September 2019 Graft Updates Part 1

Cactus Graft Updates

September 2019

1. Mammilaria 

This is one of my earliest grafts, an unknown I.D. Mammilaria grafted around August last year and have been growing vigorously ever since. The scion was 4 to 5 cm big at that time and now they are more than 25 cm wide. The scion might be a common Mammilaria but they put out a lot of small blossoms endlessly. The mother plant died 3 months after graft due to heavy rain and snail damage, which made me glad to graft it earlier.

I have used Cereus hildmannianus as root stock for this graft, it works well in pumping Mammilaria scion, although it is not as fast as Hylocereus. In my opinion, bigger root stock like Cereus tend to be used for its long life span and high tolerance on weather abuse. To improve the scion growth, all areoles have been removed to prevent offshoots.

2. Astrophytum asterias var. superkabuto 

This is also one of my earlier graft, a small and unknown background of A. asterias with the size of 1 cm was grafted on a 2 feet tall Cereus root stock. Now this guy is around 6 cm big and filled with white specks, with characteristic of 'superkabuto' type.

Historically speaking, it was grafted while the root stock was still attached to mother plant and after 4 months, I separated the branch into individual pot. I found that the root stock took quite a bit of time to root and continue pumping the root stock. In addition, they pups a lot especially underground which compete with the scion. from this stage, I made my own standard for rooting Cereus where their bottom areoles will be removed to prevent similar thing from occurring again.

You can view my guide on rooting Cereus by clicking this link below:

Guide on rooting Cereus hildmannianus

3. Astrophytum myriostigma var kikko x fukuryu 

Germinating my own cross of Astrophytum myriostigma sure made me wonder what they would grow into. The guy on right is grafted two months ago and the one on left is a month later, quite a big difference isn't it! They are sown into tight enclosed container with moist media for a bout a month and then grafted onto Hylocereus undatus, also known as Pitaya and Dragon fruit cactus.

Hylocereus is a fast grower themselves and it is categorized as the top selection for grafting root stock due to their efficiency in growing scion. Same with Cereus, I removed all thorns and areoles from this root stock to promote scion growth. you will see the effect of root stock offsets very clear on Hylocereus graft compared to Cereus due to their different growth pace. Hylocereus will neglect your scion if they start to branch, better clear up all side shoots when caring for your grafted cactus!

Throughout the Hylocereus graft pictures, you would noticed that most scion put up offsets. This is due to their very vigorous growth from very vigor rootstock that continously pumping water and nutrient into the scion. The extra energy and nutrient from Hylocereus caused myriostigma scion to pup, some might grow into mature size without any offset while other might get to the extreme of growing tens or hundreds of offsets. 

4. Ariocarpus retusus

 

It was a sick Ariocarpus back then, getting too much water that made it start to be squishy and stop growing. I am quite lucky that time as one of my Cereus graft failed, the A. asterias scion cracked due to  additional moisture leaving the root stock available for an emergency graft. This guy is no older than 4 months old but grow quite magnificently, probably due to well established root stock and it initial size; 10 cm big. Now it has grow more tubercles but yet to be as big as before. If you look closely, the ridges and bumps on the tubercles are more pronounced and abundant compared to older tubercles underneath. Obviously, you will see the hidden character of your cactus when grafted onto faster growing cactus as the root stock!

5. Oreocereus

 Now that is a weird looking graft! Oreocereus unknown I.D. was grafted onto Acanthocereus about 4 months ago, it was impale graft too. Grow into a quite magnificent sight with current scion size of 15 cm wide, this guy keep bloating and produce lots of hair. I would assume that it is supposed to grow into a huge species of Oreocereus based on the reaction it show from getting grafted. Might be something similar to Oreocereus celsianus or O. trollii, worry not as we shall see it grow into something nice in no time.

5. Astrophytum asterias var. shinshowa

One of my earliest graft too, the picture does not do justice to the size of this scion due to the sheer size of Cereus root stock but this guys is 7 cm or bigger.

Prized for their red flower, the 'shinshowa' variant is well known for their thin petal form compared to normal A. asterias that usually bloom with yellow thick petals. if I am not mistaken, 'akabana' is the term used for red flower  A. asterias, thus this guy can be called var. akabana shinshowa. Thanks to Japan naming system, most people struggle to predict the cactus characteristic if their are not really into this hobby. I am expecting this guy to grow into a specimen size A. asterias, current growth rate is phenomenal and so far it does not throw any side shoot yet; the chance for it to focus solely on growth is quite better than the rest of my A. asterias grafts.

That is all for now, there is a lot more that I could share in Part 2.

Thanks for reading,
May the Cactus be with you guys!

Adieu.