graft newb needs help.

[2XB]

Hey all.

I have been attempting to graft cacti over the last few months. My first was l.williamsii to ss01xss02 seedling with success while my trich seedling grafts to peres didnt work.

I have tried a few times since with peres with no luck. Both trich seedlings and loph. .

I have also experimented with optunia with some luck. Two tbm's grafted to a super fast optunia worked and until now I thought a loph grafted successfully as well. But the last few days the loph is starting to shrivel at the base. i'll add some photos.

I'm worried because I had a loph scion rot from the base when grafted to a pc pach. I thought it was sweet until the rot set in. The rot penetrated like 5mm into the root stock as well.

Id appreciate any feed back about how this graft looks. Sorry if the photos arent entirely crisp.

Cheers

Edited January 11, 2014 by doublebenno

[Philocacti]

Can't help you with your opuntia grafts cuz I ever succeeded I grafting o opuntia, but what the method that you use when grafting on pereskiopsis

[Dreamwalker.]

so the brown part of the loph......................is that rot?....can you easily push a small blunt stick into it?....................if it is all soft and rotted, wouldn't you be best to attempt to salvage what's left of the loph (not much) and try to re=graft it?....I'm just a beginner .....so its just a thought................good luck

Edited January 11, 2014 by Dreamwalker

[djmattz0r]

My opuntia grafts have also been unsuccessful. I have had slight growth and sustainment of the scions but growth stopped and then the graft fell over during dormancy and the scions fell off and died. I find that it helps to make cuts and grafts during active growth of both the stock and scion to help with success rates and make sure everything is as sterile as possible and taking care to line up the rings when you stick em together.

As far as your grafts in the picture, the first one looks pretty good but the one with the rot looks like it has a fungal infection or something nasty. I don't know what the best course of action would be besides withholding water.

I also read that you grafted to a seedling, I tried this before and while the graft took, the scion never really grew... Definitely helps to have a larger stock for super fast growth.

Keep at those pereskiopsis grafts and look up impale grafting for larger scions and trichos

Best of luck

[2XB]

Can't help you with your opuntia grafts cuz I ever succeeded I grafting o opuntia, but what the method that you use when grafting on pereskiopsis

My pere grafts fail be cause of lack of method I guess. I would just cut a few mnth old seedling at the base and plonk it on the cut pere. Ive read teks that showed this method. I think my failure is due to lack of humidity mostly..?

[2XB]

so the brown part of the loph......................is that rot?....can you easily push a small blunt stick into it?....................if it is all soft and rotted, wouldn't you be best to attempt to salvage what's left of the loph (not much) and try to re=graft it?....I'm just a beginner .....so its just a thought................good luck

Nah the brown is not rot just the subterranean part of the scion prior to dismemberment. ... it isnt soft ie it hasnt started to rot yet. My concern is that it may start to rot...

Edited January 11, 2014 by doublebenno

[2XB]

My opuntia grafts have also been unsuccessful. I have had slight growth and sustainment of the scions but growth stopped and then the graft fell over during dormancy and the scions fell off and died. I find that it helps to make cuts and grafts during active growth of both the stock and scion to help with success rates and make sure everything is as sterile as possible and taking care to line up the rings when you stick em together.

As far as your grafts in the picture, the first one looks pretty good but the one with the rot looks like it has a fungal infection or something nasty. I don't know what the best course of action would be besides withholding water.

I also read that you grafted to a seedling, I tried this before and while the graft took, the scion never really grew... Definitely helps to have a larger stock for super fast growth.

Keep at those pereskiopsis grafts and look up impale grafting for larger scions and trichos

Best of luck

Bummer to hear about optunia being unsuccessful. .. I have read a lot about them being good root stock....

All those photos are of the one graft. As I mentioned above I dont think there is any rot yet. The brown area is normal this part was below the soil.??? The brown section is what is shrivelling. This is evident from 1 side if the graft. Most def not rot yet. I thought also it may be shrivellung because of lack of water????????

The seedling I grafted was more like 1.5 yrs old. And the graft is doing sweet. Growing well I think the sso1 x ss02 must be pretty fast paced though looking at the others growing in my garden.

I do intend on keep trying with with peres but trichs seem alot easier... my first graft to trico I hacked at with a steak knife straight outta the drawer and is doing great

[watertrade]

I think a few months old lophs maybe a little bit too big for pereskiopsis. I find lophophora that are a few weeks old do well on pereskiopsis and once they develop their adult features - little ribs (even tiny tiny ones!) other stock is better. Probably trichocereus from about the 1cm diameter stage. So I would go.

0- 3mm pereskiopsis

3 -10mm. ? Maybe small trichocereus, hylocereus maybe.

10 + mm trichocereus.

There are lots of other cacti you could graft to but I say trichocereus from experience.

I made a video of grafting pereskiopsis a while back for a website that no longer exists.

 

There are lots of other ways of grafting cacti but this way I find works well with young lophs and pereskiopsis.

Cheers,

[2XB]

Thanks watertrade. Great vid! I guess the main thing im missing is the supple peres.. I grow mine out doors, they are possibly too woody???? And id say not enough humidity.... cheers.

Has any one been able to graft to outdoor grown pere in a subtropical environment??

Edited January 11, 2014 by doublebenno

[Philocacti]

My pere grafts fail be cause of lack of method I guess. I would just cut a few mnth old seedling at the base and plonk it on the cut pere. Ive read teks that showed this method. I think my failure is due to lack of humidity mostly..?

I guess most important thing about grafting on pereskiopsis is:

-pereskiopsis stock should have new grown green shoots

-use a new razor to cut both both stock and scion

-make sure to cut in one smooth slice (no sawing)

For humidity I use buckets with lids. I fill the bucket with perlite (3-5 cm) and put 1-2 cm of water in the bucket. Put the new grafts in the bucket and cover it and leave it from 3-5 days.

Whenever I graft on opuntia, it always takes but never grows. The opuntia keeps on throwing new shoots until the scion dies, so I stopped trying to graft on it.

[hostilis]

If you don't have enough humidity you can just put a bag over it or put it in a tank like philocacti said. I personally have tank specifically for grafts.

My opuntia grafts have taken as well but not grown. The scion kinda just chills out.

Edited January 11, 2014 by hostilis

[watertrade]

Thanks watertrade. Great vid! I guess the main thing im missing is the supple peres.. I grow mine out doors, they are possibly too woody???? And id say not enough humidity.... cheers.

That's what I would say would be the main issue, like the others said you could use other methods to achieve the humidity.

[GoOnThen]

Thanks watertrade. Great vid! I guess the main thing im missing is the supple peres.. I grow mine out doors, they are possibly too woody???? And id say not enough humidity.... cheers.

Has any one been able to graft to outdoor grown pere in a subtropical environment??

If you grow them in the shade they will be nice and soft but you still need to use the section near the tip. I grew my mother plants for years under a gum tree tucked in amongst other plants which creates a micro climate with increased humidity. Make sure you water regularly if they don't get enough water they will grow woody. You can also grow them in a plastic tub in the shade.

Cheers

Got

[2XB]

Thanks everyone for the great info.!

My peres are growing in the shade with no direct sunlight and get plenty of water as this area is my transition area for all manner of propogation. I notice the tips or the top 100 mm at least is always nice and supple.

My loph graft in the above pictures has been removed and indeed had started to rot. I think I got it early enough and is now grafted to a pc pach... as are the other grafts I had on opuntia. Bit of a bummer about opuntia being no good. This one grows incredibly fast!!!

Thanks again for everyone input, next step ill be retro fitting a flouro to a plastic tub ;).

[upside]

Great video watertrade :-) thanks for the link.

[themallacht]

Yeah thanks man, that is a great video even for people who have done Pereskiopsis grafts before. I learned a couple little tricks you use that I never thought to do before.

[upside]

I tried a cupl grafts about 5 or 6 years ago. None worked, but I can see now why lol for one thing I never left them in a humid environment to heal in the first stage. I tried again the other day, only one onto a Trich. It's still looking ok :-) fingers crossed ;-) after seeing that video,, it has made it even less intimidating for a graft noob like me lol cheers!