Showing posts with label Grafted cactus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grafted cactus. Show all posts

Monday, July 31, 2006

Flowering Lophophora williamsii – II

As mentioned in an earlier post flowering was late this year. My grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is now making up for this by showing off its sixth flower this season.

Flowering Lophophora williamsii – 6th flower this season
Flowering Lophophora williamsii – 6th flower this season

The three previous flowers unfolded while I was away on vacation – the remains of all the spent flowers are visible beneath the current one.

This flowering coincided with the flowering of a Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana. I decided not to outcross the plants but instead self-pollinate both of them; first of all to keep my SB 854’s “clean”, secondly I want to test the alleged self-incompatibility of the jourdaniana variety.

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Friday, July 14, 2006

Flowering Lophophora williamsii

Flowering has been late this year but finally my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) decided to come back with a vengeance by setting two flowers simultaneously.

Lophophora williamsii with two flowers
Lophophora williamsii with two flowers

The scar visible in the upper left-hand corner of the photo formed after the epidermis ripped, caused by too vigorous growth.

The flowers are funnelform, pinkish white with a light pink midstripe.

Funnelform Lophophora flowers reaching for the sun
Funnelform flowers reaching for the sun

I self-pollinated the flowers but am wondering if it’s necessary – the anthers are virtually brushing the stigmas, depositing pollen without any help.

Lophophora anthers brushing stigmas
Anthers brushing stigmas

Last growing season I also posted on this plants flowering and fruit setting (use the previous and next links to navigate the posts).

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Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft

Two years ago I grafted a 2 cm (~0.8'') wide Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa cutting on a Trichocereus bridgesii stock. The main head has now grown to a width of 5.5 cm (~2.2'') and the total width of the scion exceeds 10.5 cm (~4.1'') – unfortunately the plant hasn’t flowered yet.

Grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa
Grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa

I’ve given up keeping count of the number of offshoots; the plant is virtually exploding with growth.

Trichocereus bridgesii is an exemplary stock plant; it’s long-lived, fast growing, not offsetting and almost spineless.

Last year I also posted a picture of the – then much smaller – Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft. A photo of the flowering plant can be found in this post.

Friday, April 21, 2006

The power of grafting - IX (full circle)

It’s time to shake off the dust of the prehistoric peyote buttons from the previous post and get started with the new growing season. Two years ago today I grafted a 50some days old Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) seedling onto a (then extravagantly oversized) Trichocereus pachanoi stock.

Grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx)
Grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx)

The plant has set 3 offshoots and grown to a width of 5.6 cm (~ 2.2'' – excluding the offshoots) and a height of 4.8 cm (~ 1.9''). It’s currently busy increasing the number of ribs from 5 to 8 (or maybe it goes directly for 13 ribs... it’s a bit hard to tell at this stage).

For comparison you can check this photo of the same graft one year ago.

Full circle
The plant flowered 4 times last year – all flowers were self-pollinated. The resulting fruits contained 22 seeds that were sown April 4, but until now only 5 have germinated and out of these only 3 seedlings are thriving. Yet another illustration of why inbreeding should be avoided.

Lophophora seedling grown from self-pollinated seeds
Lophophora seedling grown from self-pollinated seeds

I find it quite amazing that grafting enables you to go full circle from seedling to seedling in two years.

A more detailed account of the plant’s flowering and fruit setting can be had by following the “previous” links.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The power of grafting – VIII

My grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is growing its last fruit this season. The fruit looks ripe and fat so I'm hoping for lots of seeds even though the flower was self-pollinated.

Lophophora williamsii - ripe fruit
Lophophora williamsii - ripe fruit

Yesterday I harvested the dried fruits produced by the plants second and third flower – both of these flowers were also self-pollinated (I didn’t have a whole lot of plants flowering last year ;-)

Lophophora williamsii - harvested fruits
Lophophora williamsii - harvested fruits

The fruits are approximately 1 cm (~0.4'') long, only the upper half is containing seeds. The yield from these fruits, each contained 6 seeds, is much better than from the first fruit I harvested.

Lophophora williamsii - seeds
Lophophora williamsii - seeds

If the seeds are viable I hope to come full circle, growing new seedlings in less than two years after the mother plant was sown!

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Saturday, November 26, 2005

The power of grafting – VII

Most of my plants are now dormant and I hadn’t expected much activity to report on these pages – but 5 days ago I noticed a budding fruit on my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx).

Budding Lophophora williamsii fruit
Budding Lophophora williamsii fruit

The fruit is now ripe and slightly longer than 1 cm (~ 0.4’’) with a diameter of 4.5 mm (~ 0.2’’) at the widest section. The color is best described as a pinkish magenta segueing into a lighter pink on the surface not directly exposed to the sun.

Lophophora williamsii with ripe fruit
Lophophora williamsii with ripe fruit

Lophophora williamsii fruit – close-ups
Lophophora williamsii fruit – close-ups

While examining the plant it became apparent that another fruit is breaking out. If this one ripens as abruptly as the last, it will be fully extruded within a week.

Fruiting Lophophora williamsii
Fruiting Lophophora williamsii

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

The power of grafting - VI

Today I harvested the first seeds from my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx). The fruit appeared mid-September and has been maturing on the plant for some weeks. The photo below shows the fruit on September 17.

Lophophora williamsii fruit
Lophophora williamsii fruit

The fruit has been dry and ripe for picking for a while now – as illustrated by the next photo, taken just before the fruit was removed.

Dry Lophophora williamsii fruit
Dry Lophophora williamsii fruit

I blame it on the self-fertilization; the fruit only contained 3 seeds that looked OK and 2 that weren’t fully developed. It will be interesting to see if any of the seeds are viable.

Lophophora williamsii seeds
Lophophora williamsii seeds


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Monday, September 12, 2005

The power of grafting - V

My grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is on a roll – it is now flowering for the fourth time this year.

Lophophora williamsii flower
Lophophora williamsii flower

I self-pollinated the flower and collected some pollen for a Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana that will flower soon – allegedly this variety is self-incompatible i.e. it requires outcross pollination. I hope the pollen will stay viable in the refrigerator for a week or two.

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Monday, August 29, 2005

The power of grafting - IV

For the third time this year my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is flowering – quite an accomplishment from a plant only 18 months from seed (sowed February 29, 2004). This flower was also self-pollinated.

Flowering Lophophora williamsii
Flowering Lophophora williamsii

The two spent flowers can be seen below the current one.

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Monday, August 22, 2005

The power of grafting - III

My grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is flowering again (and yet another bud is in the works). Once again I had to self-pollinate the flower since none of my other plants are blooming.

Flowering Lophophora williamsii
Flowering Lophophora williamsii

Growth will tear us apart
The scion is growing so hard you can practically hear the epidermis squeaking. A couple of days ago it gave in to the pressure and burst – maybe triggered by the plant “rearranging itself”, starting to grow more ribs. The scion has grown to a width of 5 cm (~1.97’’), excluding the offshoots.

Bursting Lophophora williamsii.
Bursting Lophophora williamsii

The Echinopsis (Trichocereus) pachanoi stock refuses to give up the fight and is stubbornly growing yet another offshoot.

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Monday, July 25, 2005

The power of grafting - II

In less than one and a half years my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) has grown from a minute seedling to a mature plant, flowering for the first time. The Lophophora scion is 4.85 cm (~1.9’’) wide and has grown 3 offshoots; the flower is a typical pinkish white with a somewhat darker midstripe, and is 1.8 cm (~0.7’’) wide. None of my other plants are currently blooming so I attempted to self-pollinate the flower.

Flowering Lophophora williamsii graft
Flowering Lophophora williamsii graft

The Echinopsis (Trichocereus) pachanoi stock is striving to get a life of its own – since the previous post I’ve removed two offshoots. Even though it slows the growth of the Lophophora scion down a bit, I let the shoots grow for as long as they don’t intimidate the scion. The removed shoots are rooted and will be used for future grafts.

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Monday, July 18, 2005

Seedling grafting on Pereskiopsis - II

Well, my first experience with grafting on Pereskiopsis spathulata was a limited success – limited by a combination of stupidity and clumsiness. I ignored the advice of experts and watered the Pereskiopsis plants heavily before grafting. As a result the small seedling scions were soon sailing away on a sea of cactus sap. When trying to correct this I managed to knock off half of the scions. Despite this treatment two of the grafts took (one each of L. williamsii, RS 428A, Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila and L. diffusa RS 1193, Peña Miller, Queretaro). Especially the Lophophora williamsii graft is doing great – in 11 weeks it’s grown to a width of 1.9 cm (0.75’’).

Lophophora williamsii seedling grafted on Pereskiopsis spathulata
Lophophora williamsii seedling grafted on Pereskiopsis spathulata

The Pereskiopsis spathulata plants are easy to grow. I planted the ‘waste products’ from the graft, and along with the plants where the graft didn’t take, they now make up a shrubbery that would make even the Knights who say ‘Ni’ happy.

Pereskiopsis spathulata 'shrubbery'
Pereskiopsis spathulata ‘shrubbery’

The hardest part of growing Pereskiopsis is to remember to give them a generous treatment with plenty of water ;-)

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Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Exploding Lophophora Inevitable

The main head of my grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa is now 4.5 cm (~1.77’’) wide – the total width of the scion is 7.3 cm (~2.87’’). The plant was grafted one year ago as a 2 cm (~0.78’’) wide cutting taken from the plant shown in my profile photo. Unfortunately the mother plant caught rot in the wound and withered during winter. The scion is grafted on a Trichocereus bridgesii (Echinopsis lageniformis) stock.

Grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa
Grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa

Maybe the Andy Warhol/Velvet Underground inspired title is a bit corny – but it seemed fitting for a plant exploding with growth ;-)

Follow this link to see the state of the Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft one year later.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Seedling grafting on Pereskiopsis

Two weeks ago I rooted 4 Pereskiopsis spathulata cuttings and they are now in full growth.

I’ve grafted 4 plants from this year’s batch of Lophophora seedlings on the Pereskiopsis plants – 2 seedlings each of L. williamsii (RS 428A; Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila) and L. diffusa (RS 1193; Peña Miller, Queretaro).


Two Lophophora williamsii seedlings grafted on Pereskiopsis

The Living Rocks web site describes seedling grafting on Pereskiopsis in great detail.

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Thursday, April 21, 2005

The power of grafting

One year ago today, I grafted a 50some days old Lophophora williamsii seedling on a well established Trichocereus pachanoi stock. The Lophophora scion has now grown to a height of 3.3 cm (~1.3’’) and a width of 3.2 cm (~1.25’’). The barrel shape is not very becoming to the Lophophora, but hopefully it will flower soon.


Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) - One year old graft

The grafted Lophophora’s siblings (all sowed February 29, 2004) still growing on their own roots are all less than 1 cm (~0.4’’) in both height and width.

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