You might rememberwhen back in July I wrote about experimenting with grafting succulents prompted by the lack of literature about this practice, most likely due to the fact it hasn’t any practical uses I could think of. Nevertheless, I wanted to know if it was possible, so I grafted a Graptopetalum sp. scion on x Graptoveria rootstock and x Graptoveria on x Graptoveria. The former was unsuccessful as my cuts weren’t clean enough, while the latter took and formed a beautiful union. You can read all about it by clicking here.
Right after writing that post I went on with more attempts at splicing up Crassulaceae:
1. Graptopetalum sp. on x Graptoveria
This time the cuts were good and it worked perfectly, creating a neat, permanent union, the Graptopetalum sp. scion started growing almost right away. The rootstock was the x Graptoveria I had already grafted on x Graptoveria just to save plant material, and it made it even more interesting as this is now a double-grafted plant.
2. x Graptoveria on Crassula ovata
Far from a neat and solid union, the callus tissue doesn’t seem to be developing well enough to create a proper bridge between the two plants. The Crassula keeps trying to put out leaves from the top left leaf scar and the x Graptoveria keeps growing short roots. However, it has been three months now, and the x Graptoveria is growing and showing no sign of dehydration. I doubt this will be a permanent union, but there must be some passage of water and nutrients between the two parts.
3. Crassula ovata on Graptopetalum sp.
The least successful of these attempts. The union formed, but it doesn’t look great, the Graptopetalum sp. rootstock keeps trying to sprout new shoots, which I keep rubbing off, and the Crassula ovata scion hasn’t grown at all. It looks like it’s just hanging there, surviving. It has to be noted this Graptopetalum sp. has one root system from which three stems emerge, as you can see in the photo. My guess is the plant is directing most of its energy towards the two stems which are not grafted, so this experiment isn’t really conclusive as the conditions weren’t ideal for success to begin with.
I will let them do their thing and we’ll see what happens with time. I might try more of these grafting experiments in the future, but last year I reduced my succulents collection by a lot so at the moment I don’t have the plant material (or plant material I’m willing to sacrifice) to try new combinations. Once again, I’d encourage anybody curious to try for themselves, please let me know if you do!
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