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So its well known that some bacteria, fungi, and viruses can induce fasciation and in lab settings these critters have been isolated, characterized, and tested on tissue cultures. What about real world 'in the field' exploitation of them, any successes? I'm curious because I believe I may have encountered such a pathogen <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_scratchhead.gif This spring a radicchio went cristate, all growing into spirals and stuff. Then the two next to it did. Then I started seeing fasciated flowers on my zucchini bushes 20 feet away. Then it was fasciated styles in capsicum flowers. If some invisible little critter is doing this I want to harness it before it wanders off so I can use it, mainly on cacti if its compatible. Inventing practical methods of doing so without a microbiology laboratory is the interesting part. My current attempt is quite basic. I took a fan shaped flower-stem end from a strongly effected radicchio plant, sprinkled it with water and ground to a paste with a mortar and pestle, mixed that up in water and used it to soak Hylocereus undatus seeds, Flax seeds, and washed Tomato seeds straight from a tomato. For the first two, after several hours, I planted them just by pouring the juice and seed slurry into appropriate soil. The tomato seeds are an attempt to preserve it, I poured off the liquid and dried them. I'll be quite pleased if such a crude procedure works on even 1% of the treated seeds. What would be ways to improve the concept? Expose seeds and then rapidly increase tempt to give fungi and bacteria a better chance to get into the seeds? Expose already germinating seeds or small seedlings? Put a drop on a cactus baby and poke the tip with a fine pin? lol I've seen fasciating pathogens in trees a few times before, but never anything like this where it seems to jump from chicory family to cucurbits and possibly even solanum family.