November 2019 Cactus Updates: Astrophytum Myriostigma Fukuryu

Why Do I Love To Collect Astrophytum myriostigma Fukuryu?

Today I would like to share my new A.  myriostigma Fukuryu. Bought through eBay, it was originated from China and a degrafted Astrophytum. 

At the moment, China made cactus is receiving a not very warm welcome from some grower in my country. Generally, there is a mixed views between locally grown vs China vs Thailand. That also includes own root vs grafted. 

As an Agronomist, I never bother much by this because I choose what to obtain based on these reasons. 

1. Price 

Buying things online can be really expensive, I always watch for the currency of any listed cactus when surfing on eBay. That includes the shipment cost too, European, America and Australia cost more than China and Thailand; I will buy something really worthy if it came from these region. 

2. Rarity

China and Thailand are really good with mass producing grafted rare cactus, I always look from them when looking for cheap bargain. Rare cactus usually come with one of both of these characters namely price and difficulty to grow. Grafted cactus are more resilient and cheaper. 

3. Health

I always choose the healthiest cactus. Obviously, you can see wheather the cactus have been dried or removed from the pot for a long time or not. Sometimes, its about experience too, when you know your seller well, its kind of good product will get returning buyer. 

4. Size

I see size as how much I paid will worth it. Generally, bigger and cheaper is best of all combination. If it involves bidding and lots of cactus at same time, I will go for the bigger one. 

5. Period of shipment

The longer the cactus in shipment, the lesser their health is. It is related to country source and quality of product. Living in Asia, I will get better product from closeby countries, but any shipment lesser than a month is good to me. Dutch and Poland offers around 2 weeks shipment to me, and they are also cheap.

6. Purpose

I have 3 main purpose which are to graft as scion, to be replicate and used as rootstocks and to breed. Good trait and healthy plant will be grown and used for crossing. Small and cheaper cactus usually for grafting. 

Now, getting back to our main topic, I have a small number of cactus collection but putting a belief that they will grow in number later on due to my bad spending on cactus, flower crossing and grafting. 

I have collected 2 similar Fukuryu before this, there are other fukuryus as well but only two are similarly looking like this. 

Here is the link to my previous post about my Astrophytum collection.

#1

#2

They are distinctively come in attractive bright color and prominent inter ribs growth that resembles carambola or star fruit. 

I bought them all in order to make future cross and select their inter ribs growth traits and hopefully get something similar to A.  myriostigma Karina Keel Crested Fukuryu. 

Here is the picture of A. myriostigma Karina Keel Crested Fukuryu from Llifle website for reference. 

Source <Astrophytum Karina Keel Crested Fukuryu Llifle>

In conclusion, I really fond of Astrophytum species and among their variant, fukuryu is the one I love the most. 

Thanks for reading, happy growing guys! 

Adieu. 

November 2019 Graft Updates: Lophophora and Acanthocereus

How To Graft Lophophora Williamsii Using Acanthocereus tetragonus Rootstock

Previously, I have shared about degrafted Lophophora bought from eBay; which was planned to be grafted onto various rootstocks.

This time, I will share my method of grafting large Lophophora scion onto Acanthocereus root stock using impale graft method. In my opinion, impale graft technique is suitable to be conducted on moderate to large scion size and gives better success rate. This is due to more contact surface area between the sharpen rootstock core and scion vascular tissue.

Before we get to the grafting part, I would like to share a brief info on both cactus so that we could understand their behavior and characteristic.

Lophophora

Source <Lophophora williamsii Llifle>

Altitude: It grows from 100 up to 1900 metres above sea level.

Description: Lophophora williamsii is a solitary or (rarely) caespitose, spineless cactus, normally unicephalous but becoming polycephalous with age or injury,

Stem: Glaucous green, dull bluish or greyish green, very succulent, globular, top-shaped, or somewhat flattened up to 6 cm tall, 12 cm diameter, with a woolly top; The subterranean portion of the stem, which is as wide as the aerial portion, extends several cm below the surface of the ground and transitions smoothly (through a thin hypocotyl) into a large taproot which may extend over 25 cm below ground level.

Ribs: (5 when young) 7 to 13 (very rarely 4 or 14 ) broad, rounded, straight, or spiralled, often tuberculate, sometimes irregular and indistinct, with transverse furrows forming more or less regular, polyhedral tubercles;

Roots: Napiform, usually 8-11 cm long

Areoles: Round spineless, bearing flowers only when young with some bunches of long erect, matted, wooly greyish hairs, up to 1 cm long.

Flowers: Solitary, campanulate, 1.5-2.5 cm across when open usually pink (rarely whitish) outer perianth segments and scales ventrally greenish. They emerge from the mass of hairs at umbilicate centre of crown each surrounded by a mass of long hairs. Stigma-lobes 5-7, linear, pink.

Blooming season: Flowers sporadically throughout summer.

Fruits: Club-shaped, red to pinkish, 2 cm long or shorter which can be very delectable and sweet-tasting when eaten.

Seeds: Small and black up to 1 mm in diameter, with broad basal hilum, tuberculate-roughened.

Acanthocereus tetragonus

Source <Acanthocereus tetragonus pfaf.org>

Description: Acanthocereus tetragonus is an evergreen Tree growing to 5 m (16ft) by 2 m (6ft) at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone (UK) 10. The flowers are pollinated by Insects. Suitable for light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. 

Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry soil and can tolerate drought.

Cultivation details: Columnar, branching, slow growing cactus with spiny, five-sided, mid-green stems producing numerous smaller offsets.

Climate: subtropical to tropical. 

Humidity: semi-arid to humid. A plant of the arid tropics and subtropics. Grows in humus-poor, sandy, well drained soils in a sunny position. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.5. 

Flowers: The flowers open overnight. Flowers are open from midnight until dawn, attracting hummingbird moths (Hemaris spp.). Carbon Farming - Cultivation: regional crop. 

Graftiing methodology

Step 1

Cut and prepare your rootstock using sharp and sterilised knife.

Bevel the cut and remove the flesh around the core, make sure the core chosen is slightly hard so that it doesn't get squeezed or break when pushing the scion.

Step 2

Cut the scion to be used for grafting. halving them equally works too, I always graft the butt if they are big enough. That way, you'll get two plant in a session, no wastage.

You can here, the vascular ring is very big and thick. So there is nothing to worry about missing the ring. This situation is similar to Ariocarpus.

Step 3

With a firm grip, push the scion onto pre sharpen rootstock core and make sure it goes all the way down to the fleshy part of Acanthocereus.

There are grafter that confident enough to stop here, the impaled core is able to hold both scion and rootstock in place.

But I prefer to hold them together using plastic wrap, it conserve moisture too.

Step 4

Wrap the scion with plastic wrapper and hold it with rubber band.

Remove the plastic in 2 to 3 weeks time.

There you go, quite easy  but having said so; you need a bit of experience to graft scion on this size and get it right.

It is better to start with smaller and cheaper scion first.

Thanks for reading, Adieu

November 2019 Cactus Updates: Astrophytum Myriostigma Onzuka.

Astrophytum myriostigma Onzuka, what is so unique about it? 

G'day guys! 

I just got myself two new Onzukas, shipped from Deutch. Ive been looking forward to get them to enrich my current Astrophytum gene pool. 

Onzuka is a variant of Astrophytum myriostigma which is most sought after and considered unique to most grower out there. Why was it unique? My answer would be their pattern and shape; tend to grow into a perfectly ball-shaped cactus plus you may get various pattern including the exclusive V-pattern. 

Below are the pictures of my newly aquired Onzukas for our viewing. 

Onzuka #1

Onzuka #2

After repotting pictures. 

Here is a brief info on how to care for A.  myriostigma Onzuka

<source: Llifle myriostigma onzuka>

Description: Astrophytum myriostigma cv. Onzuka is probably the most beautiful, sought after and attractive of all the myriostigma cultivars. The “quadricostatum” form deviates from the well-known typical form for having four ribs instead of five.

Stem: Quadrangular to almost spherical, the plants become shortly columnar with age. The stems are smooth and can be over 90 cm tall and 5-10 (-20) cm in diameter. The cultivar 'ONZUKA' (In Japanese speaking "Onzuka Ranpo-gyoku") has snowy-white, heavily speckled epidermis with fabulous markings much like the ‘Super Kabuto’ asterias. The white marking varies considerably from plant to plant and there exist an enormous number of different designs, and also plants change their appearance in age and they are full of surprises as they grows.

Spines: None.

Ribs: 4 - 6

Flowers: Arise from the areole at the tip of the stem on mature plant. up to 5 cm wide (or more), pale-yellow, shining-silk, unlike the 5-ribbed plant.

Blooming season: Spring or late summer, They take up to 6 years to bloom.

Cultivation and Propagation: Although regarded as a choice and difficult plant in cultivation it is relatively easy to grow. It is sometime seen as a grafted plant but grows very well on its own roots too. Use mineral well permeable substratum with little organic matter (peat, humus). Water sparingly from March till October and keep perfectly dry in winter at temperatures from 5 to 15 degrees centigrade. (but it is Hardy to -7°C for short periods) In the rest period no high atmospheric humidity!! Sun Exposure: Light shade to full sun.

Be careful: The epidermis of ONZUKA is harder than in the normal myriostigmas and cracks easily if plants are overwatered.

Propagation: By seeds, remembering that seedlings dislike strong light and dry conditions and need to be repotted frequently. Eventually, as they become mature, they attain a maximum size of 8-10 cm (20) cm in diameter. However, old plants become senile and have a tendency to succumb to disease and a weak root system. At this stage, as is well known, they die suddenly. So, after they reach 10 cm in diameter grow them slowly, and adopt a new repotting period, using intervals of every 2 - 3 years. Additionally grow them under drier conditions or with stronger sunlight.

But plants are often grafted to accelerate growth as they would generally take at least a five years to reach maturity on their own, but the grafted plants are typical rather tall growing, compared with plants on their own roots that are usually more flat to the ground.

In conclusion, I will use this two for breeding and in the future; aiming to hybridize Astrophytum ornatum with A. Myriostigma Onzuka.

Hopefully I could get A. ornatum later in the future. 

November 2019 Graft Updates: The Effects Of Different Rootstocks on Peanut Cactus (Chamaecereus)

The Effect Of Different Rootstocks On Peanut Cactus (Chamaecereus) Growth

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Firstly, Peanut cactus is identified as Chamaecereus silvestrii or Echinopsis chamaecereus. They are quite close to Echinopsis and Lobivia family, able to form interspecies hybrid if you are lucky. Either way, I will refer to it as peanut cactus to nake it fair. 

Let's go with the basic growth guide first shall we. 

<Source: Llifle Chamaecereus silvestrii>

Description: The peanuts cactus, Echinopsis chamaecereus (probably best known under its old name Chamaecereus silvestrii), is a very popular cactus with many crowded finger-like stems. Established plants can reach a height of 15 cm and width of 30 (or more) cm.

Stems: Pale green finger sized, initially erect that became prostrate up to 10 cm tall, 1.2 cm in diameter, up to 15 cm long. As cactus ages, eventually eventually become woody and spineless.

Ribs: 8 to 10.

Spines: 10 to 15 soft, white bristles, 2 mm long.

Flowers: Orange-red about 5 cm in diameter, often produced in prolific quantities from an early age.

Blooming season: In several flushes in late spring and early summer.

Remarks: Chamaelobivia hybrids: The peanut cactus is still often encountered as Chamaecereus silvestrii, and occasionally as Lobivia silvestrii. This plant has been intensively hybridized with other Echinopsis (especially Lobivia ssp.). This hybrids are sometime called "Chamaelobivia" and are pretty easy to grow and easy to get to bloom and are now available in different striking flower colours. They are often thicker, stronger, larger growing than C. sylvestrii and tend not to have the typical peanut shaped offsets. The offsets produced being more strongly attached to the main stems.

How does it normally look like? 

This how the mother plant looks like and it was grown own root. Its stem is around 3 to 4 cm thick and unfortunately hasn't flower since this day. 

What kind of rootdtock are we talking about? 

I'm new to using Peanut cactus as scion but so far, there are 3 different rootstock species namely Cereus hildmannianus, Hylocereus undatus and Myrtillocactus geometrizans. 

1. Myrtillocactus geometrizans

I know it is smaller than my common standard but it is what I have at the moment, no picture of larger stocks to share for now though. 

2. Hylocereus undatus

3. Cereus hildmannianus

In conclusion, Hylocereus get the early vigor and bloated thick scion shape. It is preferable if you are aiming for enlarging offsets to fasten its maturity. They branch a lot too compared to growing by own root. 

Myrtillocactus would be a waste to be used on this cheap scion. Plus it doesnt offer better vigor nor larger scion size compared to other stocks. The growth rate is similar to own root in the begining and it will slow down significantly. 

Cereus is a so so choice for this matter because the schion thickness is less than by own root but the branching is numerous. Plus it continue to grow non stop as the rootstock can carry far bigger load. On a good side, you doesn't need to degraft because Cereus last forever. 

In a nut shell, I am sharing this so that anyone who want to start grafting cactus aware that rootstock does matter and start with cheap cactus to build experience before going with rarer scion. 

This is my Mammilaria graft on Cereus stocks. Cheap scion to start with and it is worth on every try because failure ia not the opposite of success, it is part of success. 

Thanks for reading, hope that helps. 

November 2019 Graft Updates Part 2: Echinopsis hybrid variegata

Echinopsis Hybrid Variegata Graft Part 2

While sharing my updates about Echinopsis graft on Cereus stocks in Facebook, someone asked me about Hylocereus stock also known as Dragon Fruit Cactus or Pitaya.

There are nemerous ways of grafting, but 2 common methods commonly used are Slab/Tip graft and impale graft. 

If you are growing "Moon Cactus", the cactus with fully bright solid red, yellow, orange or pink color on top of a short green different cactus; that is a grafted Gymnocalycium mihanovitchi (mutated with non green color pigment). 

Generally, it was simply grafted by attaching G. mihanovitchi onto Hylocereus. 

However, what I'm about to share is slightly different, it is impale graft. The main difference is where you sharpen the stock with the ring becoming the center, and may or usually prepare a hole on scion ealier before attaching the two right on the pointy end and the hole. 

Below is the picture taken to be used as example. 

Uncut actively growing stock ready to take on grafting

Usually this is the standard way of cutting stock for grafting, when they are still soft and the center ring is yet to be hard and corky. 

But this time we are going to do different way of grafting. You may fail if the choice is to just simply Slab graft on older stock or lower cut on the stock, impale graft is there to deal with that and it usually have greater success rate over slab graft on younger stock in my oppinion. 

Older stock or lower part of the stock with harder middle ring. 

Remove the flesh around the middle ring to expose the woody core. Make sure you remove all flesh just close to the core but not the thin layer of cambium. If you are accidentally removed the cambium layer, you will see the white color of the core; removed too much and you have less surface to get scion and stock to attach. 

Put a hole on the scion especially if you stock's core is not hard and may break off. 

Impale the pointy end of the stock with the scion. 

Wrap with plastic wrap to place pressure equally to the scion. You can use rubber band for it but it is very hard and took too much time. 

Hold the scion and plastic wrap with rubber band. In 2 weeks, you can remove the wrap. 

Hope that helps. 

Cheers.