REGULAR GRAFTING
What I mean by "regular" grafting is grafting at its most basic. This involves a couple straight flat cuts and simply connecting your specimens. we'll be using a pachanoi as a rootstock for a bridgesii pachanoi hybrid scion.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
-scion
-rootstock
-a very sharp blade
- high % isopropyl
-plastic wrap and rubber band or no drip super glue
-Paper towels
PREPPING THE ROOTSTOCK
Prior to making any cuts and every few cuts wipe your blade down with a isopropyl soaked paper towel.
Your first cut is straight across. You can cut off a large amount of the tip to root if you wish. Just keep in mind the further away you get from the tip the harder it is for your graft to take. With that being said a tip less than six inchs will usually grow slow.
The next cuts made are done to prevent the rootstock from pushing the scion off once it starts to dry up. Some will consider the first photo ready but I like to remove more of the skin further down because as the flesh starts to lose water and shrink the skin will not shrink with it. Even shrinkage is the goal here.
This cut is the contact point for your scion. To do this one its important to keep the blade going in a single angle. Flat as you can get it. An uneven contact point will cause air bubbles(less flesh contact=less success). Making one swipe through as opposed to a back and forth motioned cut will help you maintain a single angle all the way through.
Keep the slice you cut off to place ontop until you are ready to set your scion.This prevents the cut from drying out in the mean time.
Now with the same flat cutting technique cut your scion from the donor cactus, remove that slice cover from the rootstock, and place the scion ontop of the contact cut. Its VERY importent that the vascular rings intersect at some point. The red dotted lines indicate the vascular rings. Matching up the green lines will give you good odds of success. You'll want the middle of your scions ring to line up with a section of the rootstocks ring. This will make two vascular contact points.
Steady now! Watch to make sure its lined up properly. firmly but gently press down into place.
SECURING THE SCION
One method to secure the scion is with plastic wrap. To do this simple fold the plastic wrap into a strip, lay it ontop of the scion, grab both ends pulling down while applying EVEN PRESSURE(if uneven it will move your scion...this is bad and youll have to be re-aligned and even recut if too much time has passed). Finally hold in place with a rubber band.
Or you can use non drip super glue. Simply apply around the perimeter.
AFTERCARE
place in a location out of direct light. Your graft should show signs of growth in around two weeks. Depending on your scion size it may become dehydrated and shrivel a bit while it heals, but will bounce back and become very stiff once the vascular systems fuse together.