Urgent grafting help needed

[Cactus Kid]

I have had this rather nice Astrophytum onzuka cristate for some years now but the stock seems to have rotted.
Any advice on what I should do now would be gratefully received.

I assume it must be re grafted as I know from previous experience they are difficult to re root, but what sort of stock would you recommend (I can't I.D. the previous one) and where can I get some at short notice.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

[Terry S.]

The original stock looks a bit like the cold-sensitive Myrtillocactus. Your best bet is to find some Trichocereus spachianus or pachanoi to regraft. I don't think that you will be able to do anything with the whole plant but will have to take lots of little semicircular pieces. At least it is the sort of thing that there should be a market for. You could try removing the lump of plant at the front of the photo for cutting into ca. 6 pieces for grafting and then have a go at rooting the rest of the plant - belt and braces!

[Cactus Kid]

Thanks Terry
I was of course hoping to keep it intact, but thought it might come to chopping it!

Now to try and source some suitable stock, not easy at this time!

[topsy]

HI,

I agree that regrafting the plant in its entirity would be difficult if not impossible. So on the basis that you have almost certainly got to cut this into manageable pieces why not try grafting some pieces onto Astrophytum ornatum seedlings or young plants? I am a firm believer that in some cases grafting scions onto stocks which are not closely related does not make for enduring marriages. Ferocactus would also be an optional stock.

Good luck.

Suzanne

[Stuart]

If the Myrtillocactus has just dried up, the rest should still be OK, I can count at least 30 potential grafts there. Small grafts of crests, about an inch across, of the fleshy newest growth are easy. Grafting a large piece would be near impossible. I wish people wouldn't use Myrtillocactus as a stock but it's readily available, cheap and easy to graft, just not suitable for UK winter greenhouses.

Stuart

[AnTTun]

I second what other forumities have said. I'd just add my personal favorite grafting suggestion: use stock that is 2 or 3 times taller than the current one. Under normal circumstances scion/stock combo should last way longer than this one.

[Stuart]

An update, Chris is probably wondering what has happened to his plant after he sent it to me.

It looked quite nice when I first saw it and still could look quite nice in a photo, almost worth an entry in the on-line National this weekend.

though it looked a bit rough when seen from below

More to follow

Stuart

[Stuart]

When a plant has some rot at the base it often doesn't show until it's too late. I cut a couple of potential pieces to graft that looked OK from the outside.

Though they looked OK, looking at the cut surface, only one could be used. Rot travels along the vascular lines as a clear orange/brown marking and any orange, however small, means cutting higher up or throwing it out if too small.
Only one of the two cuts was OK and didn't show any rot when looking through a magnifying glass.

In the end I had a go at about 35 grafts from the Astrophytum, some didn't look too promising but were worth a go.

And once I'd started I had a go at a few more, there's some other Astrophytum crests, Mamm Hernandezii, Opuntia Pachypus crests and a few other bits worth cutting.

More to follow.

Stuart

[Tony R]

It must have seemed like the 'good old days' when grafting en masse was your thing!

[edds]

And once I'd started I had a go at a few more,

"A few more"!!!