cylindropuntia imbricata

[RichR]

Has anyone ever tried grafting onto Cylindropuntia imbricata? I have tons of it and it seems like it ought to work.

[SoilSifter]

I saw a mini Cylindropuntia at a local retail store and had the same question. The cylindrical stem and frequent branching suggested it might be ideal for grafting stock. Though, the stem shape might not be really important.

[Mark]

Hey Rich, did you ever try graftng on C. imbricata? If so how did the plants grow?


Mark

[jfabiao]

I did some experiments grafting to O. ficus-indica, O. dillenii and Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Every single one I tried took well and eventually stalled, after a few weeks. I tried grafting to unrooted pads / cuttings, though: I'll try again with rooted cuttings next year.

[RichR]

Hey Rich, did you ever try graftng on C. imbricata? If so how did the plants grow?


Mark

Not yet, Mark. I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit.

[RichR]

I did some experiments grafting to O. ficus-indica, O. dillenii and Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Every single one I tried took well and eventually stalled, after a few weeks. I tried grafting to unrooted pads / cuttings, though: I'll try again with rooted cuttings next year.

I will also be be trying to graft onto O. ellisiana as well as Acanthocereus tetragonus, both of which I have plenty of.

[SoilSifter]

I did some experiments grafting to O. ficus-indica, O. dillenii and Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Every single one I tried took well and eventually stalled, after a few weeks. I tried grafting to unrooted pads / cuttings, though: I'll try again with rooted cuttings next year.

Please explain for us grafting newbs (me) what is a stalled graft? I'm guessing the scion and rootstock joined but the scion grew little or none and stayed that way.

[george76904]

I did some experiments grafting to O. ficus-indica, O. dillenii and Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Every single one I tried took well and eventually stalled, after a few weeks. I tried grafting to unrooted pads / cuttings, though: I'll try again with rooted cuttings next year.

Please explain for us grafting newbs (me) what is a stalled graft? I'm guessing the scion and rootstock joined but the scion grew little or none and stayed that way.

Yes you are right a stalled graft is a graft where the scion and stock successfully join, however for whatever reason (usually misalligned vascular bundles, or because maybe the scion is taking up too much energy and the graft can't supply it all. For example hanazonos tubercle graft of ariocarpus, the graft just sat there, they took. But then stock could not provide enough energy for the scion to keep growing)
Hope this helps,
Will

[jfabiao]

It is as Will writes, but my guess is that the lack of roots caused the vascular system to collapse near the cut surfaces rendering "the plumbing" useless. I'm presuming that using rooted cuttings (and reducing the cut and exposed surface to the minimum possible) will prevent this.