Monday, June 25, 2007

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft

I’ve been pretty busy lately and completely forgot to post on the 3rd anniversary (June 7) of my Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft. The main head is 5.5 cm (~2.2'') wide and the total width of the scion has increased to approximately 13 cm (~5.1'').

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft
Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft

The Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa scion is grafted on a Trichocereus bridgesii stock and was repotted early this spring (hence the supporting props).

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft - main head
Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft - top view

I’m fascinated by the explosive growth induced by the Trichocereus stock (for comparison you can check the posts on the same plant one and two years ago) but the appearance of the plant tends to become increasingly freakish.

The plant doesn’t bloom with the same vigor as it grows – until now it’s only flowered once.

8 comments:

  1. nice graft!

    i read your old blog about the achlorophyllous lophophora seedling, infact your blog was the only record i could find of such a thing.
    sorry you lost it.

    anyway i thought this may interest you >>>

    http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6509673/an/0/page/0

    i guess i was a bit luckier ;)

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  2. Yes, I noticed that thread a couple of days ago (it was mentioned on the living_rocks Yahoo group), and yes you are lucky ;-) It's a beautiful plant in all its immaculate albino whiteness.

    Actually I had a devious plan to post some of your pictures, but now I know I'll be caught red-handed ;-) Seriously, would it be OK to use your pictures on this blog - of course I'll supply due credit and a link to your home page and/or the shroomery thread. You can reach me at "lophophora [dot] blog [at] gmail [dot] com".

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  3. I have recently tried grafting a caepitosa cutting onto a T. pachanoi stock. It was a half inch scion and it was successful. At only one month it already has two buttons that have pushed themselves out. Truly the holy grail. I plan to graft a few more very soon.

    Thank you for your wonderful blog!

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  4. Good luck with your grafting adventures - if you have photos you would like to share, you can post them at http://groups.google.com/group/lophophora.

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  5. Hi
    This year I sown T. pachanoi and T.peruvianus, next year I want to sow seeds of many varieties genus Lophophora. Question is: Is it posible to graft young seedlings of Lophophora on young(1 year old) seedlings of Trichocereus? If yes, which one will be better, pachanoi or peruvianus

    Greetings from Poland (Duckland:/)

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  6. Yes, it is possible to graft Lophophora seedlings on very young Trichocereus stock, but you’ll achieve better growth rates by using older stock plants. Both T. pachanoi and T. peruvianus will do well; T. pachanoi generally has smaller spines and is easier to handle (and accidentally is my preferred grafting stock ;-)

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  7. I have a terrible doubt about Peyotes and I haven't found an answer anywhere. Are there differences between Lophophora williamsii and its variation caespitosa? Could you list them for me? Thank you very much!

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  8. Well, I understand your confusion. I regard the caespitosa epithet as a horticultural name used to describe plants with several branches arising from the same root and with a pronounced tendency to produce offsets, a growth form that is also common in natural populations and doesn't warrant formal taxonomic status. The one comparative alkaloid analysis I have seen also shows similar levels of both mescaline and pellotine in caespitosa and "normal" plants. Also, if you graft a "normal" Lophophora williamsii on a strong root stock it will soon look like a "caespitosa" plant.

    That being said I ought to re-label my plants with Lophophora williamsii 'Caespitosa' to indicate I consider this a cultivar name only.

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