Wanted to gauge interest in grafted Opuntia sp.

[nullzero]

I am going to be propagating grafted Opuntia sp. (selections for the fruit and pads). Right now preparing Opuntia monacantha rootstocks. O. moncantha rootstock is a very vigorous and precocious selection gathered locally. Looking at start of Fall to have the first batch of pads ready.

The rootstock is bearing about 12-16 fruits in a 3 gal container, after 1 year from a rooted pad. This roostock should speed up the growth of the Opuntia sp. selections bearing and productivity.

O. monacantha natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and sandy shores (root rot and excessive water resistance should be good) . I have a friend who is growing a pad out in central FL, he has been reporting good results in ground. This rootstock should be a good match to FL, CA, and other arid subtropical locations. From what I gathered online O. moncantha should be hardy down to zone 8a for the rootstock. The mother plant has not seen temps lower then zone 9b.

Here are the selections I was going to graft, Opuntia sp. selections from Mexico;

PARL 244, http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1652662

PARL 246, http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1652664

PARL 254, http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1652672

PARL 262, http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1652678

PARL 342, http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1652725

I was going to start propagating these on a small scale, wanted to see if anyone was interested in purchase or trade of grafted pads. Price was going to be between $8-12 depending on size of pad + shipping. Pad size was going to range around the size of an iphone or larger.

Nothing set in stone yet, will update when the rootstocks take the graft and are ready. Will also want to go through a testing phase with the first newly grafted Opuntia sp.

[Jsvand5]

I might be intersted. I would be looking for something that produces a lot of pads and fruit. They are the natural food source for the tortoises I raise. I have tried growing the normal spineless variety but they grow pretty slow and don't even come close to keeping up with demand.

[nullzero]

John,

When the pads are ready will update with pictures and description.