Half-Ripe, Hard-Wood Cutting and Grafting
First, of course is the planting of seeds and seeing plants grow to their full potential. Then, there are plants that are grown from cuttings. You may have picked up some cuttings or seeds from your travels, or from like-minded friends for whom gardening is a passion. It is most satisfying to see how the cuttings adapt to the new environment. Growing up for a plant is as difficult as it is for any life form.
The trauma that is associated with change of climate, and environment is the same as that which other beings go through. Therefore when a seed that you have so lovingly planted germinates and the seedlings tentatively stick out their little shoots out of the ground, it becomes a matter of celebration and happiness.
To see it grow to its full form is wonderful. It is the same with cuttings. Planting cuttings is the most widely used method of propagation of trees and shrubs.
There are 2 main types of cuttings, each requiring a different technique and rooting condition:
- the half-ripe cutting which is done during summer
- the hard-wood cutting which is done during autumn.
After planting a cutting, the gardener waits to see the first tender growths of green on the stems. This would mean that the experiment has been successful and you will have in your garden a plant that you admired and which carries with it all the memories of the place you got it from.
Grafting is a common method of propagation. You can experiment a great deal with plants using grafting techniques. The basic principle in grafting is that the tissues of one plant fuse with those of another. Of the 2 plants uses, one is selected for its roots –called the stock- and the other for its stems, leaves, flowers and fruits – called the scion.
When the tissues of the stock and the scion fuse together the graft is said to be successful. There are many kinds of grafting: cleft, stub, awl, veneer, and renewing fusion. In natural grafting the roots come into contact with each other and start growing together, Thus a large root mass is formed which is beneficial to all the plants whose roots have joined.
A special form of grafting is budding in which a single bud of the plant that you like is inserted into the stock. Division is a kind of propagation in which plants are separated from the parent plant. Another method of propagation is called layering. Here the roots of a chosen plant are made to form on stems that are part of the main parent plant. Once the root has fused with the stem, it is cut and then planted separately.
A modern technique of propagation is by tissue culture. Surfaces of living plants are cut, sterilized and placed in chemical solutions rich in plant nutrients. With careful tending plant shoots finally emerge and are sliced off and rooted to produce what is called a plantlet. This plantlet when mature is transplanted to the potting soil to allow it to grow as a normal plant.