DEGRAFTING Moon Cactus | Degrafting Gymnocalycium mihanovichii | Separating cactus from ROOTSTOCK

I've had a Moon Cactus for a while now, it hasn't done alot, pushed out the odd flower bud and new offsets but no flowers yet have actually bloomed.
The root stock, however, over the last month or so has suddenly started growing a stem??
Didn't think that was meant to happen!
Well I think its time to degraft this Moon Cactus to give each separate cactus a chance to grow on their own.
So I separate the top piece (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) from the bottom green piece (probably a hylocereus).
I hope this video helps you and gives you the confidence to degraft your cactus if that's what you were thinking of doing.
Please check out my other cactus videos and playlists and feel free to leave me a LIKE and a COMMENT and don't forget if you want to be notified of any future videos I upload its always a good idea to subscribe and set up your notifications so you don't miss anything.
Happy viewing.
🌵Here is just one link to a playlist of cactus plant videos unveiling my various cactus plants I bought:
Cactus Plants... LOOKING AT MY PURCHASES: • Playlist

[@surnheilladis7528]

Hi there! I'm exited if the purple one made new roots?

[@surnheilladis7528]

Oh, I found the answer below. ;)

[@CactusCove]

Yes I was just about to reference that someone had asked the same thing... It was a pity because it did grow roots but I think it was not as healthy as it looked before I de Grafted it... But essentially it did work. Thanks for your comment and and for watching... In case you are interested the green stock is still alive and is growing well 😊🌵👍🏻

[@ellamiller6889]

@@CactusCove it died because it has no chlorophyll the root stock kept it alive

[@Gilberto_K]

@@ellamiller6889 You are completely right, some people may have success due to their cactus have some trace of chlorophyll, but I they have a 100% coloured Mihanovichii cactus it certainly will die (sooner or later). So, people must be warned about this.

[@JesusChrist-dv2zu]

@@Gilberto_Kdo they dark colored ones count as mutants? like the dark purpley ones that bloom? i have pink and orange ones- one super hot pink, and they never flower. the purple ones, i’ve seen ungrafted.

[@lexruptor]

Believe it or not, I found this very useful. I've been looking for dragon fruit locally, to grow, and ended up finding some as root stock for a summer cactus at walmart for $10. This was the first and pretty much only video I watched for seperating them, it went well, and both plants are fairly happy now.

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for watching my video, glad it was of some help to you, and happy growing to you! 😃👍🏻🌵🌞

[@Cactimania]

Not a fan of grafts myself, but intend to do it in the future for speeding up growth of certain cactus and then de-graft once they reach a good size. And you’re correct, most of the purple ones, and even some of the other coloured Gymnos can live quite well on their own roots, I have a dark purple one called ‘Rubra’ which is doing very well on its own roots. Great video and you done a nice job de-grafting it. Congratulations on passing 💯 subscribers as well 🥳😊 Thank you for sharing with us as always, from Edith & myself, have a wonderful evening and weekend 🌵☀️🌺🌼🌸🏜

[@edithcoliagrandis]

Very good content, Claire. I will, however, leave the cutting to Daz if we need to de-graft plants. 🤣 Both of us are so happy you’ve reached the 1st 100 subscribers! 🥳🥳🥳 More and more to come. 👍❤️🥰🌵

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for watching and commenting... Yes I don't like grafted cactus but respect what the process of it can achieve and certainly a great thing to speed up growth and then de-graft a cactus again I like that idea of that because it serves a purpose/an end goal 👍 🌵😎 good luck for more 🌧️

[@CactusCove]

@@edithcoliagrandis Thank you! 😊 Don't usually use a scalpel, definitely be sticking to the steak knife in future! Also, thank you for watching and commenting. 👍🌵☺️🏜️

[@carlotagarciabenitez3856]

Ay, sííí. sufro enormemente. me encanta verte manipularlas, así aprendo y pierdo el miedo con las mías. Gracias Ale. Sevilla. España

[@CactusCaffeine]

I have a few purple mihanovichii growing on their own roots. I’m sure yours will do well on their own. Good luck! 🙂👍🏼

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for commenting... that sounds reassuring... hopefully it will survive then... If it grows as one roots 😆 Thank you for watching 🌵👍😎

[@Saamniferu]

Make sure to fertalize A LOT with short term fertalizer and flush frequently. Id recomend hydroponically growing them because of how intensive care to keep it alive will be. It has no clorophyll so it needs EXTRA extra attention when its sepperated.

[@793lefty]

Thank you for making this! The stalk of the one that I bought rotted! But I got it for the top half as well. It has green to it so I'm hoping it will root up on its own! It's callousing now. Finggies crossed 😂🤞

[@CactusCove]

Good luck with yours rooting up. It's a shame they keep selling them like this, as usually these stocks don't survive long term. But as you say, it's nice if you can save the actual scion since they have nice colours. I have another one that has an exhausted stock and needs degrafting. Thank you for watching. 👍🏻😊🌵

[@SlightlyCivil]

Im curious. Since the dragonfruit plant was growing an offshoot, do you think it would actually survive despite being parasatized by the gymno? The reason these cacti die quick is normally because the root stock dies, but if the root stock is doing well enough to grow new pads would it be fine just keeping the two together? Then the offsets could be grafted to other parts of the cactus as the dragonfruit grows

[@GardenTronics]

Just subbed! Nice video on degrafting a moon cactus. 👍🏼❤️

[@CactusCove]

Thanks for watching and for your great comment and support 👍🏻 I will check out your channel 😊🌵🌵🌵

[@CactusCove]

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUBSCRIBED TO MY CHANNEL AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS... I HAVE REACHED JUST OVER 100 SUBSCRIBERS... HOPE YOU ENJOY TODAY'S VIDEO!

[@charlesromulus7317]

I have a rootstock that grew similar sprout. Could I trim it off and grow as a separate cactus possibly?. Thank you....

[@CactusCove]

Yes, it will work, just like taking a cutting, it will if its a healthy stem develop roots and can be grown normally. I personally would wait until the sprout is at least an inch long (2.5cm) before picking it off so it has enough tissue to survive to regenerate roots.

[@charlesromulus7317]

@@CactusCove Thank you very much for the info...

[@healingplantsmiami]

Awesome video ❤

[@andyroo3022]

I just purchased a similar purple Gymnocalycium, I will try to de graft it when spring comes. The other one I have is hot pink and bright yellow. I will leave this one grafted as there is no chlorophyll, and it would most definitely die. Strangely though it has some big offsets on it. I suggest a very sharp, flame sterilized scalpel or hobby knife for cutting. I like you video the filming is great and good explanation. Well done.

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for watching my video, and for your great comments, much appreciated 😀🌵🌞 Good luck with your de-grafting in the Spring, just a note, depending on where you are located, if in the UK you can certainly carry out the de-grafting now, it will still have time to heal it's wound and grow roots. 🌞🌵😀

[@andyroo3022]

@@CactusCove Winter in Australia now. Eastern side of the continent had a lot of cold rain with record floods in some regions. The weather is cold but dry now. I managed to get some san pedro to callous over fairly quickly with some sunny days. I hear you have Mexican weather in England at the moment, with hottest days ever recorded. They are like out hottest summer days in Australia 40+ degrees C. I am growing some cacti from seeds on a reptile heat mat with lots of misting and a grow light. It is amazing how the seedlings like a lot of water or they die. Yet the adult plants would rot. The seedlings are only 3mm after a months growth.

[@CactusCove]

@@andyroo3022 Greetings to you in Australia 👋 Yes, had 2 very extremely hot days during the heatwave, broke the record for the UK it was crazy to have it that hot here, its cooled a bit now, but more hot weather due. That's great to hear you're growing cactus from seed, good luck, and I use reptile heat mats too, I use them with my propagator trays, much cheaper 😀 yes cactus seedlings need more humidity and water when very young, some grow extremely slow 😄

[@andyroo3022]

@@CactusCove Thanks, I will persist. Tiny Golden barrels and LW Sierra Santa Rosa, Coahuila, Mexico, Northern form. Enjoy your hobby

[@languagelover747]

Thank you for the video. How did the 2 plants do following the degrafting? I’ve also just picked up a red one and want to use the rootstock for a yellow dragon fruit seedling. 🌱 But now I learned that the red part won’t survive.

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for watching... I still have the actual dragon fruit (the rootstock) but the purple Gymnocalycium did grow little bumpy new roots but it must have been unhealthy internally as it then rotted...for more information there are other comments you might like to read that I replied to with others asking similar questions...but essentially the purple can grow on its own as it does have enough chlorophyll ...but yes you're very right in saying your pink or red part won't survive on its own...you can try having a go at regrafting the red part back onto another stock plant. 👍😊🌵

[@asmrtpop2676]

The rootstock is growing a pup because it didn’t take to the scion like it should have. You did them both a favor separating them.

[@Just_a_guy593]

Do the rootstocks of de-grafted moon cacti still grow or?

[@CactusCove]

@@Just_a_guy593 yes, they will still grow, without the top piece attached. It will just resume normal growth and send out more stems.

[@oiavh]

Did it develop roots? An update would be nice

[@CactusCove]

Hello, Yes it did develop little tiny bumps around the edges of perimeter of Calloused area and tiny roots started to emerge, however around the actual cactus body in the middle section between the Ribs it started to go dark and for some reason it started rotting from inside out! I did notice before I even de-grafted this cactus that the skin surface had dark black blistering, so maybe it was already not a well cactus, but yes básically it definitely started sprouting around the edges despite the rot setting in! 👍

[@hales6547]

Can you griw the caxtus that serves as root stock if you remove the moon cactus? Can i do this when the moon cactus is dying? Or should i do this before? I want to see it grow, so itd be nice. This is a dragon fruit plant, yes? Mine does not grow at all since i got it, only its roots. Im fine with losing the top part, it is pretty but it doesnt do much :)

[@CactusCove]

Yes you definitely can grow the stock cactus as a stand alone plant when you remove the scion (the top part/moon cactus) . If your top part of cactus (the moon cactus) is showing signs of dying then remove it. If you can cut away dead parts sometimes you can regraft the moon cactus back onto this stock, or a different stock parent, if you wish. You can remove the moon cactus at any time whether it's deteriorating or not. My dragon fruit which served as the stock, is now growing on its own. I won't be using it as a stock for future graftings as dragon fruit don't tend to last very long compared to other better suited cactus for grafting stock. Remember if you have a yellow,pink,orange sort of cactus without any green then it will most likely need to be grafted for it to survive. Thanks for watching and for your comment 👍😊🌵

[@hales6547]

@@CactusCove thanks for your detailed response. Very helpful. Im under the impression the dragon fruit cactus will live lots longer without the moon cactus on it, correct? I like to see growth and ive got a yellow one but its okay, its cute but boring. I need to see stuff happening!! Lol. Thank you.

[@MLeeBarrette]

What do I do with the green offshoot of the base plant? Do I cut it and let it dry and then repot? It’s the second offshoot I’ve gotten, I repotted the first one but it doesn’t seem to be growing any larger... so I haven’t cut the second offshoot and it’s growing crazy roots from both ends 😆

[@CactusCove]

You can leave this second offshoot attached to the main stem if you want the cactus to increase in size and eventually be able to flower, or remove it as you did with the first offshoot if you are wanting to root it. You mentioned your first offshoot not growing larger yet... it depends how long ago you took it off and potted it up... Make sure its got the right soi mix (epiphytic cactus need a more richer mix than other cactus) and I suggest you gently take the stem out of the pot to see if it's roots have increased, it may be it is concentrating on its root growth first before you see obvious signs of growth on the stem, and its crazy aerial roots are natural, they do this as if in the wild, they use them to anchor onto nearby branches etc, so you can leave them alone they do no harm. So, when you take the stem out, if there's no sign of base rot & it looks okay then sit it back in the pot and it will grow, albeit, in its own time 😆 Also it needs good light, so morning or late afternoon sunlight or dappled shade. Also it will need watering everytime you sense the potting mix is fairly dried, as they need moister conditions, also spray mist with water to increase its humidity or a gravel tray with pebbles and water will do the same thing, making sure the water is lower than the pot to avoid the pot standing in constant water, as the water evaporates you top up the tray or whatever you choose to use as a makeshift gravel holder. My dragon fruit cactus is still in my collection, its slow too at growing, its stem offshoot seen in my video has only grown out another smaller segment, its coming into growth again now. So epiphytic cactus can take months sometimes to show new grow on cuttings or offshoots we pot up off the mother plant for rooting. My Mum gave me a large and a small piece of her queen of the night cactus... The little piece did nothing for months, it's only in the last few weeks shown a tiny new shoot, so it's great, so I'm sure your cactus stems will be fine as long as you have all it's needs met. Thank you so much for watching and happy growing 🌵👍🏻🌵😊🌵

[@MLeeBarrette]

@@CactusCove excellent information!! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with me! I’m so appreciative, I couldn’t find any video that talked about this specifically. 😁💖

[@CactusCove]

@@MLeeBarrette You are most welcome! I too sometimes cannot find specific information and eventually we learn alot from our plants as they journey through life in our care and we get to know them 😆 but I now what you mean, it tends to be generalised care guides which could almost apply to every plant, when what we really want to know seems like a needle in a hay stack 😆 glad I was able to help 👍🏻🌵🌺🌵🌃

[@camillaxoxo3210]

Hi 👋 can gymno be grafted onto any other plant beside the dragon fruit?

[@CactusCove]

Yes. Gymnocalycium can indeed be grafted onto a different rootstock of cactus. It's just a case of trying it out, some type of cactus are far better suited to being a rootstock though because they are strong growers, tough, resilient and survive much longer so the graft can continue to grow for many years. 😊👍🏻🌵

[@camillaxoxo3210]

@@CactusCove Thanks for the info! 😊 I'm excited to graft it onto another rootstock 😁 hopefully it goes well ahaha

[@southpark.obsessed3384]

Hi Is it possible to take one of the baby’s of the top plant and plant it? Will it grow roots?

[@CactusCove]

Yes you can take off the little babies that grow off the parent cactus, usually wait until they grow a bit first before removing otherwise they will just dry out quickly and die before roots grow. They will grow roots in time. Just sit them on the surface of your growing medium and they will sprout roots. The process will be sped up in a warmer environment too. Thank you for watching 🙂🌵👍

[@southpark.obsessed3384]

@@CactusCove Ok thank you!

[@abhilashagupta2274]

Hey, my moon cactus's graft went rotten and I did cut it off but there's still a little thing in between. Do I need to cut it off? And since I have chopped off the rotten graft, will it grow back again on its own?

[@CactusCove]

You need to remove the little thing that is still stuck onto the actual cactus if its a piece from the stock as thus will go mouldy. If your cactus looks rotten at the base all you can try is cutting it out until you see fresh cactus. If the rotten part has got too large and there is not enough cactus left after removing the rotten bits then there might not be enough of the cactus to start growing roots. If you do have a good size of cactus left let it dry over on the wounds afyer you remove the rotten parts and then it can try to grow roots after some time if you are lucky. If your cactus is purple or has any green then it will grow roots. If its yellow or just pink or orange for example then these need to be regrafted to survive as they don't contain enough chlorophyll to photosynthesis on their own. REMEMBER to clean your tool in between cuts to reduce the amount of bacteria spreading. Hope this helps and thanks for watching . 👍😊🌞🌵🌞

[@hales6547]

This doesnt brow back. They are grafted which means the top is a complete seperate type of cactus which was made fo attatch to the bottom cactus as a symbiosis. The moon cactus gets nutrients frlm the bottom, part. Also keeps the cactus on bottom from growing. The cactus on the bottom is actually a dragon fruit cactus

[@jamesoshaughnessy3554]

Hi to all and one, I have two growing on there own, today I brought a new one which I will degraft as well.I live in Sydney, I brought this one from bunnings My first one is bigger and with flowers So it can be degrafted and live on its own I hope this okay. James

[@actionlessaction]

I feel guilty that I bought this without knowing much about it. Such an idiot. Just learning about it and regretting that I bought it. I just wanted to undo the plant and then be free 😞😕 I noticed no thorns in the green part, can I cut the thorns??? Would it be ok for the plant? I also read that the top cannot live without the green part because there is no chlorophyll??

[@CactusCove]

When you reference, the green part, I take it you mean the stock - the bottom cactus that meets the soil. Well, a dragon fruit doesn't usually display many spines, but you'll see the little nobbly bits running along the sides, these are the areoles and also where you will find spines growing. Personally I would not cut off any spines and a dragon fruit is not too spiny anyway so shouldnt present issues, also if you cut off those nobbly parts you may risk cutting off too much and then damaging those areoles, if they get too damaged it might prevent the plant growing new shoots in future. The TOP part which usually have very little green colour, especially if you have one of those bright coloured grafted cactus, cannot normally survive on their own, so in that case they need to stay adjoined the the bottom (green) part. Sometimes you find grafted cactus with lots of green in their skin so they are capable of being de-grafted and potentially they can sprout new roots and be potted up individually. The more green they have the better chance of survival. There are some dark red or purple cactus, particularly of the genus Gymnocalycium that are very able to survive on their own, because they do actually contain chlorophyll despite their appearance and grow this way in the natural habitat, they just may be a bit fussiest in cultivation. If you want to keep the grafted cactus how you bought it, just keep the cactus watered according to the needs of the bottom part that meets soil, so if its dragon fruit it likes a tropical warm environment etc, and regular watering to keep just moist not over wet, let soil dry out a little between watering to avoid rot.

[@CRISFILMM]

TODAY i bought this grafted cactusss With red mihanovichii I bought it just to have draginfruit😁😄

[@CactusCove]

😁😉Hello! Yes it's certainly worth buying them because you get the stock part (the dragon fruit) as a bonus... Mine has continued to grow so its doing well on its own shooting off new stem and another stem! Happy Growing 🌵🎄⛄😊

[@adriisworld512]

Could a red one grow roots of its own maybe?

[@CactusCove]

If the gymnocalycium is a more vibrant vivid red colour or really red then it will have far less chlorophyll and far more unlikely to support itself and unlikely to grow its own roots. You do get some that despite looking red in colour do have some chlorophyll and can grow their own roots and support themself, they are very varied so you cannot always say yes or no. However, the really pink ones etc are very unlikely to grow on their own and are always seen grafted and often to tropical cactus such as the hylocereus as shown in my video. If the top part does naturally come away from the rootstock the top part can be re-grafted back on again.

[@CactusCove]

Thank you for watching and for commenting... 👍🌵😁

[@CoffeeNinjaJinxy]

How did the root growing go on this mihanovichii?

[@CactusCove]

Other people asked the same question, so here is what happened... Yes it did develop little tiny bumps around the edges of perimeter of Calloused area and tiny roots started to emerge, however around the actual cactus body in the middle section between the Ribs it started to go dark and for some reason it started rotting from inside out! I did notice before I even de-grafted this cactus that the skin surface had dark black blistering, so maybe it was already not a well cactus, but yes básically it definitely started sprouting around the edges despite the rot setting in! 👍

[@headhayley123]

Holy crap how come your using a steak knife to cut it off? I thought a sharp knife was needed. The steak knife isn’t going to give you a neat cut.

[@CactusCove]

I am used to using this knife so knew it would cut well, I wasn't too bothered about a clean smooth cut at that point as it was just about getting the purple cactus away from the green cactus. Also the green cactus is very robust and recovers well. I'd only make more effort to have a flat clean surface if I was attempting to graft.

[@mycospace2939]

Why degrafted gymnocalycium? U need Hylocereus? only need cutting now it's more complicated get roots

[@CactusCove]

I want the Gymnocalycium to grow on its own roots. I did not want it to stay grafted that's why I took it off. The hylocereus is growing on its own now. This Gymnocalycium will grow its own roots. It is a purple colour and contains enough chlorophyll to photosynthesise and therfore sustain itself. It should not take long to grow new roots. I have seen many KZbin videos showing roots growing easily from Gymnocalycium when they have been degrafted. I hope this answers your questions. Thank you for watching and commenting 👍🙂🌵

[@imadearinata]

I dont like cactus grafting too.

[@CRISFILMM]

@@imadearinata me too!it is very bad and cruel way of making beauty

[@CactusCove]

Hi yes I prefer the cactus with their own roots particularly when they are easily grown with their own roots in the first place... Sometimes professional growers will graft Seedlings onto stock cactus to speed up what would otherwise be a very very slow growth process in certain species of Cactus, also it can help keep many genus of cactus from being extinct because it will speed up the rescue of some cactus in decline in natural habitat and increase their number very quickly. The stock cactus used is in plentiful supply and is why certain ones are used because they are fast growing. Thanks so much for your comment and happy growing 🌵⛄👍🏻😊