well there we go.. didn't go as i initially planned. i hope at least one of them will take. i kept the scion on the blade until i made the other cut and then slid it on. i pressed down on it pretty hard for a good minute and a half. i wanted to use saran but was too worried about breaking the connection. i then cut a thin slice off the bottom half and did the same thing again. i plan to keep the humidity high and the container very still for maybe a month and then look for signs of new growth. let me know if i made an error or if you have any tips for next time.
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You might want to close the bottom of the bag up so as to hold more humidity in. It is really important to keep humidity up during the initial grafting before growth starts. My fear is that with those holes in the top of your bag and your bag wide open at the bottom that too much moisture may escape. As for the saran wrap method, you needed to trim those top leaves back a good inch down the stem if you were going that route as otherwise it would not hold very well and would prove to be unwieldy when attempting to place it over your specimen. Don't worry though, you have made a good second attempt and if you can keep the humidity up you have a good chance at success as your Pereskiopsis is healthy and appears to be actively growing. That is very important and something you simply can't rush. You can practice the saran wrap method with a pencil to get your technique down. Simply remove the eraser from the top of the pencil while it is in a pot and then attempt to hold it in place while pulling the saran wrap down and over. Attach clothespin and its done. Again, the saran wrap holds the scion snuggly against the stock and also keeps the humidity up. Let yours be for now and simply increase the humidity by closing that bag up tight and if you can provide a little bottom heat to create a light mist in the bag itself.
awesome! thanks man. bag's closed up. heating mat beneath. hopefully it hasn't dried out too much since last night. i'll practice with the pencil and try again later this week. i totally imagined the process wrong. pencil eraser style i can do.
No worries my friend. I could have explained that process better. The good news is that the bag is closed up now and you have the heat mat in place. The bag being closed is not critical in the early stage as the Pereskiopsis is still exuding fresh juices from its cut, but after the initial 6-12 hours after the cut is made it becomes more important. With that said, I am sure your bag placed over the specimen and not closed did add a bit of humidity more than you would have otherwise... just not much more. Live, learn, and practice and you will have it down pat and most importantly find out what works best for you. There may still be hope left for these grafts and I definitely would not give up hope. Keep an eye on them and watch for signs of new growth as well as signs of drying out.
yeah i will man. thanks again. you've been big help. the bag was only open a few hours tops. either way there's always something gained in losing. had i not been grafting onto offshoots i think i would have visualized it better.
it looks a little bigger to me..
It looks like it very well may have taken to me. The important thing is that your stock is healthy and growing before you make the cut and it appears that prerequisite was and is excellent. I personally wait for side shoots to begin forming and then remove them as soon as they appear big enough to detach as any side growth will take energy away from the graft. I don't worry about removing the bag until I see good growth from both the stock that has been removed and the scion itself has grown noticeably. When you remove the bag, this should be a slow process where the bag is opened just a little bit at first. Allow for a few days with just a little opening and so on. The idea is not to make too many changes in humidity too fast. I have good feelings on this one. Just don't rush it. Rushing grafts like this will make a perfect graft go bad and a slightly imperfect graft go from salvageable to hopeless quick. Good job on this one my friend.
thank inyan. i took a side shoot off the other day for that reason. i debated it at first because i was considering whether the slowed growth might help the graft take. i will start with a little cut in the bag and go slow from there on. i'm splitting up some more pereskiopsis tonight. i am not particularly fond of working with this plant.
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I must confess, I absolutely love those jiffy pellets for rooting cuttings, leaves, etc. Looks like you have at least 36 Pereskiopsis going fairly strong. Looks like you will have a nice stock to begin grafting with and it will only grow from there I'm afraid.
i'm glad i pointed the tips to know which way was up. otherwise i would have been screwed. i need to to invest in some proper gloves too me thinks. i taped up my fingers but was still pulling out glochids.
Glochids can indeed be a pain. I seem to always have a few stuck in my hands as of late as I've been harvesting wild Opuntia compressa for grafting. Mind you, I also have Opuntia that has been bred to have virtually no spines and no glochids that I like to graft with as well. My personal preference is to have more than one type of cacti for grafting as they each seem to have their advantages and disadvantages. It feels very good to see your collection growing strong. I am sure you will soon be on your way to making your own crosses and grafting your own seedlings.
well almost everything has germinated. all separated and labelled. i haven't opened the containers yet but there are no signs of any problems. if you have an opportunity will you post a pic of an opuntia graft? i want to try this but need to visualize it better first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-glXJrswWtw#t=106 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-glXJrswWtw#t=106)
Okay, I had to borrow these off the web for several reasons. Reason number 1. I do not have pictures of many of my old grafts. 2. My grafting stock, while plentiful is not actively growing as yours is right now. While I do have a bit of grafting stock as it grows wild around my house, it would not be advisable to use my own private collection for this right now nor would it be advisable to use the wild specimens without getting them into an active state of growth. So, I apologize for getting these pictures off the web, these are some excellent pictures and techniques. My own methods incorporate much of what you see here as I have taught myself how to graft by watching videos such as this and looking at what others do and how they fail. My methods are often an amalgamation of these methods and more... depending on supplies at hand. For instance, while I love parafilm and I think it is the best thing since white on rice when it comes to grafting... I don't always use it. Not because it would not improve my grafts, but simply because I don't always have it on stock. Humidity... I don't always increase humidity for grafts... that are using older scions, but for seedlings it is a step you can't skip over in my climate.
With all of that said, if you would like to see some of my grafts.... I will be making some fresh grafts soon. I've been debating making a new video, doing a step by step picture grafting tutorial, or perhaps both. The only other way I could make some grafts for you sooner would be to have some actively growing stock which I would consider getting if it were not for the fact that my stock will be ready in another month as weather warms up. Suffice it to say that my green house is in need of repairs and can not keep the cold out right now. So, while I have many excuses... please understand I will get my own pictures up soon if for no other reason than to help you on your endeavor or give you some motivation. The only other way I could get a picture graft to you sooner would be to visit you and walk you through a few different techniques myself as you do seem to have your stock up and growing very nicely. I don't see any actively growing Opuntia stock however and that is for me... my favorite for small seedlings if you wish to keep a more natural look and still achieve good size and growth. If you need some grafting stock, I can definitely send you some Opuntia from my private stock or that collected wild around the house, but it won't be ready to graft for some time due to the cold. I have both Opuntia compressa that I love, but its full of glochids... and Opuntia without thorns and glochids, but its no where near as cold hardy as the other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3ZIjHGKZ0&list=PLA28FD2A2BC144FE1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3ZIjHGKZ0&list=PLA28FD2A2BC144FE1)
Here is another video I found that while using tubercles and not seedlings... it is quite easy to do seedlings the same way. I would like to add, that when using seedlings with this method it would be advantageous to use a humidity dome of some sort such as a cup or bag placed over or around the graft. Parafilm can also be used to help secure tubercles as well as seedlings and will prevent the lifting and drying out of the surfaces as well that are sometimes the culprit of grafts only partly taking or failing.
This last video, while excellent... I include to show you that this practice goes against what many would have you do to graft with Pereskiopsis. I.e. the blotting dry and the holding down of the scion with a weight. Also, the rooting of the Pereskiopsis using rooting powder and let us not forget this fellow did not use humidity while initially holding down the scion with the weight of a glass microscope slide. All of these things go against or at least contrary to what many who have grafted to any extent thinks is needed. I believe this is because we all learn how to listen to our plants when we learn to graft. We learn things that are specific to our grafting stock and to our particular environment. Click here or anywhere in this last paragraph to see the next video.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhsxNkASuTw&list=PLA28FD2A2BC144FE1&index=2%5B/url)
here are some of the opuntia i have. the rest are out back covered in snow somewhere. they are covered in glochids. i don't know what varieties i have. the person who gave them to me told me they were native to british columbia.
Those look like the same Opuntia compressa I have growing wild in my back yard. They are definitely good for grafting, but not this time of year... as if I needed to say that. Glochids on these can be a pain, but you will get a more natural looking cacti with earlier flowering times with this one.
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Your baby is looking good! Congrats are definitely in order for your first seedling graft.
thanks dude! probably would have popped off had you not told me to close up that bag among other things. I'm tempted to do a time lapse just for fun.
I think you should definitely post updates on this graft as it is your first. I can see other people getting inspired by your success already.
will do!
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Looking darn good my friend!
thanks! it's pretty exciting for me to see it grow this fast! can't wait for the summer!
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Looking beautiful!!! Great job!!!
thanks dude! this is pretty exciting for me. lots more to come!
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i like the look of that particular specimen chief.....
thanks. it's coming along nicely!
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how many of these things ya got going now?
there are a few randoms and a bunch of regional varieties for pollen. others on opuntia and columnar cacti. some have really taken some odd shapes.
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impressive.
this is what i like about this site.
interesting specimens and good pics.
so the orange areas are mite damage... correct?
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great stuff.
im starting to think the ruling grafters are all here.
i don't know about that but I've certainly learned a lot from you peeps!
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just read the whole tread, great progress chief. to bad for the mite damage though :-\
thanks dude. even the ones that got it the worst are growing nicely now. very resilient plants.