Grafting tips and tools

[GoOnThen]

Thought a thread with grafting tips and tools would be handy so please post any tips on particular stocks, scions or ways of being more efficient.

I will start with a couple of things that I am doing now with Pere stocks.

I am now using 50mm square tubes for my Pere and grow them in straight cacti mix. I make a wire support tray for them that fits in a seedling tray using 50mm wire mesh so they don't fall over. The tray I use are solid ( hold water ) and I place a capillary mat in the bottom so the pots sit on it so I can water by just adding water to the tray.

I made a decision a while ago that I no longer wanted my grafts at all different heights so I started cutting at the same length. This ended up being a positive in a number of ways. One being that you don't have height issues with lights ( unless you are grafting columnar cacti ) also they all get the same amount of light especially if you are stacking them in close together. I also have found that letting the Pere grow to around the same height before cutting them to use I also get the tops all around the same height to use as cuttings for the next tray and so by doing a tray of grafts I start another tray of cuttings.

I found measuring and cutting a pain even using a gauge to measure was a help but when you do a tray at a time it still wasn't as efficient as I wanted it to be so I made my little cutting stand made out of 316 stainless steel.

I now pre cut the whole tray and then take a slice off the top five at a time ( replacing the slice ) and the graft onto those and repeat.

It take max of five minutes to cut 30 Pere.

I like to use full razor blades as I find them easier to hold and seem to be sharper than others that I have tried. I spray my blades and wipe with paper towel between each cut. The other tool is what I use to hook the small seeding out of there pots.

The whole tray then goes into a tub with a little water in the bottom for a week or so. This is kept in my grow room but not under direct light for that week.

I will add more to this thread later please add your own thoughts, tips and ideas.

Cheers

Got

[gilligan]

Nice write up GoT. That's a hell of a lot cleaner than my set up. I use a halved razor blade and chop nastily, whack on a scion and then also keep in humidity for a week or so. I try for a

Similar height, but I like the measuring tool you've got, nice idea.

[GoOnThen]

Thanks mate.

I went through a stage a while ago where I was having lots of fails and I think one of the problems was rushing to get a number of grafts done at a time so I looked at the ways that I could become more efficient but still stay clean and accurate. I can now spend the time making sure I am sterile and the scion alignment is good but still get a number done at once.

Now I need to find a way to write my tags faster.

Cheers

Got

[hostilis]

One thing that has greatly helped me is to do this. Instead of using a humidity tank after doing a seedling graft, what I do is put vaseline around the seam of the scion on the stock. You only want to just put it around the seam and use a very small amount. This traps in moisture and makes it so that you don't have to put it into the humidity tank. After I do this I put it in darkness for 3 days, then I put it near the light in the grow room for another week, then after that I put it directly under the light. If i see the graft starting to shrivel a lot then I will go ahead and put it in a humidity tank for a day or two, but I usually don't have to with this method. I actually learned it from a grower in thailand and it works great.

I also use a scalpel for the seedling grafts. I have a couple hundred sterile brand new blades and I use a new one every grafting session and sometimes several in one session depending on how many I do. I also make sure to sterilize the blade after each cut.

Edited November 5, 2013 by hostilis

[bogfrog]

This is probably more of an advanced technique, i wouldnt suggest trying it until you have a good few successful grafts under your belt, however this may be of interest to some of our resident graft-a-holics.

I recently worked out how to graft small, awkwardly shaped ariocarpus.

So i have always avoided grafting arios beyond the very young seedling stage. They go fine onto pere as little blobs, but as soon as the tubercles gain some size after a couple years, you're looking at a very difficult scion if you want to be grafting it.

I know its not neccessary to be grafting past the size where they are suitable for pereskiopsis, but in my climate they just grow so incredibly slow and i have had a few problems with rot, so it was something i had to get my head around.

After watching two of my mates struggle to graft a small ario onto a small tricho with a rubber band (they each had about 5 attempts each, with the pressure of the rubber band pinging off the scion time and time again) i had a brain wave.

So i grabbed a pair of panty hose, chopped off the foot and then took another cut, which meant i had a circular band of pantyhose.

I took a good look at how the tubercules were spaced, and then grabbed a pair of scissors and cut 5 tiny little holes to match the spacing of the tubercules. Then i cut the trich stock again, cut the base of the ario, popped it on so the vascular rings were crossing, and then very gently arranged the stocking over the ariocarpus, so each tubercle sat through one of the small holes that i had cut.

Then i pulled the rest of the stocking underneath the pot, and gently tightened the pressure by pulling the stocking down to latch onto the spines of the trichocereus stock.

I hope all that makes sense. Here are some photos which will hopefully make the process perfectly clear.

Stocking:

Cut the appropriate number of holes (5 usually does the trick, as you can slide more than one tubercle in):

Arrange over the scion and fit the stocking under the pot, then pull the fabric down to hook over the spines:

And after a week or so gently remove the stocking (heres one i prepared earlier):

Also works for larger scions:

- because of this trick, my cactus freak mate got me out in his garden last weekend grafting all his little ariocarpus plants, i did about 20 of them so it will be interesting to see what the strike rate is for this technique

Edited November 5, 2013 by Ceres

[Stillman]

Nice stuff GOT and Ceres.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Stillman

[quarterflesh]

Oh my what a nice lot of peres you have there

[Hellonasty]

Very nice work GOT and Ceres.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Hellonasty

[Swiper]

Thanks for the tips, GOT and Ceres, great work !

[terracottacactus]

This is a pretty old trick (taken from an organic gardening forum, though I forget which) that I use for my Pere.

Basically I cut a water bottle in half, drill a bunch of small holes in the lid, Invert the top into the base, fill the base with water and there it is, a super basic self watering system. (This one has a venus fly trap in it; and no water because I literally just made it and haven't gone out to get any fresh water yet, but you get the idea).

Great cutting device GOT, I'm still doing the old razor blade and 500 prickles in the finger technique)

TC

Edited November 6, 2013 by terracottacactus

[nitrogen]

Great work GoT!

Sterile technique though isn't that crucial, at least in my experience - I clean the razor blade with alcohol to begin with, but then use the same one on everything I'm grafting that session without cleaning it in between - I'll sometimes clean off the slime from the previous cut in between grafts, but that isn't crucial either..

[2XB]

When playing with pereskiopsis

[nrivers]

My tip for grafting is, take your time, put on some tunes, and a few cold ones along the way for a steady hand.