Driller64's Grafting Log

[george76904]

If you would like to see a side by side of treated vs non treated opuntia seeds see my grow log in my member topics. Admittedly it is a bit outdated so you may need to search for it. But the results are pretty stark

[HP22B]

I've just yet to have much luck with GA3 treatments for seed germination of various species. I'll keep trying as it clearly works well in many cases.

[george76904]

I know for q fact that it improves germination in stenocereus marginatus, echinopsis huascha, and opuntia notably. One of these days I will have to do w side by side for better comparison, and then make a list, but those I know off the top of my head.

[Driller64]

The A. godzilla graft didn't work ;( probably from me removing it from the humidity dome too early. I immediately grafted a T. pachonoi seedling to the failed stock so I will see how that goes.

[Driller64]

I grafted an A. hintonii seedling (not the year old one, I'm never going to graft that! ) onto a Selenicereus. After three days, it looks good and does not have rust. Hopefully after 7 or so days it will be good and I will have a decent size A. hintonii in a year!

[Driller64]

Also on a side note I believe I have successfully grafted a watermelon seedling to a pumpkin seedling (I grow vegetables yearly as well as grow cacti). This is impressive as this is my first attempt. I think it has worked because the watermelon part has started to grow towards the light and I did a push test and the watermelon scion does not budge. If only I would have such success with grafting cacti

[Robb]

Keep trying, and soon your take rate will increase! I must have killed at least 20 seedlings when I was learning to graft lol. The only way to get better at it is to figure out what you did wrong and remedy it the next time. Good luck, and keep trying!
-Robb

[Driller64]

I took the Aztekium hintonii seedling graft out of humidity yesterday. After a day it shows no shriveling of any kind! It is a little rusty around its edges and on its apical growth point though, this is a little worrying. But other than that everything looks good. I'm not even going to attempt to do a push test on it cause of its small size.

[Driller64]

I posted a message in the Seed forum about growing Blossfeldia liliputana on paper towels, and I stated that I threw some remaining B. liliputana seeds into a wet paper towel with fungicide. Well the seeds in question germinated, and since I had a rather weak Pereskiopsis stock that was (rather annoyingly) too thin stemmed to graft anything else onto, and I received a degrafted B. liliputana in the mail today (I'll post a picture of that in another thread) I decided to see if I had what it took to graft a newborn B. liliputana I played a guessing game of what end was the root end, and I decided it was the end that had a nub on it. So things went surprising well for the most part, thanks to my new sharp pack of 100 razor blades, and it is now sitting on my graft shelf recovering. As for the remaining B. liliputana seedlings, I threw them into a pot I had intended to grow some seedlings of B. liliputana, but the seeds never came up.

[Driller64]

Grafted Aztekium hintonii seedling to Selenicereus

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[snarfie]

I hope your grafts stay alive. How big do you think the impact of using razorblades is/will be?

[Driller64]

Razor blades are much sharper, which makes cutting through the plant tissue easier. With grafting, the more precise the cut the better. Also since I germinated B. liliputana seeds on paper towels I might do the same thing with some Strombocactus seeds because I beleive that the seeds get stuck underneath the soil somehow and cannot germinate. I will probably graft of a few of the Strombocactus seedlings since my first attempt grafting a small seedling went so well.

[snarfie]

I planned on buying some razor blades, because i saw with my grafts that only the more flexible grafts succeeded, and that was probably because the tissue got damaged too much with the knife i used.

[Robb]

You might want to cut the stock a bit higher up next time Driller64. It means the sicon will grow faster because there is more area for photosynthesis. BTW, has the Aztekuim hintonii graft shown any new growth yet?

[Driller64]

No the Aztekium graft has not shown any new growth. The rust color is disappearing which might mean that plant is fighting whatever infection is causing the rust color around the base of the graft. I also took the tape off a echinocactus? seedling to Opuntia humifusa graft today after four days. It passes the horizontal push test and there is only a barely noticeable bit of rust on one side of the graft Union so I believe I can call this another success

Picture of the unidentified seedling/Opuntia humifusa graft:

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