I don't Beleive they can survive on there own cause they don't produce there own food, that's why it's grafted so the plant at the base can produce the food for the to plant so it can live when it would otherwise die on its own. Other pple will chime in if I'm wrong, but that's pretty much how moon cacti work
But i Beleive i have seen them grown by them selves but I've never actually done it or owned one to try it.

Goodluck

That is correct, they are not able to produce their own nutrients and thus must remain grafted to survive; it is a similar situation to when a variegated succulent produces a fully variegated pup and it must remain attached to the parent plant to survive as it is lacking chlorophyll.

I believe the cactus Laura is talking about is not the neon hued 'moon cactus', which to me is totally bogus, but one which you do see growing on its own roots sometimes.

If I were to attempt this, I would cut the two at the graft, allow the cut to dry for a week or so, then place on top of a well draining potting medium, as you would do for any cactus cutting...Then wait for roots.

But I have not tried this myself. Good luck.

Christopher

Laura,

Adding to what Christopher has elucidated, bottom heat's important to get those roots, so if you can place the pot on sun-warmed concrete, so much the better. Mist the degrafted scion every other day or so and you should have roots within a month. Most Gymnocalycium aren't difficult to root and your chances of success should be pretty good.

Hi Laura,

Would you mind posting a pic of the cactus? I'd like to see the difference between the neon versions (which lack chlorophyll) and your version. Curious to know!

I actually have a couple of neon ones my son gave me for Christmas. From what I understand, the purple ones are able to live on their own. If I flub it up, I wasted $5 that I paid for it. I'd love to get it on it's own roots. It is a cool plant (without the graft).

I apologize if the pic is sideways. I had to take it with my ipad.

Interesting, I always assumed the purple ones were the same as other colors in terms of living on their own, but if it is possible that would be pretty cool! I might have to try it myself if you have success :)

I wonder why the regular one is grafted, maybe to produce pups/flowers more quickly than usual, as the regular one is easily one of the easiest Gymnocalyciums to grow on their own roots.

I wondered that also, Jeff...I saw a couple of these grafted purple ones in our local CVS last week, of all places. I do prefer them without the graft.

Christopher

Thanks Chris and Jeff for the advice. After I posted this I happened across a post on another board that said one should cut into the scion a bit and let dry rather than try to root the scion from the point where it was joined to the stock. That seems to make some sense.

When I attempt this, I'll take some pics and post them.

I have 5 neon "moon" cacti. My son was SO excited to see there was some cacti I didn't have so he scooped up 2 of each color. His cat thought one was a toy, that is why I have an odd number. He always asks if I love them and, since he gave them to me, I certainly do.

I forgot to take pics as I went along, but the purple guy has developed a nice root system. The stock has been planted in a bark mix.

This post was edited by LauraRobichaud on Fri, Aug 22, 14 at 10:21

An update. The purple gymno is thriving one year later. It's even developing flowers...on the top and even a few up its side. We've moved to northern Vermont. It likes the view.

Such a pretty color! Wish I could find one of those at my local CVS...

Beautiful! Maybe now I'll buy one of those. I'm with you in not being a huge fan of the grafted look.

I have a dark purple one. It was ungrafted when I bought it. I'm guessing they are sold as grafted plants so retail customers have more color variety at the store.

Excellent work, Laura!

Laura,

That is very much a thriving cacti. Hope you post pics when buds open.

Rina

Hi Laura, I am glad that your Purple Gymnocalycium is surviving so well.I have just Degrafted one of my Purple Gymnocalycium cactus.It is nestled on top of cactus medium.I hope it servives as well as your cactus. I live in Sydney Australia.We are now almost in spring.Kindest Regards Jim.

Looks like I'm a couple of years late getting in on this discussion. But, here goes:

Just want to say that the purple Gymno's surely WILL TURN GREEN if they do not receive sufficient light to keep them purple. So, there must be chlorophyll in there, somewhere, doing its job even when it is not visible at the surface. I bought my first Gymno like 8 years ago and it has been purple about 95% of the time - depending on where I put it, more than doubled in size, has had several offsets and is a constant bloomer throughout the summer months.

I am interested in DEGRAFTING, and in particular, how to separate the two. It occurs to me that - provided the scion you wish to liberate from the rootstock has glochids - rather than trying to remove the rootstock altogether, the simplest way would be to slice both very close to the bottom of the scion - just like slicing a tomato - drying the cut, then placing the scion of a damp medium in anticipation of its glochids doing their job and developing roots around the perimeter of the scion - where they would be in contact with the moist medium. (The waste piece would resemble a donut, but with rootstock filling the donut hole.) Any thoughts??

I am not sure why you want glochids? They are the nasty hair-like spines of Opuntias, nothing to do with gymnos. What do you mean?

I believe the term you are looking for is areole? If you want to degraft, just slice the scion off of the rootstock and root it like a cutting.

Hi to all my two purple gymnocalycium cactus have all grown on their own. Today I brought a new one which i will degraft soon.

The purple ones can live on there own roots

Regards

James