oops let me try this again
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Dear Sicklid,

I have not attempted a graft , but I read widely, so forgive my impertinance, but I think you have got it wrong.

you need to line up the "cambium" layers of each plant... ie The skin of each must be touching .

When you graft most plants the union occurs when the nutrients passing from the root stock are recieved through the skin of the scion.

Baldric

No, nutrients in cacti are passed through the vascular bundle. This is visible as a central area in non-Opuntioid species, roughly circular with thin extensions to each tubercle. In Opuntioids the vascular bundle is distributed around the edge of each pad so grafting is done at the edge.

The recommended technique is to overlap the vascular bundles of the stock and scion, do not have the small one completely within the large one. The bundles join best at the edges.

My only thought on your graft is that the bands look a little tight. They are there to stop the graft falling off, or floating off on sap, nothing more. You can graft without elastic if you have just the right level of rising sap. This, and clean sharp instruments, seems to be the secret of success.

thanks .i've changed the rubber bands to a much lighter tensioned one ..i just hope the vascular tissues are lined up well enough ...it's actually alot harder than i had thought it would be ..... but it was graft or loose this one so i figure if it doesnt take then at least i tried....wish me luck
T

Well Two months have gone by . This plant now is very firm has nearly doubled in size and seems to have a good healthy bit of new growth ( there are three new sets of spines starting to show themselves in a nice tint of red at the growing point) Now if I can just get it to flower at the same time as my other ortegocactus that is on it's own roots still , and get some seed !

You're now a member of the 100% grafting success club :)

Do you have a picture of its current progress?

ok heres a try at a pic

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After reading a recent post about ortegocactus , I'm curious as to why my grafted plant has not developed the brownish base that my other plant has . The second plant is on its own roots. It's a bit smaller than the grafted one and now looks horrible. Theres only a small amount of green left on the top of all the heads . Is this a moisture issue , a cold problem , or is it stagnant air that causes this. I've had other cactus that get the corky look to the base over time but most of those are older plants . The browning on the ortegocactus is also much more enveloping than what I've seen before on other plants. I just checked on the browned up one again today and I'm thinking from the look of it it might not make it. I really hope it at least flowers for me this year so I might get some seed to continue trying this little gem. anyone have any ideas at all if there is any cultural care that can reduce the browning?
thanks

Do you have any pictures of the brown parts?

Try graft your 'brownie' before it's too late!

Jordi

Jordi , the browned plant is a much smaller head . From some more research I've done it sounds like the air around the plant may have been to stagnant. I could try to graft it as well. The browning does not appear to be a rot issue. Am I at risk of losing the plant that is on it's own roots? I've heard that this is not an unusual thing for this species and that while not attractive they do survive. Is this bad information in you're experiance? I really like these little plants and hope to be able to keep them on their own roots if at all possible.