Ornamental Grafting for Trees
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 labor 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. Don’t 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. If you are daring enough to try your hand at grafting, you will realize a tremendous amount of pride and self-satisfaction. Grafting is not difficult. It just takes patience. If you just want to do a few plants for yourself, you can do them in your house easily enough.
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 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. 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.
Wait 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. Don’t 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 don’t 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.
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.
Tags: grafting, ornamental trees