Grafting Tephro geo to Opuntia ficus-indica

All about grafting. How-to information, progress reports, show of your results.
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JustSayNotoCactus
Posts: 107
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:29 pm
Location: San Diego, CA

Grafting Tephro geo to Opuntia ficus-indica

Post by JustSayNotoCactus »

A few weeks ago, I a grafted a grape sized ball of Tephrocactus geometricus 'punioides' onto an unrootedpad of Opuntia ficus-indica with amazing results. The opuntia pad was calloused but still with no roots and had just started growing a new pad. I cut the new pad off and was pleased to find a 1 X 1.5 cm contact patch, more than enough for a scion the size of a grape. I put a small but heavy brass pipe fitting on top of the scion for pressure and put it in the shade for a week. I assume it was growing roots at this time because a week after I put it back outside (under 50% shade cloth) it started to show signs of growth. After two weeks under the shade cloth, I put it out in full sun and thats when it really took off.

This is what the graft looked like earlier today, as you can see, it is growing at turbo speed with two offsets popping out this week. The whole scion started off the size of the biggest offset there on the right.
tephrogeografted.jpg
tephrogeografted.jpg (81.15 KiB) Viewed 3049 times
By contrast, here is its sibling on the left, and the seedling I cut the scion from on the right in a 70 mm pot.
tephrogeoscion.jpg
tephrogeoscion.jpg (75.52 KiB) Viewed 3049 times
Interestingly enough, the O. ficus-indica pads I mistakenly planted upside down grew no roots, only pads burrowing through the soil to get to the light above.
Jade plants are for sissies.
Cacidy
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 5:05 pm
Location: Sacramento, (Zone 9b)

Re: Grafting Tephro geo to Opuntia ficus-indica

Post by Cacidy »

What is it looking like now? Did it exhibit normal growth? Did it survive these past few years?

Thanks good wishes!
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