a distinct form and will readilly hydridise with normal williamsii I guess it is now a variety (however not one that existed in the wild as a stable population). Naming of cacti is changing scene- I say lets keep it simple- if you like it grow it!

I've been experimenting with PH levels over the last year or two- trying to develop the best possible soil mix and watering regime for lophs. While I havent sufficient data to be certain I am inclined to think that a PH of 7.2- 7.5 is about right. Too much lime can be a problem- and where I live the water is almost milky with lime so I tend to favour rain water - instead relying on dolomitic lime for balancing of the soil. Commercial lime (the soluble type that comes in little balls) affects the PH of the soil too drastically. Trucha's comment about lime based gravel is, to my mind spot on. That said I experience such a variety of growth rates using the same conditions that factors such as genetics, ventilation, temperature and all other variables make it difficult to be certain. As plants mature (year ten onwards) I feel that less of everything is more- that is; fairly neutral ph and using a more denuded soil mix seems to serve these plants well....

thanks Hellonasty- not what I wanted to hear but an interesting opinion- you've got me thinking now- all sounds quite plausible. I'll wait for a few more opinions before getting my knife out though....

Greeeting fellow cacti nutters- heres this years update. Time for a degraft perhaps? All sorts of weird growth going on with this baby! The top loph has flowered for the first first- a pathetic bloom. To degraft or not degraft- that is the question- it has plenty of proto-roots so should take...

Hiya, I thought an update might be in order. Keen to hear what you think now the mutant peyote has developed a bit... and here's how it fits into the bigger picture... peyote on san pedro

note tubercles top left- hoping for more of the same...

Hope these pics help... ..note roots forming.

Greetings? I am confused- I grafted a seedling onto a san pedro a couple of years back and then last summer it produced a weird growth. Ok, so its a lophophora williamsii grafted onto san pedro. First the odd green shoot off the side and then the purple button. It's not sunburn and has root tips shooting off it. Red pup is approx 1cm. Any ideas anyone? One possibility- I sometimes graft coloured or variegated lophophora seedlings to save them- could it be a purple loph? All opinions welcome. Sclaws

Greetings? I am confused- I grafted a seedling onto a san pedro a couple of years back and then last summer it produced a weird growth. Ok, so its a lophophora williamsii grafted onto san pedro. First the odd green shoot off the side and then the purple button. It's not sunburn and has root tips shooting off it. Red pup is approx 1cm. Any ideas anyone? One possibility- I sometimes graft coloured or variegated lophs- could it be a purple loph? All opinions welcome. Sclaws

Hi There, Difficult to be sure from your image but I do believe you have a variegated seedling there. Of course sometimes certain plants just dwarf (through genetics or disease) or they might come from a different variety if you have bought seeds. If it is variegated then often grafting is the safer choice, in fact I would recommend it. Remember variegated plants lack the ability to photosynthesise in the pigment free parts of the plant. Here's an image of a Variegated lophophora: Regret I haven't any from when it was a seedling- i nearly lost this plant last winter- seems they are more susceptible to cold too!. Grafting is not difficult but you might want to try it on a different seedling first if you've not done it before. Good Luck,

Greetings Cacti brethren (and sisters) Having read Teo's handy book of grafting I thought you might be interested in the following slides...all credit to my good friend Anne Halonium and the Lemon Latex Girls who put the following slides together for my crazycacti site. I'm sure she won't mind me sharing her wisdom and while I still prefer good old lophs on their own roots I believe the following to be very useful to those with less patience... Keep on Growing! Sclaws