For grafting young seedlings Pereskiopsis is probably the best option as it produces a fantastic growth rate in the slowest growing plants e.g. Ariocarpus, lophophora, aztekium etc. The photograph to the right is a 3 month old plant after grafting.
For the best results we use rooted Pereskiopsis cuttings of between 10-15 cm that are in active growth and haven't been watered for a few days, as freshly watered plants can have too much sap that will push the scion off. |
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Wipe over the cutting surface with meths to sterilize it and select a few seedlings, place them on the surface.
Remove about 30 mm (1 inch) from the top of the Pereskiopsis (stock). We recommend using large tweezers or forceps to hold the plant for this operation. This will protect your fingers from the extremely sharp Pereskiopsis spines that also break off when you try to remove them and are painful. |
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| Take a seedling (scion) and remove the bottom third along with the roots. |
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| Quickly place the scion on top of the stock, usually at this size the cut seedling will stick to the blade, so just slide it off and onto the stock. Then gently press down on it to remove any trapped air. |
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| For the graft to work, the vascular rings of the plants must make contact.This is probably the hardest part of using Pereskiopsis and seedlings, as it is almost impossible to see the vascular ring in the seedling and some luck is involved. We always set the scion just off centre. See vascular rings illustration (new window). |
It is recommended then to move the graft to a humid warm place with no extra weights to hold the plants together and out of direct sun light for a few days. In this time the plants should seal together. Then treat as a regular plant.
We find we have a better success rate by placing a clear pen lid over the graft to add a little pressure. This also creates a humid micro climate around the union and protects the graft from accidental knocks. The pen lid should be removed after 3-4 days. |
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| We find when the graft has taken the seedling goes quite red before the new spines emerge. Also, remove any new side shoots from the stock plants as if left to grow they will sap energy from the scion. If you leave the side shoot to grow up to about 30mm before removing them at this size they will root up quite readily and provide more grafting stock. |
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| The grafts are then grown on for 2 to 3 years, then removed and grown on their own roots, or re-grafted onto Myrtillocactus or Pachanoii. |
