graft on Harrisia stock

[luigonz]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask y'alls opinion on this graft. I recently acquired this Mammilaria perezdelarosa v. gold spined on what I think is Harrisia stock. I am wondering about the health of the stock, it looks rather thin and I have been watering once a week, it is in full sun. I have never grafted with Harrisia, only perekiopsis and myrtillocactus. Should I regraft both scions? I realize we are in mid October and ending the growing season.... so perhaps i should just wait until Spring to see if it produces new growth.

thanks for the help!

[snarfie]

maybe you should feel if the stock is soft, and if it is, maybe you should water it a little more

[Onzuka]

Has the plant been repotted and placed not quite so deeply in the soil as it originally was? Everything looks normal with the exception of the brown section where it meets the soil.

Steve

[adetheproducer]

All looks fine the brown just looks like natuaral corking, most likely due to being potted deeper. I would be tempted to remove the smaller head and let it set its own roots. Seem little point having this species grafted.

[snarfie]

Had one years ago. Had the normal spine coloration and was on its own roots. Had multiple offsets, but had thrown it away before i really got into cacti(what a waste). It was about 30 cm tall and had gfour main stems.

[luigonz]

Thanks for all the input!
I purchased this bare-root and it has always been thin...(about 3 wks) I will water it more often. We are still hitting the high 80s F here in Texas.

I've always been a little confused on what softness means in a cactus..I've heard that rot (due to too much water) can cause softness and too little water can cause softness as well.
I have had a few Astrophytum asterias that were a little soft..so I decided to reduce watering to no avail...then we got a large rain storm and they plumbed up nice and firm!

I will try de-graft the smaller one... is it better to simply break the scion off rather than cutting? I plan on letting it dry a week and placing it in my regular soil mix.

[promethean_spark]

It's difficult to over-water harrisia in cactus mix, doubly so in a clay pot. It's more of a tropical cactus like pereskiopsis and hylocereus. Water it a lot and if it responds favorably give it a larger plastic pot with slightly richer mix (more soil/compost, less grit) so it is happy getting water on the same schedule as your other plants.

[adetheproducer]

Thanks for all the input!
I purchased this bare-root and it has always been thin...(about 3 wks) I will water it more often. We are still hitting the high 80s F here in Texas.

I've always been a little confused on what softness means in a cactus..I've heard that rot (due to too much water) can cause softness and too little water can cause softness as well.
I have had a few Astrophytum asterias that were a little soft..so I decided to reduce watering to no avail...then we got a large rain storm and they plumbed up nice and firm!

I will try de-graft the smaller one... is it better to simply break the scion off rather than cutting? I plan on letting it dry a week and placing it in my regular soil mix.

Soft cause by loss of water is deffinately different to squishy rot. even when dehydrated and soft the cacti have a subtle firmness like its just the surface layer that is soft. When they rot the the whole body will be very squishy right way through so you could push you finger in with little effort. If you ever kill one with rot have a good feel and smell rot does stink like rotten veg.
With the removal of th pup I would be tempted to twist it off, its a more natural way of damaging the plant.