Distracted Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Hi!So i've done about 20 loph to san pedro grafts in the last month, have used the same blade for everything and haven't sterilized it once.I haven't noticed any bacterial or fungal infections.Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modern.shaman Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Sterilizing the blade is mostly when I drop it in the soil. I do wipe it down once before starting but do not do it ever graft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I personally wipe my blade between cuts with isopropyl alcohol sprayed on a bit of tissue paper. I do it more as a preventative measure, which is how i like to tackle all pest and disease related things on my plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolname Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Distracted i very rarely sterilize my blade and the only time i have had problems with rot etc when i graft cacti is if it rains for a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Throw them all away mate and start again, that's terrible form... You actually mean you DIDNT wipe your blade???! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idon'tstudydinosaurs Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Same, no sterilizing for me even though I think I should. It is more of a 'better safe than sorry' scenario, especially when it comes to diseases. After all it isn't that much more effort to wipe with iso. alcohol every couple grafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cortona Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 yep, is a matter of better safe tan sorry! i usually use isopropyl alcool but wen i dont have it ...i dont use it , but if i try to save a cactus with problems i want to be suro to sterilize blades at every cut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solaritea Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 When grafting I sterilize my knife once only at the beginning of the session. The knife I use for taking cuttings to plant gets washed about once per year and never sterilized. It's probably less risky to sterilize more often but you may be wasting effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zed240 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Well just to be different, I sterilize prior every cut. Which is most likely overkill but if it increases the chances of success just a little bit it is worth the very small extra effort in my opinion.I also use a large, good quality chefs knife for most of my grafting work, so due to the length of the blade I can do a number of cuts using a fresh, clean part of the blade each time. I sharpen the knife before every graft session too. If I need great precision I use a surgical scalpel.Maybe in a couple of years when I have so many lophs I'm using them to throw at pesky kids that won't get off my lawn I'll realise I can stop sterilizing all the time. Haha! ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmattz0r Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 The only time I see it a necessity to sterilize is when removing rot and infected portions of a cactus as it can easily spread with the blade. It is good to sterilize as others have mentioned to help prevent things rather than as a necessity for grafting but it does get tedious. I also see more failures from ambient weather conditions than I do from something caused by a dirty blade, but that's just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostilis Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) I sterilize before every cut and use a new scalpel blade every session when I'm grafting. I'm super anal about it though so i tend to overdo stuff like that just to be real careful. I've had grafts start out strong and grow super fast for like 4-5 months and then all the sudden just stop growing. Then I did an autopsy on them and turns out there was just a tiny little bit of bacteria in the junction at first and it just took a long time to take hold. Then the infection rotted the connection of the two cores and nutrient transport stopped. It was weird, happened to a couple of them. Edited March 7, 2015 by hostilis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunter Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I clean the blade but don't worry about it being sterile.Never had an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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