Question on Opuntia subulata as stock plant.

[hafezzahruddin]

Greetings,
Has anybody attempted using Opuntia subulata as grafting stock?

I was helping my mom cleaning her backyard when I saw this shrubs growing like weeds! Upon inspection, they were cacti, and I guess they are Opuntia subulata.

Is Opuntia subulata a good grafting stock? Can anybody share their experience?

[hafezzahruddin]

The Cuttings

[Onzuka]

I haven't tried using O. subulata, but it is certainly on my "to do" list. I can't see any reason why it should be anything but a good stock, it grows fast and is not fussy about the conditions that it's kept in. I have three types of O. subulata, the massively growing natural one, the dwarf, freely offsetting monstrose one and an inbetween one that grew from a monstrose one that ceased to be monstose.

I have, however, been trying to use this Opuntia. The stems are fat and juicy and it grows quickly. It also handles the winter in my unheated greenhouse. I haven't had a lot of success though. I've finally managed to get a couple of seedlings to take and am now waiting to see if they grow okay.

This Opuntia is incredibly easy to grow and multiply but I don't know it's name. I've seen it described as O. elata and O. bergerensis, can anyone offer me it's real identity? I mainly grow it as food for my tortoises.



Thanks

Steve

[Onzuka]

The Cuttings

Hi hafezzahruddin.

I can't help thinking that your subulata cuttings are not getting enough light and are etiolated, or maybe it's caused by the high heat and humidity that I'm guessing that you get in Malaysia. Here's how mine look in the usually cold and dismal UK.



Steve

[hafezzahruddin]

Onzunka,
Yes, they are very etiolated, the original bush was under a shady tree. I cut them to small cuttings and hope that they will grow back as normal O.subulata...

[ali]

It's not a good stock for all species. It really depends on the scion.
I had good results with P. clavarioides.

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[CactusFanDan]

It works best for grafting other Opuntiads onto it, but it can be used for other cacti. I have Puna bonnieae grafted onto O. subulata and it does great.

[hafezzahruddin]

I have done some seedling grafting a day ago, you can read about it here ---->> viewtopic.php?f=16&t=30510&start=15#p272097