ASEXUAL PROPAGATION

Asexual propagation, multiplication without passage through the seed cycle, is the best way to maintain some species, particularly an individual that best represents that species. Clones are groups of plants that are identical to their one parent and that can only be propagated asexually. The Kieffer pear and the Peace Rose are two examples of clones that have been asexually propagated for many years. The major methods of asexual propagation are cuttings, layering, budding and grafting. Cuttings involve rooting a severed piece of the parent plant; layering involves rooting a part of the parent and then severing it; and budding and grafting is joining two plant parts from different varieties.

Cuttings
Many types of plants, both woody and herbaceous, are frequently propagated by cuttings. A cutting is a vegetative plant part which is severed from the parent plant in order to regenerate itself, thereby forming a whole new plant. Take cuttings with a sharp knife or razor blade to reduce injury to the parent plant. Dip the cutting tool in rubbing alcohol or a mixture of one part bleach and nine parts water to prevent transmitting diseases from infected plant parts to healthy ones. Remove flowers and flower buds from cuttings to allow the cutting to use its energy and stored carbohydrates for root and shoot formation rather than fruit and seed production. To hasten rooting, increase the number of roots, or to obtain uniform rooting except on soft fleshy stems, use a rooting hormone such as Rootone or Hormondin, preferably one containing a fungicide. Prevent possible contamination of the entire supply of rooting hormone by putting some in a separate container for dipping cuttings. Insert cuttings into a rooting medium such as coarse sand, vermiculite, soil, water or a mixture of peat and perlite. It is important to choose the correct rooting medium to get optimum rooting in the shortest time. In general, the rooting medium should be sterile, low in fertility, drain well enough to provide oxygen, and retain enough moisture to prevent water stress. Moisten the medium before inserting cuttings, and keep it evenly moist while cuttings are rooting and forming new shoots. Place stem and leaf cuttings in bright but indirect light. Root cuttings can be kept dark until new shoots appear.

Stem Cuttings Numerous plant species are propagated by stem cuttings. Some can be taken at any time of the year, but stem cuttings of many woody plants must be taken in the fall or in the dormant season. Tip cuttings: Detach a 2- to 6-inch piece of stem, including the terminal bud. Make the cut just below a node. Remove lower leaves that would touch or be below the medium. Dip the stem in rooting hormone if desired. Gently tap the end of the cutting to remove excess hormone. Insert the cutting deeply enough into the media to support itself. At least one node must be below the surface. Medial cuttings: Make the first cut just above a node, and the second cut just above a node 2 to 6 inches down the stem. Prepare and insert the cutting as you would a tip cutting. Be sure to position right side up. Axial buds are always above leaves. Cane cuttings: Cut cane-like stems into sections containing one or two eyes, or nodes. Dust ends with fungicide or activated charcoal. Allow to dry several hours. Lay horizontally with about half of the cutting below the media surface, eye facing upward. Cane cuttings are usually potted when roots and new shoots appear but new shoots from dracaena and croton are often cut off and re-rooted in sand. Single Eye: The eye refers to the node. This is used for plants with alternate leaves when space or stock material are limited. Cut the stem about inch above and inch below a node. Place cutting horizontally or vertically in the medium. Double Eye: This is used for plants with opposite leaves when space or stock material is limited. Cut the stem about inch above and inch below the same node. Insert the cutting vertically in the medium with the node just touching the surface. Heel cutting: This method uses stock material with woody stems efficiently. Make a shieldshaped cut about halfway through the wood around a leaf and axial bud. Insert the shield horizontally into the medium. Leaf Cuttings Leaf cuttings are used almost exclusively for a few indoor plants. Leaves of most plants will either produce a few roots but no plant, or just decay. Whole leaf with petiole: Detach the leaf and -1 inches of petiole. Insert the lower end of the petiole into the medium. One or more new plants will form at the base of the petiole. The

leaf may be severed from the new plants when they have their own roots, and the petiole reused. Whole leaf without petiole: This is used for plants with sessile or petiole less leaves. Insert the cutting vertically into the medium. A new plant will form from the axillary bud. The leaf may be removed when the new plant has its own roots. Split vein: Detach a leaf from the stock plant. Slit its veins on the lower leaf surface. Lay the cutting, lower side down, on the medium. New plants will form at each cut. If the leaf tends to curl up, hold it in place by covering the margins with the rooting medium. Leaf sections: This method is frequently used with snake plant and fibrous rooted begonias. Cut begonia leaves into wedges with at least one vein. Lay leaves flat on the medium. A new plant will arise at the vein. Cut snake plant leaves into 2" sections. Consistently make the lower cut slanted and the upper cut straight so you can tell which is the top. Insert the cutting vertically. Roots will form fairly soon, and eventually a new plant will appear at the base of the cutting. These and other succulent cuttings will rot if kept too moist.

Collecting and Storing Graftwood

Successful in-lay and four-flap grafting of pecans is dependent on the availability of suitable graftwood of the desired variety. The wood must be collected in late winter during the dormant season and properly stored until spring grafting time.

Collection
Collect the graftwood in late February to early March while the tree is still dormant. If the buds have begun to swell and grow, the wood is inferior and cannot be used successfully. Select parent trees of the desired variety that are free of obscure scale, rosette, and disease. Young vigorous trees produce abundant, smooth and large-sized, current-season wood. Moderate-sized trees making normal growth usually have good graftwood in their uppermost limbs. Older trees can be cut back to force vigorous new growth satisfactory for graft wood.

Stick preparation
Select straight, smooth graftwood from 1-year-old wood 1/4- to 1/2-inch diameter. Cut shoots for grafts into 6-, 12-, or 18-inch lengths to give one, two, or three graft sticks. Figure 1 is graftwood 3/8 inch diameter collected in February for storage as 6, 12, or 18 inch sticks.
Each graft stick should contain at least three buds or nodes. Seal the end of the graft sticks with melted wax, grafting paint, or orange shellac. Only 1/4-inch of the end of each stick needs to be treated. When the seal is dry, tie the graft sticks in bundles no more than six each. Label each bundle with permanent ink on a wood or metal write-on label. The variety and year should be recorded on the label. Figure 2 is a graftwood bundle labeled and ready for packing material and storage.

Packing material
Paper towels, sphagnum moss, or wood shavings can be used as packing material to prevent the graft sticks form drying out. Moist paper towels that have had all of the water squeezed out can be wrapped around each bundle. A second method involves placing the graft stick bundles in slightly moist sphagnum or wood shavings. The wrapped bundles are then placed in polyethylene bags. Plastic bags do not breathe and should not be used.

Storage
Refrigerate the bags of graft stick bundles at a temperature of 30 to 45 degrees F. Do not allow graftwood to dry out during storage. Take the desired wood out of refrigeration only as needed. Wood should not be heated and recooled during the grafting season.

Grafting
Trees will be ready for in-lay or four-flap grafting in the spring as the trees begin to grow. The bark should slip during this period. Keep the graftwood in a cool, moist place while grafting.

Approach Grafting

The distinguishing feature of approach grafting is that two independently growing, selfsustaining plants are grafted together. This self-sustaining characteristic of both plants which are to be grafted insures survival of both even if the grafting attempt is, for some reason, not successful. However odds of being successful are greatly enhanced because of the active growing condition of both plants involved and absence of a time limitation required for the healing of the graft union to occur before the dependent scion (top portion) dies from lack of sustenance. The approach grafting procedure is as follows: 1. Plant an adapted, growing plant as close to the base of the non-adapted variety as possible without extensively damaging the root structure of the established plant. 2. From both plants closely position shoots which are at least three-eighths inch diameter and preferably close to the same size. At the point where the union is to occur, a slice of bark one to two inches long is peeled from both stems. The peeled area should be the same size on each. 3. The two peeled surfaces are then bound tightly together with budding or electrical tape. Wrap completely with two complete covers around the area where the two peeled areas are in contact. 4. Remove some of the top portion of the foliage from the adapted variety six to eight inches above the graft union. This will encourage a more rapid healing of the grafted union. 5. The union should be complete in four weeks. This type of grafting is most successful if performed during growth season. 6. After the parts are well united (4 weeks or more),the remainder of the top of the adapted, native variety can be cut off immediately above the graft union and the bottom or root system of the non-adapted, yellowing plant can be cut off immediately below the graft union. 7. The graft union is now completed and the problems of iron chlorosis and indigenous soil pathogens have been solved if the proper rootstock has been used. Immediately after the portion of each plant is removed it may be necessary to reduce the leaf area of the top

if wilting occurs because of lack of sufficient root system support. This situation will soon stabilize. If the only problem has been micronutrient (iron chlorosis) deficiency, the top, unadapted variety will not need to be detached from its own root system--the approach grafted, adapted variety root system will "feed" the sickly plant what it needs. However, if the purpose of the graft is to control soil borne diseases, the susceptible variety should be detached from its root system and become totally dependent on the root system of the adapted variety.

Plant Propagation by Layering

Stems that are still attached to their parent plant may form roots where they come in contact with a rooting medium. This method of vegetative propagation is generally successful, because water stress is minimized and carbohydrate and mineral nutrient levels are high. The development of roots on a stem while the stem is still attached to the parent plant is called layering. A layer is the rooted stem following detachment (removal) from the parent plant. Some plants propagate naturally by layering, but sometimes plant propagators assist the process. Layering is enhanced by wounding the stem where the roots are to form. The rooting medium should always provide aeration and a constant supply of moisture. Types of Layering Simple layering can be accomplished by bending a low growing, flexible stem to the ground. Cover part of it with soil, leaving the remaining 6 to 12 inches above the soil. Bend the tip into a vertical position and stake in place (Figure 1). The sharp bend will often induce rooting, but wounding the lower side of the bent branch may help also. Simple layering can be done on most plants with low-growing branches. Examples of plants propagated by simple layering include climbing roses, forsythia, rhododendron, honeysuckle, boxwood, azalea, and wax myrtle.

Figure 1. Simple layering can be done in early spring using a dormant branch, or in late summer using a mature branch. Periodically check for adequate moisture and for the formation of roots. It may take one or more seasons before the layer is ready to be removed for transplanting. Tip layering is quite similar to simple layering. Dig a hole 3 to 4 inches deep. Insert the tip of a current seasons shoot and cover it with soil. The tip grows downward first, then bends sharply and grows upward. Roots form at the bend. The re-curved tip becomes a new plant (Figure 2). Remove the tip layer and plant it in late fall or early spring. Examples of plants propagated by tip layering include purple and black raspberries, and trailing blackberries.

Figure 2. Compound (serpentine) layering is similar to simple layering, but several layers can result from a single stem. Bend the stem to the rooting medium as for simple layering, but alternately cover and expose sections of the stem. Each section should have at least one bud exposed and one bud covered with soil. Wound the lower side of each stem section to be covered (Figure 3). This method works well for plants producing vine-like growth such as heart-leaf philodendron, pothos, wisteria, clematis, and grapes.

Figure 3. Mound (stool) layering is useful with heavy-stemmed, closely branched shrubs and rootstocks of tree fruits. Cut the plant back to 1 inch above the soil surface in the dormant season. Dormant buds will produce new shoots in the spring. Mound soil over the new shoots as they grow (Figure 4). Roots will develop at the bases of the young shoots. Remove the layers in the dormant season. Mound layering works well on apple rootstocks, spirea, quince, daphne, magnolia, and cotoneaster.

Figure 4. Air layering can be used to propagate large, overgrown house plants such as rubber plant, croton, or dieffenbachia that have lost most of their lower leaves. Woody ornamentals such as azalea, camellia, magnolia, oleander, and holly can also be propagated by air layering. For optimum rooting, make air layers in the spring on shoots produced during the previous season or in mid to late summer on shoots from the current seasons growth. For woody plants, stems of pencil size diameter or larger are best. Choose an area just below a node and remove leaves

and twigs on the stem 3 to 4 inches above and below this point. This is normally done on a stem about 1 foot from the tip. Air layering differs, depending on whether the plant is a monocot or a dicot. For monocots, make an upward 1- to 1 1/2-inch cut about one-third through the stem. The cut is held open with a toothpick or wooden match stick. Surround the wound with moist, unmilled sphagnum moss (about a handful) that has been soaked in water and squeezed to remove excess moisture. Wrap the moss with plastic and hold in place with twist ties or electricians tape. No moss should extend beyond the ends of the plastic. Fasten each end of the plastic securely, to retain moisture and to prevent water from entering. If exposed to the sun, the plastic should be covered. Aluminum foil can also be used, as it does not require twist ties or tape to hold it in place. The process for dicots is similar, except a 1-inch ring of bark is removed from the stem. With a sharp knife, make two parallel cuts about an inch apart around the stem and through the bark and cambium layer (Figure 5). Connect the two parallel cuts with one long cut. Remove the ring of bark, leaving the inner woody tissue exposed. Scrape the newly bared ring to remove the cambial tissue to prevent a bridge of callus tissue from forming. Application of a rootpromoting substance to the exposed wound is sometimes beneficial. Wrap and cover using the same procedure as that described for monocots.

Figure 5. After the rooting medium is filled with roots, sever the stem below the medium and pot the layer. The new plant will usually require some pampering until the root system becomes more developed. Provide shade and adequate moisture until the plant is well established. Natural Forms of Layering Sometimes layering occurs naturally, without the assistance of a propagator. Runners and offsets are specialized plant structures that facilitate propagation by layering.

A runner produces new shoots where it touches the growing medium (Figure 6). Plants that produce stolons or runners are propagated by severing the new plants from their parent stems. Plantlets at the tips of runners may be rooted while still attached to the parent or detached and placed in a rooting medium. Examples include strawberry and spider plant.

Figure 6. Plants with rosetted stems often reproduce by forming new shoots, called offshoots, at their base or in the leaf axles. Sever the new shoots from the parent plant after they have developed their own root systems. Unrooted offsets of some species may be removed and placed in a rooting medium. Some of these must be cut off, whereas others may simply be lifted from the parent stem. Examples include date palm, bromeliads, and many cacti.

Layering plants
Some shrubs, such as Cornus and Magnolia, can be tricky to propagate from cuttings but this can be overcome by encouraging roots to form while still attached to the parent plant. This is called layering and is a great way to obtain new plants from your garden favourites. If only one or two new plants are required, simple layering is the best method with six steps to follow. Try Acer, Camellia, Chaenomeles, Cotinus, Daphne, Forsythia, Hamamelis, Jasminum, Magnolia, Rhododendron (including azalea), Syringa and Viburnum. Step 1: Choose flexible young shoots on the outside of the plant near to ground level - or that can be bent to ground level. If none are available prune to encourage new shoots for the following year.

Step 2: In either autumn or spring (evergreens are better in spring) make a 2.5-5cm (1-2in) incision through a leaf node approximately 30cm (12in) from the shoot tip and wedge open with a small piece of wood; wounding encourages roots to form. Applying hormone rooting powder to the cut may help.

Step 3: Make a shallow trench, 10-15cm (4-6in) deep and peg the wounded section into the bottom, using metal pins. Alternatively, sink a small pot containing John Innes Seed Compost and peg into that. Step 4: Secure the stem tip above ground by tying to a vertical cane.

Step 5: Back fill the trench with soil and firm. Water in. Step 6: A decent root system should develop in 12 months. Lift, sever and transplant the layers to their final positions. For climbers such as Clematis, Lonicera, Parthenocissus, Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris, Vitis coignetiae and Wisteria use serpentine layering. The steps are identical to simple layering but more nodes along the rest of the stem can also be wounded and pegged down, each giving a new plant. Allow unpegged sections of stem to loop above soil level.

Some vigorous shrubs (e.g. Cotinus, Cornus, Prunus tenella) are suitable for the highly productive French layering. Prune back one-year-old stock plants to 5cm (2in) from the ground in spring. The following spring, peg all new shoots to the ground radiating outwards. As sideshoots grow, mound up with 5cm (2in) of soil. Lift and separate rooted sections in autumn. Tip layering works for Rubus species, including blackberry and loganberry. Simply bury the shoot tip 7.5cm (3in) into the soil in late spring, and lift in autumn.

Protocol Layering
Protocol layering is a common technique to simplify networking designs by dividing them into functional layers, and assigning protocols to perform each layer's task. For example, it is common to separate the functions of data delivery and connection management into separate layers, and therefore separate protocols. Thus, one protocol is designed to perform data delivery, and another protocol, layered above the first, performs connection management. The data delivery protocol is fairly simple and knows nothing of connection management. The connection management protocol is also fairly simple, since it doesn't need to concern itself with data delivery. Protocol layering produces simple protocols, each with a few well-defined tasks. These protocols can then be assembled into a useful whole. Individual protocols can also be removed or replaced as needed for particular applications.

Whip Grafting

WHIP GRAFTING (also called splice or tongue grafting) is one of the oldest methods of asexual plant propagation known. It is the predominant propagation method used on apples and is widely used on pear. Although most grapes are grown from cuttings in this country, whip grafting is the standard when they are propagated. Whip grafting has been the primary method employed in propagating pecan nursery stock in the southeastern United States. This technique is also used to some extent in the Southeast and west to Louisiana for top-working larger pecan trees on the above-ground portions. Since successful whip grafting is closely correlated to the presence of high humidity, this method has not been used widely in the drier sections of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. A major strong point for whip grafting nursery stock is the smooth and straight trees that are produced by this method.

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Grafting is one of the most interesting forms of plant propagation. It is also one of the most tedious and least used forms of plant propagation. Grafting fruit trees has been, and will likely continue to be the most accepted method of fruit tree production. Budding, which is just another form of grafting is the most widely used method of grafting fruit trees. Many wholesale nurserymen stay away from grafting because it is just too labour intensive. They either will not grow plants that have to be grafted, or they will buy small grafted plants from someone who specializes in grafting. Dont let that scare you off, nurserymen are in business to make money. If it takes too long to produce a particular plant, they just stay away from it. They feel they can do much better financially, growing something easier to produce. This actually creates a tremendous opportunity for anybody that is looking for a way to make money at home. To really do that kind of grafting, you would need a greenhouse, but it wouldn't have to be all that big. Grafting is the art of attaching a piece of one plant to another in such a way that the two pieces bond and become one plant. You start with a small plant that is usually grown from seed. This is known as the rootstock. To this plant, you attach a small cutting, known as a scion. This scion is taken taken from the desired plant that you would like to reproduce. The rootstock serves as the root system and sometimes the stem, while the scion grows into the beautiful plant you desire. Or in the case of grafting fruit trees, the scion grows and eventually produces the type of fruit you want.

So in reality, you have two very different plants, now growing as one.

If you look closely at the above photo, you can click on it to enlarge it, Duston is grafting a scion from a Laceleaf Weeping Japanese Maple onto a Japanese Maples seedling. The seedling he is working with has green leaves, and is upright growing. If not grafted, this tree would grow to a height of 20 feet or more, and would have very boring, green leaves. Because of his efforts, the plant the he is creating will look like the one below.

The scion that Duston is grafting to the rootstock was taken from this tree. The Laceleaf, Weeping Japanese Maple is one of the most beautiful landscape plants on this planet. This tree is very low growing, most are not more than 4 tall. See the photo above. The branches spread out, making the tree wider than it is tall. The branches weep from the top of the tree to the ground, the foliage is deep red in color and the leaves are delicately cut on the edges. This plant is breath taking during the spring and summer months. Nobody walks by this plant without taking notice. It is just as interesting during the winter, the weeping branches create a very unique effect even though the plant is without leaves. Most grafting is done during the winter months, when the plants are completely dormant. In most cases, you will be working with seedlings, and scions that are between 3/16" and 1/4" in diameter. However, larger rootstock can be used when you are budding, or doing a Veneer Graft.

In the late fall pot up the seedlings that you intend to use as rootstock for grafting. (Use a good quality, well drained, bagged potting soil.) Keep these potted plants outside, but in a protected area until two or threes weeks before you intend to graft them. I like waiting until winter is well under way so I don't care for them for so long once they are grafted. Dormant plants are much easier to baby sit. Just make sure they do not dry out, but don't keep them soggy either. Plants need moisture during the winter as well as during the growing season. You must leave them outside so they remain dormant up until the time you are ready to use them. You can build a wooden frame and cover it with white plastic for protection. White plastic reflects the sun. Dont use clear plastic, it will get too warm inside when the sun is out, and the plants will start to break dormancy, then sustain damage when the temperature dips below freezing at night. When storing plants for the winter you want them to stay at one constant temperature. Once you bring them inside, you should let them warm up for a period of 2-3 weeks before you start grafting. Keep them at a temperature of 70 degrees F. After about 14 days the plants should start showing signs that they are beginning to break dormancy. Slide the root mass out of the container, and check for new root growth along the edge of the container. The new roots will be really tiny and fine, but very white in color. The buds on the rootstock will start to swell just before the new leaves appear. At this point they should be grafted immediately. The scion that is to be grafted onto the rootstock should remain outdoors in the cold, (completely dormant) right up until the day you are going to graft. You dont want this part of the plant trying to grow until the graft union is at least partially healed. In order to achieve success with grafting you need to understand exactly what part of the plants you must bond together. There is a thin layer of tissue sandwiched between the bark of the tree and the wood, this tissue is known as the cambium layer. You might liken the cambium layer of a tree to the circulatory system in your own body. The cambium layer transfers water and nutrients to the top of the plant from the roots and vice versa.

When grafting, it is extremely important that you bond the cambium layer of the rootstock with the cambium layer of the scion. (The scion is the term used to describe the piece of the desired plant variety that you are attaching to the rootstock.) Matching up these two surfaces as closely as possible is extremely important. These two sections of cambium layer are going to bond and will be the only thing holding the plant together. This bond is almost like a natural form of welding. There are many different kinds of grafts, but all are based on the same basic theory. Match up two compatible plants and bond the two cambium layers together. Performing the actual task of making the graft union is not that difficult. The secret is to make sure that as you cut into the cambium layer, you do not cut too deeply, and into the wood. At least that's true if you are doing a Veneer graft. With a Saddle Graft, or an Inverted Saddle graft you will cut into the wood, but you are still matching up the cambium layers. Make sure the scion wood and the rootstock are as close to the same size diameter as possible. If they are different sizes, the cambium layers will not line up and the grafts will not be successful.

Rule number !!! Wrap your thumb really well with a cloth type of tape before you start. Make lots of layers, and change the tape if you cut it even a little! The knife you use to make your graft must be very sharp. A dull knife will due a lot of tissue damage, and the graft will not heal properly. In this demonstration we are doing a Veneer graft, which means that we are slipping the scion just under the bark, on one side of the stem of the rootstock

In the above photo I am trimming the scion, removing the bark, but leaving the cambium tissue. I am also creating a very flat surface on both sides of the scion, with a sharp taper on one side, as in the photo below. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

In the photo below I have drawn a blue outline showing what part of the scion is cambium, and what part of it is just wood. When you cut into the wood you can see the difference. Keep in mind that you will cut into the wood, but your goal is to match up as much cambium as possible. If this photo were just a little sharper, I wouldn't have needed to mark this out, you would have been able to see it. Everything inside of that blue line is wood, and everything outside of it, is cambium tissue.

Ideally, the scion shown above should have been cut straight across the bottom. The angle was unintentional. It will work, but straight across is better.

In the above photo I am sliding the scion between the bark and the cambium layer of the rootstock. To prepare the rootstock to receive the scion I made a very similar cut to that shown on the above scion. The goal is to cut into the cambium, but not into the wood if possible. You are going a little deeper than the bark, because the thin piece has to be strong enough to be pulled up tight against the scion without breaking off.

In the above photo you can see how the flat sides of the scion match up to the flat sided cut you make on the rootstock. Notice how close the diameters match, and how I turned the side of the scion with the sharp taper away from the rootstock. The purposed of the taper is to allow the flap of bark and cambium to be pulled up and over the scion, with no air space. You can not allow any air around the graft union, or it will not heal.

In this photo you can see how well all the pieces fit together. If you look closely you will see a little bit of space at the bottom of the scion. You don't want any space at all, but in this photo this space should close up nicely when the graft union is wrapped with a rubber band. That's why you should wrap the rubber band from the bottom up, to pull the pieces tightly together without causing the flap to buckle.

As the rubber band is wrapped you can see how tight the bond becomes. The rubber band should be snug, but not Godzilla snug, you don't want to damage the tissue below.

Once you reach the top of the graft union with your rubber band wrap, just put a little slip knot in the final wrap, that will make it very easy to remove the rubber band in a few weeks. After the rubber band is in place the entire graft union should be coated with melted grafting wax to keep the union air tight. If air gets into the graft union the cambium layers will dry out and not bond. Make sure the grafting wax is not too hot. Just warm enough for it to melt is as hot as you should let it get. If the wax is too hot, tissue damage can occur. The rubber band should be left on for a period of about 8 weeks. Now for a very short commercial message before we do an Inverted Saddle graft. I've even included sources for fruit tree rootstocks. Grafting fruit trees is fun and easy, but finding the rootstocks is not quite as easy. Fruit tree grafting can be a nice little side business if you're interested.

This is an inverted saddle graft. Notice that the scion is tapered exactly the same on both sides, and comes to a very narrow taper. The rootstock is cut right down the middle instead of just down the side as we did above. Some grafters don't like this method, they prefer a regular Saddle graft, where the rootstock is tapered, and the scion is cut down the middle. I've found Saddle grafts much harder to do because it's difficult handling the rootstock to make the necessary cuts because of it being in a container. Again, the object is to line up the cambium layers as closely as possible. This is really important using this method, because when you cut down the middle you are exposing a lot of wood. Wood will not graft to anything if the cambium does not line up. Matching the diameter of the scion to the diameter of the rootstock as closely as possible makes lining up the cambium fairly easy.

If you look closely near the bottom of the graft union you will see little tiny fragments of frayed tissue, these frayed pieces should not be left in the graft union, they will affect the healing, and could ruin the graft. This fraying happens when your knife is not sharp enough. Some people use single edge razor blades instead of a knife, but I've found them to be difficult to use.

Notice how air tight the finished graft union is in the photos above and below.

Notice the green leaves in the above photo. Those are from the rootstock, a Green Japanese Maple. Should you leave these leaves and small branches on the rootstock after the graft is complete? It's up to you. I've left them on, thinking that through photosynthesis the leaves from the rootstock would cause the nutrients to flow, helping to heal the graft sooner. But I've also removed all the growth from the rootstock, in which case little photosynthesis will take place until the scion buds out, and I haven't really seen a difference. In some cases I thought the plants where I removed all the growth from the rootstock, actually showed new growth on the scion sooner, and the grafts were more successful. But I urge you to test this on your own and see what works the best for you.

Caring for your recently grafted plants after the process is complete is extremely important to the success of your efforts. Once the graft is complete keep the plants warm, 70 degrees F. is ideal. Maintain this temperature for a period of at least three to four weeks, giving the graft unions plenty of time to heal. Maintaining a relatively high humidity around the graft union also helps the healing process. One way to do this is to wrap the graft union with a piece of plastic cellophane and make sure some moisture gets trapped under the plastic. Make sure your plants also receive some light. Natural light from a window is best, but if that is not possible provide some artificial light. Dont move your new grafts outside until the danger of frost has past. Be careful not to put them in the full sun right away. At least 50% shade is best until they harden off completely. I keep my grafted plants under shade for the entire first season. I also provide winter protection for them during their first winter outside. I build a frame house and cover it with white plastic. Make sure you put mouse bait in the house! The little snots ate a bunch of my Japanese Maples one year. Actually they just girdle them up about 4", just enough to kill the plant. Grafting is not difficult to do, but it does require patience and an area where you can work indoors during the winter. It is well worth the time and effort you put into it. Grafting can produce some really interesting plants!

T-Budding Citrus
In this presentation on citrus T-budding, 29 images are included to illustrate the finer points of the technique. Each image is shown with the text as a thumbnail version for speed of downloading--simply click on the thumbnail image to see it as a full-screen version. When finished viewing the full-screen image, click "Back" to return to the text and thumbnails. While it is called T-budding, the process being described is technically an inverted-T. This same procedure is also used to bud a number of woody plants, including all citrus types, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, grapes, roses and others. T-budding can be done anytime the bark of the rootstock is "slipping", i.e., the bark separates easily from the underlying wood. For citrus in subtropical areas, the bark slips from early spring through late fall. In greenhouse

production and in tropical areas, the bark slips anytime the plant is in active growth--which is practically year-round. In many commercial citrus-growing areas of the U.S. and the world, budwood is collected only from sources that are certified to be free of a number of viral diseases. Quarantines exist to prevent the movement of citrus propagation materials from one region, state or country to another so as to preclude the spread of citrus diseases to other citrus areas. To obtain budwood from any other citrus area is illegal under either state or federal law or both. Materials Budding knives are extremely thin-bladed, with both right-handed and left-handed versions. Image 1 shows opposite sides of a typical right-handed budding knife--the side of the blade shown on the upper knife is flat (unground) while the opposite side (the lower knife) is ground down to the cutting edge. Many budders prefer high carbon steel blades (rather than stainless steel) because they are more easily kept sharpened to a razor edge.

The best of pocket knives are usually too thick-bladed to use for budding. Utility knives with replaceable razor blades may be the better choice. Blade thinness and sharpness are critical for successful budding, as a thick or dull blade causes jagged cuts which do not "take" readily. Most budding tape is either clear, very thin polyethylene (at left in Image 2) or somewhat thicker, opaque polypropylene. For home use, strips can be cut from plastic sandwich bags. Neither electrical nor "Scotch"-type tapes are recommended, though plumber's teflon tape should work. The purpose of the tape is to exert a little pressure on the inserted bud, to keep out excess moisture and to protect the bud while the cut surfaces heal and begin to grow together.

Seedling rootstocks of at least pencil diameter are usually the easiest for beginners, although both smaller and much larger stocks can be budded successfully. Image 3 shows three seedlings, all of which are buddable. The seedling on the left was used for most of the subsequent images of the actual budding process.

Budwood for home use may be collected from any tree of the desired variety--in most cases from friends, relatives, neighbors or local nurseries. Each of the major citrus-producing states have budwood certification programs which sell virus-free budwood to residents. Because citrus trees typically have four or more growth flushes annually, there should always be usable budwood. In Image 4, the budstick at left is the best, the middle one can be used with good technique, but the one at right is too angular. Each of these three budsticks represent a different growth flush of the same branch--the one on the left having developed in the early spring, the middle one in late spring and the one at right in mid-summer. If you look closely at the second bud up from the bottom on each budstick, you will see that the bud and surrounding twig on the leftmost budstick is round and plump while that of the rightmost is angular and skinny. If left on the tree, the budstick at right would have looked like the one in the middle after the next growth flush and then like the one on the left after the second growth flush.

Budwood should be placed in closeable plastic bags and kept cool until use. For storage longer than a couple of hours, the bag should be placed in the refrigerator. Under such conditions, citrus budwood can be stored for several weeks, if absolutely necessary. Preparing the stock Unless local conditions warrant budding very high on the rootstock, about six inches above ground should be adequate. In the area to be budded, carefully clip off all leaves, thorns and side twigs. For optimal success, the area where the bud is to be inserted should be fairly straight with about an inch or so between two remaining leaf bases. This distinction will become clear as you look at the next five images.

Image 5 is a side view showing the relatively shallow depth of the point of the budding knife as it starts to make the vertical part of the T-incision. The bark is quite thin and very soft, so a sharp knife easily penetrates and cuts the bark with very little pressure. There is no reason to cut into the wood--with practice, you can "feel" the knife tip as it penetrates the bark and makes contact with the wood. Images 6, 7 and 8 show the progression of the horizontal cut at the bottom of the vertical one. Note that the cutting edge of the blade is angled upward sharply, probably at about 45 degrees. To start the cut, place the blade edge at the left side of the vertical cut as shown in Image 6, press it firmly but lightly into the bark (again, with practice, you can "feel" when the blade penetrates the bark). Maintaining the same light pressure and angle of the blade, "walk" the blade across the stock (do not use a sawing motion!).

6. Beginning the horizontal cut.

7. Middle of the horizontal cut.

Note the position of the thumb and forefinger in each image, since their position shifts to the right as the cut is completed. In Image 6, the wrist is cocked or bent backward, it is nearly straight in Image 7 and it is slightly curled inward in Image 8--solely by moving the wrist and forearm slightly to the right from beginning to end of the cut. Also, note how the knife edge lifts up the bark during this cut--that is why the blade edge is angled sharply upward. As you examine the completed incision in Image 9, notice that the bark flaps at the bottom of the inverted T are still raised from the stock. These raised flaps provide a guide for easier insertion of the bud.

8. Finish of the horizontal cut. Cutting the bud

9. Completed inverted-T incision.

The most critical aspect of budding is cutting the bud itself--it is only a very thin slice of bark and a sliver of wood beneath the bud, but it must be cut evenly and smoothly. The flat side of the blade must be flat against the budstick (Image10), with the knife held at about a 45 degree angle to the budstick (Image 11). With the thumb braced along the stick below the bud, simply draw the knife towards the thumb (again, no sawing or rocking motion!), keeping the blade flat against the stick to prevent it from cutting too deeply (Image 12). If the blade remains flat against the stick, it will normally slice under the bud and exit below it (Image 13).

10. Side view of start of bud cutting.

11. Start of bud cutting.

12. Middle of bud cutting.

13. Finish of bud cutting.

Sometimes, the budwood won't cooperate or the knife cuts too deeply into the wood to exit. If the cut is a smooth one, simply back the knife out and cut off the bud piece about half an inch below the bud, with the blade edge angled downward as shown in Image 14. Examine the excised bud piece in Image 15. It is less than an inch long, with the bud itself near the middle. Obviously, it is just a very thin slice of the budstick. More importantly, the cut surface as seen in this side view is smooth and very straight--this bud will "take"!

14. Bud cutoff, if necessary. Inserting the bud

15. Completed bud ready to insert.

Place the upper end of the bud piece beneath the bark flaps at the bottom of the inverted T and gently but firmly push it upward with your thumb (Image 16). With a good stock and slipping bark, the bud will easily slide under the bark, lifting it from the wood as the bud is pushed upward. Slide it upward until the entire bud piece is beneath the bark of the stock (Image 17). Note that the sides of the bud piece are completely beneath the bark on both sides of the

vertical part of the T, with the actual bud about centered between the two cut edges of bark. A side view of the inserted bud (Image 18) shows

16. Start of bud insertion.

17. Complete bud insertion.

mostly the bark of the stock, with the bud, its attendant thorn, the leaf base and a little of the bark of the bud piece. Start wrapping the bud below the incision, making several turns around the stock until the entire bud and incision are covered, finishing with the end of the tape tucked beneath the last turn (Image 19). During wrapping, maintain firm pressure on the tape, but don't stretch it so hard that it breaks. If the tape breaks, remove it and start over with a new strip, using a little less pull. Beginners will often put two or even three buds on a stock in hopes of increasing the odds of success. Since good technique has better than 98 percent success, multiple buds will not overcome poor technique. It would be more useful to practice slicing buds from a budstick until you can consistently cut them like the one in Image 15. Even then, save the unused budsticks until after unwrapping--just in case you need to rebud.

18. Side view of the inserted bud.

19. Bud wrapped with polyethylene tape.

Forcing and Aftercare After 12 to 14 days, healing and union should have occurred, so remove the tape. The easiest removal is to simply make a vertical cut through it on the backside of the stock away from the bud, then slip it off. You can also cut it at the tuck and unwind it. If your technique was somewhat lacking or if this is just one of those one or two percent that simply don't take, the bud will be mostly brown or blackish (Image 20), and may just look rotted. In this case, select another spot on the stock and rebud it. A live bud will still be as green (Image 21) as it was when you inserted it two weeks earlier. The small stub of the cutoff leaf petiole will have turned yellow and it will readily fall off, if it didn't come off during unwrapping.

20. Bud failure.

21. Live bud ready to be forced.

Now that you have a live bud, there are several ways to "force" it to grow. For the limber stocks suggested herein, just bend the top of the rootstock completely over and tie it to itself (Bending--Image 22). If the stock is a little too large to bend readily, cut partway through it at a point several inches above the bud and break it over at that cut (Lopping--Image 23). For really large stocks, cut out a notch of bark on the stock above the bud (Notching-Image 24). Notching does not force buds as readily as bending or lopping.

22. Bud forcing by bending.

23. Bud forcing by lopping.

Within a week or so, the bud will begin to grow (Image 25), as will previously dormant buds on the stock--note the just-broken rootstock bud to the left of the new budling. Because you want to direct all of the rootstock's energy into the new budling (Image 26), all other sprouts should be broken off as soon as they appear. Be very careful that you don't accidentally break off the budling, as it is very brittle and easily snapped off at this stage. Disbudding will cease to be necessary in a month or so, as the growth of the budling will suppress other buds on the stock.

24. Bud forcing by notching.

25. New bud starting to grow.

26. Disbud rootstock sprouts.

27. Removal of the top of the rootstock.

When the budling reaches several inches in length and its stem hardens, it should be loosely tied to the rootstock top. When it grows above the bend (or break) of the rootstock, a bamboo, PVC pipe, wooden or other type of stake should be inserted alongside the plant. The stake

should extend at least six inches into the soil and about two feet above the soil. As the budling grows, continue to tie it loosely to the stake. When the budling surpasses the top of the stake, cut off the rootstock top at a slight downward angle opposite the base of the budling and as close to it as possible (Image 27). Because the budling must be "headed", cut it off just above the top of the stake (Image 28) to force several buds at the top to grow to form the primary scaffold limbs of the new tree. The headed, finished tree (Image 29) is ready to plant. The entire process from budding to finished tree requires about nine months, give or take a couple of months depending on season, climate and care of the growing budling.

28. Budling staked, tied and headed.

29. Finished tree ready to plant.

Micropropagation
Micropropagation is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a large number of progeny plants, using modern plant tissue culture methods. Micropropagation is used to multiply novel plants, such as those that have been genetically modified or bred through conventional plant breeding methods. It is also used to provide a sufficient number of plantlets for planting from a stock plant which does not produce seeds, or does not respond well to vegetative propagation. Micropropagation begins with the selection of plant material to be propagated, clean stock material for propagation is important in the production of the healthiest plants. Often plants are first virus indexed to make sure they are clean and free of viruses. Once the plant material is chosen for culture, the collection of explant(s) begins and is dependent of the type of tissue to be used, and can include stem tips, anthers, petals, pollen and others. The explant material is

then sterilized on their surfaces, usually in multiple courses of bleach and alcohol washes and finally rinsed in sterilized water. This small portion of plant tissue, which may be as small as a cell, is placed on a growth medium, typically containing sucrose as an energy source and one or more plant growth regulators (plant hormones). Usually the medium is thickened with agar to create a gel which supports the explant during growth. Some plants are easy to grow on simple mediums but other plants need more complicated mediums before they will successively grow; some mediums include vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The medium is sterilized during preparation to prevent fungal and bacterial contaminations that can outgrow and smother the explant. Autoclaves and filter sterilization are used to remove potential contaminates, under smaller scales of production a pressure cooker is often used. The plant tissue should now begin to grow and differentiate into new tissues. For example, media containing cytokinins are used to create branched shoots from plant buds. Multiplication Multiplication is the taking of tissue samples produced during the first stage and increasing their number. Following the successful introduction and growth of plant tissue, the establishment stage is followed by multiplication. Through repeated cycles of this process, a single explant sample may be increased from one to hundreds or thousands of plants. Depending on the type of tissue grown, multiplication can involve different methods and mediums. If the plant material grown is callus tissue, it can be placed in a blender and cut into smaller pieces and recultured on the same type of culture medium to grow more callus tissue. If the tissue is grown as small plants called plantlets, hormones are often added that cause the plantlets to produce many small offshoots that can be removed and recultured. Pretransplant This stage involves treating the plantlets/shoots produced to encourage root growth and "hardening." It is performed in vitro, or in a sterile "test tube" environment. Root growth does not always occur in the earlier stages in plant cell culture, and is of course a requirement for successful plant growth after the micropropagation procedure. It is often performed in vitro by transferring the plantlets to a growth medium containing auxin(s) which stimulate root initiation. The pretransplant stage is not always performed; Some plants are

micropropagated and grown in culture and normal cuttings are made that are then rooted ex vitro. "Hardening" refers to the preparation of the plants for a natural growth environment. Until this stage, the plantlets have been grown in "ideal" conditions, designed to encourage rapid growth. Due to lack of necessity, the plants are likely to be highly susceptible to disease and often do not have fully functional dermal coverings and will be inefficient in their use of water and energy. In vitro conditions are high in humidity and plants grown under these condition do not form a working cuticle and stomata that keep the plant from drying out, when taken out of culture the plantlets need time to adjust to more natural environmental conditions. Hardening typically involves slowly weaning the plantlets from a high-humidity, low light, warm environment to what would be considered a normal growth environment for the species in question. This is done by moving the plants to a location high in humidity, such as a green house with regular mist watering. Transfer from culture In the final stage of plant micropropagation, the plantlets are removed from the plant media and transferred to soil or (more commonly) potting compost for continued growth by conventional methods. This stage is often combined with the "pretransplant" stage. Advantages Micropropagation has a number of advantages over traditional plant propagation techniques:

The main advantage of Micropropgation is the production of many plants that are clones of each other. Micropropagation can be used to produces disease-free plants. Micropropagation produces rooted plantlets ready for growth, and saves time for the grower, instead of seeds or cuttings. It has an extraordinarily high fecundity, producing thousands of propagules in the same time it would take a conventional technique to produce tens or hundreds It is the only viable method of regenerating genetically modified cells or cells after protoplast fusion.

It is a good way of multiplying plants which produce seeds in uneconomical amounts (if at all) or whose seed can't be stored (vgr. recalcitrant seeds). Micropropagation often produces more robust plants, leading to accelerated growth compared to similar plants produced by conventional methods. Some plants, for example most orchids, can only be grown from seed using micropropagation techniques. Takes up a very small space and therefore can produce a lor of income per square meter.

Disadvantages Micropropagation may appear to be the perfect means of multiplying plants, but it has associated problems:

It is very expensive, and can have a labor cost of more than 70% An infected plant sample can produce infected progeny. This is uncommon if the stock plants are carefully screened and vetted to prevent culturing plants infected with virus or fungus.

Not all plants can be successfully tissue cultured, often because the proper medium for growth is not know or the plants produce secondary metabolic chemicals that stunt or kill the explant.

Sometimes plants or cultivars do not come true to type after being tissue cultured, this is often dependent on the type of explant material utilized during the initiation phase or the result of the age of the cell or propagule line.

Some plants are very difficult to disinfest of fungal organisms.

The greatest limitation is the cost of production, and for most plants seeds, which are normally disease free and produced in good numbers readily produce plants in good numbers at a lower cost. For this reason, many plant breeders do not utilize micropropagation because of the prohibitive cost, other breeders use it to produce stock plants that are then used for seed multiplication. Mechanisation of the process would eliminate most of the labour cost associated, but this has proven difficult so far despite active attempts to develop this technology.