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)

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

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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