Any interest in starting a thread on Grafting Cacti in general, and intergeneric grafting in particular?

Cheers

I would love to hear about other folks experiences with grafting cacti as I know very little about it.

I too would love to hear more, and especially see more pictures.

Thanks for the interest, will post some info and photos of the work I've done to date, this coming week end.

Cheers

Here are some photos of grafts done this year.Most of my grafting is field grafting which is challenging at times.

At this time most grafts are of seedlings, using a variety of methods with, both Epicotyl and Hypocotyl scions.

Most of the Epicotyl grafts are what I call flat grafts whereas for Hypocotyl grafts there is a greater variety, flat grafts,, horizontal grafts, insertion grafts.

The first photo shows two grafts, both to Pereskiopsis, most likely diguetii from what I have been told.



The scion on the left I believe is likely to be Austrocylindropuntia vestita whereas the scion on the right is a seedling Hylocereus hybrid.



This shows the same rootstock shown in the original post, it would be fully justified in having an identity crisis, it is covered in a large collection of scions, Cereus hybrids, Echinopsis hybrids, Echinocereus species, a Parodia, two different Epi Hybrids etc.

The feature in the photo is a C. repandus cross with Echinopsis huascha, the flowers are pleasing.



This is one of the Pereskiopsis rootstocks I am using.



I use Schlumbergera extensively as a rootstock, in this case have grafted three different clones onto another clone. This effectively gives four different flowers on the one plant.

Cheers

Thank you for the guided tour. That "identity crisis" Cereus with all the grafted partners is pretty amazing. I had no idea that plants so far apart could all be grafted together. Inspiring!

A few more photos.


This is the current size of the triple grafted Schlumbergera. The red and pink scions flowered this year, hopefully the white flowered scion will do so next flowering Season.


These are two other Pereskiopsis I have recently come across. The larger plant has a test graft to it the reason for letting the shoot develop is that I only have three plants of this clone at the moment, want to multiply it as quickly as possible.


These are some other grafts.

The middle and bottom row are not of the same seedling batch as the top potted grafts, they are from a different hybrid seed lot.

The middle row shows the use of a flat hypocotyl graft, it gives approximately the same success rate but scions develop more slowly at least a their current size.


This is a field grafted scion, it has just started rapid growth.
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Update 5th January 2018.

The above scion is doing well, now 325mm with the growth rate a respectable 16mm since yesterday, hope that continues and the scion flowers next year.


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One thing to note is not all rootstocks and scions, even though they may be closely related, are compatible.

You can say, use a Hylocereus rootstock where one Epi grafts, grows and flowers, and another Epi does not perish but just sits there.

Find it worthwhile to do a test graft first before becoming too committed initially.

Cheers

One of my seedlings flowering for the first time.


Hopefully one of my Pereskiopsis plants is producing flower buds. It is suggested it is P. diguetii, may be flowers will help to give an accurate ID.


Here I am trying to rescue an Echinocereus which I thought I had lost.


Raining here, most welcome.

Cheers

Removed tiedowns from the rescue grafting attempt. Looks as if the graft is successful.



The tiedowns are of a stretch material with Cereus spines holding them in place.



It makes life easier if they are removed after approximately a week, if that is not done the Cereus spines tend to be incorporated into the rootstock and become difficult to remove.

This is a hypocotyl graft of a Selenicereus megalanthus seedling.

It appears to have achieved union with the Pereskiopsis rootstock but growth is not happening. Not unusual, I have some seedling grafts to Hylocereus which are >1yr old, they are still alive but that's all.



I will remove the scion and try it on a Schlumbergera rootstock, not hopeful of success, nothing to lose though.

Do you treat the open cuts with anything or just leave them as is @ausrpned

Hi Frenchy21

It depends, sometimes I do if it is a field graft and exposed to direct sunlight, strong hot winds.

Have never done so for grafts on Schlumbergera rootstocks, these are usually covered by an upturned jar which is first sprayed with water to provide a high humidity environment with the container moved to a darkened area for a week.

Cheers

Thank you @ausrpned. Never would have thought to use an upturned jar on these. Great idea.

This is a scion of a Cleistocactus baumannii grafted to C. repandus. It flowers regularly since starting to do so in 2016.

A grafting hazard, if the scion becomes too large, it could snap the stem making a bit of a mess.

Upside is a lot of material to start new plants or to serve as scions for more grafting.

Trying out doing Cereus seedling grafts using seedlings only a few days after germination.

The top graft was done on the 12th January, the bottom graft on the 14th January.

A difference of two days. Notice the top graft cotyledons have opened out, there is also a hint the shoot is forming.

Looks like the test will be successful.

Cheers

Update 7/2/18:


The first graft done is doing well the other is RIP(Rot In Peace), think it was just a little too small.

Will try again when there's a bit of spare time.

Cheers

Update 21/3/18:



The scion is now large enough to harden off prior to grafting it to it's final rootstock.

Cheers

Fascinating! I'm inspired.

purpleinopp said:Fascinating! I'm inspired.

Good, I hope you try your own grafts and post results, both successes and failures.

Failures are important, once checked, it may save others much time.

Cheers

Did a bit of an experiment, would a remnant left after taking the majority of the shoot as a scion, be able to be used as a scion as well.

The answer is "Yes" as can be seen in the photographs.






The remnant has at least one new shoot forming and perhaps three.

Notice I cut the cotyledons back to make life easier when doing the graft.

Interesting.

Cheers

Thank you for updating this thread. It's really interesting and useful to see pictorial evidence of what other people are doing.

I have never grafted a cactus nor own a grafted cactus. Something in me just stands against it, and I'm not sure why because I have grafted and owned grafted plants.

In cacti, is the only goal to make the plant grow faster? That's what I've deduced but I have never seen that stated explicitly. In other plants, there are additional goals such as pH toleration, cold hardiness, resistance to disease, etc. But in cacti, it appears the only goal is to make them grow faster?

If that's the case I think that's where my reluctance probably comes from. In my view cacti are supposed to be slow.