marsha Posted May 1, 2007 i was wondering if anyone had grafted slow growing cacti onto columar pups still atatched to their mother plant stock?? would this have any benefit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted May 1, 2007 You could make a tree of lophs by grafting buttons onto a braching trich or peres, but due to the higher number of scions, they will grow at a much slower rate - something not very ideal for grafts. But if you can deal with that, then they could look pretty cool If it was a single pup with a scion on toop, it'll grow just as fast as putting a scion on a mother tip. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonic Posted May 1, 2007 (edited) Each arm that a mother/main stem throws on a cacti draws energy from the the mother/main stem. For this reason it is a general rule that a short cutting with one stem of actively growing material is used for a stock. Grafts are usually used for speeding up the the growth of slow growing or hard to grow cacti genera and species. As Ace mentioned certain techniques can slow the growth rate and would almost seem pointless to graft, this is why pups are usually removed from the grafting stock. That said, it could be done. IMHO it isn't really worth it though. It is much better to sever the pup, root it up and then graft your scion onto the new actively growing cutting. Hope that helps. Edited May 1, 2007 by tonic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted May 1, 2007 it is a general rule that a short cutting...is used for a stock I was under the impression that the larger the stock (e.g. a 10cm pach vs a 40cm pach) the better? This is due to the more photosynthesis that is produced in the stock. More photosynthesis = more scion growth. Is that right, or are the nutes lost to the excess stock before reaching the scion? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonic Posted May 1, 2007 (edited) I've seen that too Ace, though have'nt tried this method yet. It is definitely a method that is being used. It seems that professionals use the short stocks for nursery production though. This may be due to the fact that many large stocks are probably not as available as the smaller stocks. I think both methods are valuable. I guess it would depend on how many large stocks you had and if you were prepared to use [waste??] a large stock, which could be used to generate many fresh pups from year to year, or just use a smaller stocks and have more grafts etc. It all depends on the growers' preference and availability of graft stock. I have seen pics of HUGE scions being produced from large stocks, but you can still grow sizeable scions from a small stock. More photosynthesis = more scion growth. This is most likely the case afaik, but would be great to have some input from someone who has grafted using large stock, I usually use smaller ones as that is all that is available to me at this time. In a few years I would like to try the large stock method myself. Edited May 1, 2007 by tonic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted May 1, 2007 I was recently admiring the grafting comps of years gone by over at The Nook, and it seems that larger pereskiopsis stocks are much faster and powerful than shorter ones. I havent seen any side-by-side comparisons, but it seems that this is the case. Sounds like a project is in order - short vs tall with pics and all Just gotta get my peres stock sorted out I dont have enough pach stocks for such trials, but I'm sure a peres trial would be a good way to test it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted May 1, 2007 Break out the lab coats and the saftey gogles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SaBReT00tH Posted May 1, 2007 If you are short on grafting stock and have a shitload of loph pups emerging I think it can be fun anyway to graft to a few arms of smaller pups for the hell fo it and the novelty factor ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted May 1, 2007 not very informative but may be interesting. there is a guy here that has a cacti garden. he has rootstocks along his fence with various scion species. they are 5-6' tall and 6"+ thick. they seem to grow rather quick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bongchitis Posted May 7, 2007 Hey all, I tried to do this with a M.Geometricans. Chopped it and it shot out 3 pups which I have grafted an Echinopsis Hybrid on one, A pachanoi on another (which I will chop to graft a crest or loph to) and the third pup I will have something similarly slow growing like a Rebutia etc. Pics are in Frankencactus thread in cacti forum from 3 months ago. Photos not up to date now but you get the idea. Cheers............Bongchitis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites