Topping a Young Loph

[captaincactuscakes]

Hello all! I would like to share a few pics of a recent project: propagation of genus lophophora by means of topping a developed graft to induce pupping. It's a very easy project, so long as a reasonable amount of sterility is observed. I'll start off with a couple pics from about 3 weeks ago when I began then update here in a couple days once we hit a month so you can see how far they've come!

The top portion is growing so fast it has started to split!

Here is what my plant looked like about 18 months ago :')

 

[Hieronymous]

That looks remarkably like a graft I was looking at on the Corroboree recently.

I'm just trying to understand what you mean in the thread title. Are you saying the scion has or will be cut to induce pupping ?

It should work, removing the apical meristem on most plants will cause hormonal changes resulting in more side growth. Mine normally pup their heads off without any intervention so I normally wouldn't do it to a grafted Loph.

When I cut Lophs to be used as scions the lower part of the plant almost always throws pups, so it's the same sort of thing I assume you are experimenting with.

Did you use super glue when the graft was done, I can see something shiny there ?
Maybe it's just xylem/phloem

 

[captaincactuscakes]

I posted this over there also for some advice on maturing the pups.

The scion was cut three weeks ago and has thrown off pups in the meantime. They are developing quickly!

Ya, I used superglue for this graft. First and only time, it was very annoying getting it to work right. Now I use parafilm and small wooden clips.

 

[AlbertKLloyd]

The last 10 or so grafts I did I just used tape, packing tape in one case and masking tape in the others. I did the grafts really fast, just a few cuts and some tape and it was easy, but they were not seedlings.

The person with me was angry, they told me they last time they did grafts they had to do all this detail stuff and be all delicate and precise. I laughed. it took them more time for one graft then it did for me to make 8 of them! (it took about 1 minute each to make the grafts in my case) The grafts did great too.

Here is what my plant looked like about 18 months ago :')

Different plant, the stock in that photo is totally different than the one in the photos of the more mature specimen. Count the ribs of the stocks.

Ya, I used superglue for this graft. First and only time,

you used it only once... ok, the bottom photo sure looks like superglue was used, but that means the top photos do not depict a graft with superglue, because the top graft is not the same as one in the bottom photo. So what did you use on the top graft?

 

[Hieronymous]

Well spotted Albert, I completely missed that.

Maybe there's been a mix up somewhere.

It doesn't seem like a great deal of growth for 18 months either, mine put on that much growth in about 3 months.

I think a lot of people started using superglue after Teotz posted his book online. I never use glue myself, I use tape too.

I also use a piece of sponge or foam on top of the scion (under the tape) so I can put more pressure on the graft and not squash the scion. The sponge also keeps the tape tight until the graft has taken. I don't know if the sponge is needed but I've never lost one doing that way.

 

[captaincactuscakes]

I posted a pic of the bottom portion of the graft... it is on a blue myrtle. I cut the plant in 2 a month ago, with the top portion going to a Torch. Sorry for the confusion there but yes, it's the same plant just two different stocks for either half of it

The growth was stunted because my poor loph received damage from mites. I removed the affected area and split it into two as an experiment to see what would happen since the plant was already damaged. It has since recovered and started growing quite a bit. Now I have a "head" on a decent sized trich and a little "pup-factory" on the original stock, my trusty myrtle. Hopefully all goes well and I can propagate this particular specimen.

I now use parafilm with a miniature clothesline clip, its so much easier and I've had a much higher success rate.

 

[captaincactuscakes]

I guess to further clarify, I now have 2 seperate grafts that started as a seedling on a blue myrtle. A year and a half ago, I used super glue (from teos graft guide) and lost all but this graft, the glue didn't work very well. This graft grew well until about 4 months ago when little mites started eating the flesh and causing some damage along the middle of the golf ball sized plant. Cut the damage out but was left with a small band of wounds across the middle of the plant. I cut it in half so that I would nt have an unsightly circular scar and also I was worried it might get infected. The top half of the plant was put onto the larger torch with a well established root system. I secured it with two straps of parafilm utilizing the spines as anchors, no need for clips, glue, or tape. The top portion took to the new stock within a couple days and started growing quickly... Too quickly; it has started to split. I asked for advice on my thread at the corroboree and they recommended to stop watering and allow it to heal but apparently this is common with damaged lophs. The scar tissue doesn't expand like healthy tissue and can cause splitting... So that's where I'm at now.

I hope this helped clear up any confusion as to why the pics look so different

 

[captaincactuscakes]

Well, good and not-so-good news. The good news is that the pups are developing well and all have multiple tiny little ribs but the bummer is the top half of the cutting, the part that was splitting, continued to do so even after I stopped watering it. It split in such a way that it started "popping" itself off the trich. I removed it today by barely wiggling it... it has started to shoot roots out though so i'm gonna let that be for a month or two then transplant to my soil mix.

Question: since it has split a bit, am I good to go ahead and plant it? The damaged tissue is scarred and dry but I don't want random bacteria showing up down the road...

Thank you!