Hey all,

I recently attempted to glue some 2 month old ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus to Pereskiopsis.

I found it extremely difficult to glue down without getting glue under the scion. All my attempts failed to take.

Thought i would mention it to others thinking of using it. Probably best for bigger, more mature grafts.


any thoughts?

Dylan

I've only ever seen it used for larger scions like in this example:

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17341

No need for glue or any method of attachment for young seedlings. The sap from both plants will be enough grip to stick them together, just be sure to give the scion a little push to help the air escape and this will create a nice tight seal.

I use this method for plants up to about 1.5-2cm (depending on species... soft skin species you can go bigger), any larger and I attach them with varying methods but never glue.

Well, I know it's technically the wrong time of year to do much in the world of cacti, but I'm going to give this method a go. Pics to come shortly...

Okay, I've now tried three grafts. All are lophs onto trich stocks (probably scop x pach). The smaller scion is about 1.5 cm across, the second is maybe 2.5 cm in width. The stocks are both roughly 10 cm in height.



This one is considerably larger - a 5 cm scion onto 30 cm of trich. The scion had previously been grafted to peres but had suffered some insect attack, hence the scarring. Once the graft has taken, I will hit the plant with a decent systemic and a dose of seasol to try and give the plant a bit of a boost.



Overall, I think that if these grafts are successful that I will continue using this method. I do like how well the cyanoacyrlate glue seals the stock to the scion, and assists in making an "airtight" bond that I have always struggled to achieve with my prior efforts. I also like how strong the bond is even before the vascular bundles have connected. It all seems a lot simpler than arrangements of tape, weights, etc, etc...

That last one is a beauty

I can't wait to see it take off. It was once suggested to me that a metre-long section of pach would be the idea stock for a humungous loph. I haven't quite got that, but I am curious to observe the growth on this specimen.

I've since noticed some fairly nasty root mealie activity on a few other mexicans that I have in my indoor collection. I've given them all a good drowning in confidor, and I am at this stage seriously considering grafting many of these plants once they recover. I'm yet to encounter a trich with the dreaded root mealies, however mexicans seem to be a popular target for the little bastards. This might be a way of saving my collection. More to come...

Well, I'm definitely impressed by this method. Despite the cool weather, I can state with confidence that all three loph grafts have taken and there is evidence of growth on all. The smallest one has markedly grown, with lovely fresh new growth readily apparent at the crown of the plant.

Given that this technique works on lophs, I'm tempted to try it on a pup or two of a grafted Aztekium that I have...

Congrats on your sucess, I find once you have a solid grafting method that works for you and your environment stick with it !!

HN

I think in this case this method definitely merits further experimentation. I'm liking the fact that the glue both secures the scion to the stock and forms a barrier agains infection by bacteria or fungi at the join.

Not only do we have growth, but now we also have a bud forming...

As an update, I have seen good growth on all plants, however as predicted the graft onto the large stock has shown by far the most growth of all specimens. It has also bloomed five times.

A real benefit of this technique is the extreme hardiness the grafts have shown - previously, I grew my lophs indoors on a sunny windowsill, and even then I had to contend with mealies and the odd fatality to orange rot. I have had these grafted plants growing outside, fully exposed to the elements and they seem to be loving it, no deaths and even the snails have stayed away.

Now that the warmer months are here, I'm eyeing off four 40cm pach x scop plants that I have - and I must confess I am curious as to whether the glue technique would work on my Aztekium that currently lives on Pereskiopsis (courtesy of Cryptocarpa on this forum), however now looks to be in need of a little boost... I'm off to do some research.

Great work mate and I can answer your question YES graft those little buggers

P.S you are very luck to obtain an Aztekium, I had to grow/graft mine from seed, which was quite a challenge... but as you would know all worth it

Photo of the big loph in bloom...



You can't really see it in this pic, but there's also a number of pups forming...