questions about grafts

[jmoney]

I have a few questions about grafting/grafts. I bought a graft which had a red colored cacti grafted onto a short portion of root stock. The red top had some damage but I thought it might recover. It ended up dying and I thought I would just remove the top portion, which I've already done, and try to cultivate the root stock portion.

Is it possible to cultivate the root stock?

Will the root stock even grow after the graft has been removed?

The top of the root stock portion didn't fare too well during the removal of the graft. Should I just call it quits and pitch the old root stock?

[Mertzi]

It's quite possible atleast with hylocereus, but probably with other species as well. You may want to give it a good straight cut on the top if it looks too ugly. Then just give it some time, mine took about 4 months to set out new offshoots, altough I cut it in winter, so maybe it would be quicker if you do it now. Good luck!

[snarfie]

It will probably get shoots, could be two months, but also less or more

[promethean_spark]

Often you can find plants that are already of setting from the stock if they have a full tray of them. Hylocereus might do okay in FL too, it's too tender for central ca.

[Saxicola]

The rootstock should grow easily. One of the main downsides of grafted plants is that you have to regularly cut off new shoots that the rootstock is trying to make. On Hylocereus I'd say it is at least one per month per plant in the growing season. So in this case the new shoots will be a plus. If you ever deal with Pereskia it can be as often as once a week that you have to cut off new shoots.

[snarfie]

My gymno's are grafted on hylocereus, and they never make shoots. I think it depends on the growing conditions.

[Saxicola]

Actually I think Hylocereus does it less often. I misspoke in my last post as I meant Harrisia jusbertii when I said Hylocereus.

[snarfie]

I've never seen something grafted on harrisia, so i can't really say anything about it