Grafting onto Schlumbergera

[bananaman]

Can you graft onto Schlumbergera?

I was thinking of grafting one of my Carnegia onto a piece of Schlumbergera to boost growth.

Is this possible?

Thanks!

[Pilif]

I see no reason why it wouldn't be possible. It won't be practical though, schlumbergera aren't exactly firm and once the carnegia starts growing it'll break off in no time. Why not get one of the cheap gymno-grafts and graft your saguaros onto one of those? (it's where I got my hylocereus :p)

[CactusFanDan]

You can probably graft onto it, but the main problem I see with Schlumbergera is that they aren't the best cactus to use structurally, as in they as a bit flimsy and would probably either sag, bend or break under to weight of a large scion, particularly a Saguaro. Other than that, I don't see any issues with using it, however it is quite a thin stock as well, so it might be difficult to graft onto it.

[bananaman]

Thanks!

The Carnegia are just tiny seedlings, so it should be fine for a while...

[bananaman]

I just tried this with the superglue method, and here is the finished result:

IMG_0023,a.jpg (78.76 KiB) Viewed 912 times

The seedling is grafted onto a single phylloclade with a good root around 2" long.

This was a little rooted plantlet in my main pot of Schlumbergera, and this phylloclade had developed a cylindrical shape.
I cut off all the branches, leaving just the cylindrical one, and then cut off the top of the Carnegia seedling.
Then, I shortened they phylloclade, and pressed the two together.
I superglued the edges.

This will be a temporary stock.
I will graft it onto Hylocereus eventually, and while this plant is growing on the Schlumbergera, my Hylocereus seedlings should be maturing.
Once they Hylocereus is ready, I will de-graft the Carnegia and re-graft it to Hylocereus until it is around 2-3' tall, at which point I will permanently de-graft it.

I'll post my progress here.

[Skif_S]

Yes, it is possible but no use on practice of grafting as a rule. These grafts may be only temporary and only for cacti with like Shlumbergera physiology (for example, Lobivia, Neochilenia, Copiapoa by this technique will lost its forms under sun restricted conditions). But for grafting theory these experiments may be usefull!

[Glochid Fingers]

So has the graft taken yet? Im dying to know. Have you ever tried a saguaro as a scion on anything else with success?

[bananaman]

I'm still not sure if it has taken.
This is my first attempt at grafting, so I hope it will work.

[bananaman]

Well it failed.
The understock started rotting, and it spread to the scion.

Oh well...

At least my Hylocereus is big enough to attempt a graft now