Sunday, June 15, 2008

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa graft – 4th anniversary

June 7 my grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa plant could celebrate its 4th anniversary on top of its Trichocereus bridgesii stock. After four years the main head has grown to a width of 6 cm (~2.4'') and the scion is more than 14 cm (>5.5'') wide in total.

Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa grafted on Trichocereus stock
Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa grafted on Trichocereus stock

Unfortunately the plant was maimed by spider mites last year. I didn't check my plants for mites before leaving them unattended for several weeks during my summer holiday. When I returned the damage was done and much of the plant ended up severely scarred.

Spider mite damage with new growth
Spider mite damage with new growth

Fortunately the spider mites stayed off most of my other plants, and the scarred epidermis of the grafted Lophophora williamsii v. caespitosa will soon be replaced by new growth.

To avoid spider mites I'm now showering my plants as often as the weather and my patience permit ;-) Any remaining mites are sprayed with isopropyl alcohol on sight. So far this treatment has kept my plants safe from mites, but the big test will be the coming hot summer months where the plants are left on their own to a great extent.

Lophophora caespitosa scarred by spider mites
Lophophora caespitosa scarred by spider mites

As always I’m fascinated with the explosive growth induced by the Trichocereus stock – for comparison you can check the posts on the same plant one, two, and three years ago.

12 comments:

  1. Compliments to your blog as well - it has a lot of valuable information.

    If you ever get a good explanation of the strange growing conditions described in the post on Lophophora Wachstumsanomalien, I would very much like to hear about it (some of my seedlings have behaved similarly).

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  2. Shame about the spider mite damage. How long before they make a complete recovery? Will all the damaged be replaced by new growth, or will some scarring remain?

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  3. It looks like this cactus I have had for 20 years is a diffusa. I notice from your pictures that you have a problem with the corkish skin covering the plant. I am pretty certain i don't have spider mites. I get this phenomenon every year in may and june. I read in another blog there is no cure or that there is no knowledge about the reason. My plant has about 50 heads. the smaller ones are now covered with cork. It grows in august and september most vigorously. Seems to do better in intense heat. It is dry here, less than 20%. I would like to know how to get rid of the cork. thanks, Paul

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  4. Hello, very good site and I think the only of it's kind for lophophora!I live in Athens-Greece and I have about 10 peyotes with diameter from 2 to 4 cm. I bought them from cactus-plaza (very good quality and cheap). The last 1,5 year I kept them in individual pots. I decided this summer to repot all of them in a very large pot(50cm diameter) so that I can water them easy. I used prepack cactus soil.I didn't water them for the first 2 weeks and after that I watered them with distilled water until I could see the water flow under the pot. I use the trick with toothpick to see when they need water. I keep the large pot at the balcony of my appartment which sees east.The problem is that 2 of them have becomen soft to touch and shrinken.The temp is 34 deg celsious at daytime. I don't know if the shrinkel and soft touch is caused because of too much or too little water. In my experience when peyotes need water or when there is too much water the sumptoms are the same. How can I find the cause of the problem? It maybe sounds silly but I have a dillema. Should I water or no??? Thank you for your patience;)

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  5. Mouldfish, I would say the plant will recover completely in a couple of years (it's grafted on Trichocereus ensuring fast growth - if it was growing on its own roots the recovery time would be considerably longer). In time all the damaged epidermis will be replaced with new growth - the old epidermis withers and becomes part of the shriveled, cork-like surface covering the stem.

    Paul, I have only seen cork-like epidermis either as the result of spider mite (or other) damage or old growth, but never on young, "clean" shoots. If you have pictures of the described plant I would very much like to see them - you can post photos on the Lophophora google group. Also, do you have a link to the blog you mention?

    Anonymous, I understand your dilemma and if I were in your situation I would take a prudent approach and observe the plants for a couple of weeks before watering. Apart from that I have no good advice on how to decide if a plant is over-watered, except "sitting it out" - checking the root could impose damage on it, and if it is already rotting it is probably too late to do much about it anyway.

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  6. you might also try Neem Oil

    I found this product to be very effective for controlling the borg if used on a cycle (3 days, spray, 3 days, spray). It's natural stuff -- the bugs hate it. Dunno how a cacti would like it. Worth a shot if mites are biting.

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  7. Slate, thanks for the tip. I'll try out neem oil on a few cactus plants to see how they react and post on the results.

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  8. I am the spider lophophora caespitosa (arm from albert fric)
    , loph. jourdaniana (arm from albert fric)
    http://cactus.rastislav.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=lophophora&start=45
    email:mbiro@centrum.sk

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  9. Is the Trichocereus the only one stock good for Lophophora grafting?

    T. pachanoi
    T. bridgesii

    what more ???

    Great work with peyoties :)

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  10. Personally I prefer Trichocereus species for grafting as they are fast and easy to grow, supply long-lived stock plants, and their slightly sticky sap makes them perfect for grafting. Myrtillocactus geometrizans is also often used as a grafting stock, but I don't have much experience with this species. Pereskiopsis spathulata is a good choice if you want to boost seedling growth, but don't expect Pereskiopsis stock plants to last for more than a few years. If you want a cold hardy stock plant, Opuntia compressa is a good choice. I'm still experimenting with using Opuntia compressa as stock plants - the scion easily takes on these plants but I'm not impressed with the growth rate (I've only done a few of these grafts so my results might improve as I get more experience with these stock plants ;-)

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