Pereskiopsis Grafting

Significance

• Grafting connects two pieces of living plants to each other to grow as a single plant. The base plant, known as the root stock or simply stock, provides the root system and growth characteristics. It feeds the attached plant, known as the scion, according to the University of Missouri extension service website.

  Not all plants can be grafted, but the process has proved successful for cultivating fruit trees to ensure consistent size, quality and quantity of the produce. Cacti graft easily with most types growing vigorously atop Pereskiopsis stock. Growers graft cacti mainly for faster growth or flower production, according to the Cactus Culture website.

Characteristics

• Pereskiopsis, unlike many cactus, produces large leaves from thick stems. Native to semi-tropical areas, Pereskiopsis cannot survive frost or freezing temperatures.

  Its reputation as being the fastest-growing cactus and resistant to rot makes it ideal as a grafting root stock, according to the Cactus Culture website. A Pereskiopsis cutting produces roots within a week to 10 days.

  Pereskiopsis grows wild as a flowering shrub throughout Northern Mexico, according to the Cacti Guide website.

Grafting

• Cacti grafting involves making clean cuts horizontally across the top of a Pereskiopsis stem and the bottom of the scion plant, then placing one atop the other so that the plant's vascular ring lines up. Unlike tree grafting, cacti grafting rarely requires grafting compound, taping or weights.

  Successful grafting depends on quickly putting the two cacti's cut areas together, lining up the veins so that the Pereskiopsis vascular system pumps water and nutrients into the scion attached to it.

  Most cactus grafting uses small, seedling scion and seedling Pereskiopsis stems about the thickness of a pencil.

Recommendations

• The Divine Cactus website recommends using established, actively growing Pereskiopsis that are 3 to 5 inches in height. The stock plant should not be watered for a few days prior to grafting. Freshly watered plants produce a sap-like substance, making the cut area too slippery for grafting.

  If the vascular ring is difficult to see in the cut, putting the scion slightly off-center atop the Pereskiopsis cut ensures that some of the two plants' feeding system attaches.

  Light pressure eliminates air bubbles that can block the vascular system or carry infections into the graft.

Considerations

• Taking too long to attach the grafts allows the plants to dry out or start healing the cut area, sealing off the veins and stopping the transfer of nutrients. Failing to line up the vascular ring of the root stock and the scion also reduces the transfer of nutrients and can lead to slow growth or scion death, according to the Cactus Culture website.

  Pereskiopsis often continue to grow even while sending nutrients to the scion. If new branches appear on the stock stem, they should be carefully cut off to ensure the Pereskiopsis sends nutrients to the scion, not to producing its own new growth, according to the Cacti Guide website.

Time Frame

• Growers keep the two plants attached for two to three years before removing the scion so that it can continue to grow from its own roots. Pereskiopsis can be re-cut and used repeatedly for grafting for several years, according to the Cactus Culture website.