What Is Grafting?

Grafting is the process of joining two plants together (an upper portion
and a lower portion) to grow as one. The upper portion of the plant is
known as the scion, which is attached to the lower portion known as
the rootstock.
This is most often done for fruit trees, and virtually all trees in orchards
are grafted. Grafting in the orchard is done because the seeds of a fruit
tree cannot reproduce true to their genetics. Therefore, the branch of
a desirable tree is grafted to a suitable rootstock.
Grafting or graftage[1] is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of

plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper
part of the combined plant is called the scion (/ˈsaɪən/) while the
lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires
that the vascular tissue grow together and such joining is called
inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual
propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and
agricultural trades.
In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots and this is called the
stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves,
flowers, or fruits and is called the scion or cion.[1] The scion contains
the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by the
stock/scion plant.
In stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected,
desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type. In
another common form called bud grafting, a dormant side bud is
grafted onto the stem of another stock plant, and when it has
inosculated successfully, it is encouraged to grow by pruning off the
stem of the stock plant just above the newly grafted bud.
For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of
the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other.
Both tissues must be kept alive until the graft has "taken", usually a
period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular
connection take place between the grafted tissues. Joints formed by
grafting are not as strong as naturally formed joints, so a physical weak
point often still occurs at the graft because only the newly formed
tissues inosculate with each other. The existing structural tissue (or
wood) of the stock plant does not fuse.
Advantages
Precocity: The ability to induce fruitfulness without the need for
completing the juvenile phase. Juvenility is the natural state through
which a seedling plant must pass before it can become reproductive. In
most fruiting trees, juvenility may last between 5 and 9 years, but in
some tropical fruits e.g. Mangosteen, juvenility may be prolonged for
up to 15 years. Grafting of mature scions onto rootstocks can result in
fruiting in as little as two years.
Dwarfing: To induce dwarfing or cold tolerance or other characteristics
to the scion. Most apple trees in modern orchards are grafted on to
dwarf or semi-dwarf trees planted at high density. They provide more
fruit per unit of land, higher quality fruit, and reduce the danger of
accidents by harvest crews working on ladders. Care must be taken
when planting dwarf or semi-dwarf trees. If such a tree is planted with
the graft below the soil, then the scion portion can also grow roots and
the tree will still grow to its standard size.
Ease of propagation: Because the scion is difficult to propagate
vegetatively by other means, such as by cuttings. In this case, cuttings
of an easily rooted plant are used to provide a rootstock. In some
cases, the scion may be easily propagated, but grafting may still be
used because it is commercially the most cost-effective way of raising a
particular type of plant.
Hybrid breeding: To speed maturity of hybrids in fruit tree breeding
programs. Hybrid seedlings may take ten or more years to flower and
fruit on their own roots. Grafting can reduce the time to flowering and
shorten the breeding program.
Hardiness: Because the scion has weak roots or the roots of the stock
plants are tolerant of difficult conditions. e.g. many Western Australian
plants are sensitive to dieback on heavy soils, common in urban
gardens, and are grafted onto hardier eastern Australian relatives.
Grevilleas and eucalypts are examples.
Sturdiness: To provide a strong, tall trunk for certain ornamental
shrubs and trees. In these cases, a graft is made at a desired height on
a stock plant with a strong stem. This is used to raise 'standard' roses,
which are rose bushes on a high stem, and it is also used for some
ornamental trees, such as certain weeping cherries.
Disease/Pest Resistance: In areas where soil-borne pests or pathogens
would prevent the successful planting of the desired cultivar, the use
of pest/disease tolerant rootstocks allow the production from the
cultivar that would be otherwise unsuccessful. A major example is the
use of rootstocks in combating Phylloxera.
Pollen source: To provide pollenizers. For example, in tightly planted or
badly planned apple orchards of a single variety, limbs of crab apple
may be grafted at regularly spaced intervals onto trees down rows, say
every fourth tree. This takes care of pollen needs at blossom time, yet
does not confuse pickers who might otherwise mix varieties while
harvesting, as the mature crab apples are so distinct from other apple
varieties.
Repair: To repair damage to the trunk of a tree that would prohibit
nutrient flow, such as stripping of the bark by rodents that completely
girdles the trunk. In this case a bridge graft may be used to connect
tissues receiving flow from the roots to tissues above the damage that
have been severed from the flow. Where a water sprout, basal shoot
or sapling of the same species is growing nearby, any of these can be
grafted to the area above the damage by a method called inarch
grafting. These alternatives to scions must be of the correct length to
span the gap of the wound.
Changing cultivars: To change the cultivar in a fruit orchard to a more
profitable cultivar, called top working. It may be faster to graft a new
cultivar onto existing limbs of established trees than to replant an
entire orchard.
Maintain consistency: Apples are notorious for their genetic
variability, even differing in multiple characteristics, such as, size, color,
and flavor, of fruits located on the same tree. In the commercial
farming industry, consistency is maintained by grafting a scion with
desired fruit traits onto a hardy stock.
Curiosities
A practice sometimes carried out by gardeners is to graft related
potatoes and tomatoes so that both are produced on the same plant,
one above ground and one underground.
Cacti of widely different forms are sometimes grafted on to each other.
Multiple cultivars of fruits such as apples are sometimes grafted on a
single tree. This so-called "family tree" provides more fruit variety for
small spaces such as a suburban backyard, and also takes care of the
need for pollenizers. The drawback is that the gardener must be
sufficiently trained to prune them correctly, or one strong variety will
usually "take over." Multiple cultivars of different "stone fruits"
(Prunus species) can be grafted on a single tree. This is called a "fruit
salad tree".
Ornamental and functional, tree shaping uses grafting techniques to
join separate trees or parts of the same tree to itself. Furniture, hearts,
entry archways are examples. Axel Erlandson was a prolific tree shaper
who grew over 75 mature specimens.
What is Grafting: Method of Plant Propagation and Other Uses
1. Plant Propagation. In some plant species and varieties, grafting is

the better method of mass propagation where uniformity in plant
characteristics is desired. This is so in plants in which other asexual
methods are ineffective. It is also employed where other methods do
not allow the production of a big number of planting materials in the
shortest time possible. While budding has the potential of producing
more clones from a single mother plant because scions with a single
bud are used, the growth of the scion is slow and it will take more time
to produce the right sizes of budded plants for outplanting. Plant
cuttings generally exhibit the same growth rate.
2. Producing Composite Plants with Rootstocks Having Special
Characteristics. Desirable scions can be grafted on rootstocks that are
adapted to certain conditions such as heavy, wet, or dry soils, or
resistant to soilborne pests and diseases. There are rootstocks also
that will enhance the vigor or induce dwarfing of the grafted plant. In
citrus, some rootstocks favor the production of fruits with better size
and quality (Hartmann and Kester 1975).
In general, the compatibility of the rootstock and scion that leads to
successful union depends on how close they are in their taxonomic
classification. The possibility of a successful union is more ensured
among plants within the same species. But intergeneric grafting is now
widely practiced in plant propagation to take advantage of more
adapted and disease resistant rootstocks. Examples are the eggplant
(Solanum melongena) and upo or bottle gourd (Lagenaria sicenaria),
as rootstocks, with tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and watermelon
(Citrullus lanatus), respectively. Eggplant and tomato belong to the
family Solanaceae while bottle gourd and watermelon are both
members of the family Cucurbitaceae.
Old jokes in relation to what is grafting: (1) Q: Can bamboo and
banana be grafted? Ans: Yes, as in banana cue (a bamboo stick is used
to pierce a fried sweetened plantain for easy handling). (2) Q: Can
bamboo and coconut be grafted? Ans: Yes, to produce tuba or coconut
toddy (a segment of bamboo culm is traditionally used as a container
into which the coconut inflorescence that is sliced daily is inserted to
collect the sweet coconut sap that exudes).
3. Conversion of Adult Trees to Desirable Types. Large, mature trees
can be converted to another species or variety having desirable
characteristics by topworking (or top-grafting). Regrafting of the top
with scions obtained from “carabao” mango has been applied in
mango trees that have started fruiting but found to belong to an
inferior variety (click here to read). Intervarietal conversion is also
resorted in association with the rejuvenation of old and unproductive
coffee. Likewise, some dioecious trees can be converted from male to
female to make them productive or from female to male to ensure
supply of pollen for the entire orchard.
4. Producing Botanical Curiosities. Special types of plants can be
produced by grafting two or more scions with different characteristics
on the same rootstock. For example, a mango tree can be topworked
in a manner that different branches will bear different fruit types. A
croton or san francisco (Codiaeum variegatum) can also have a foliage
with different leaf types and variegation.
5. Artistic Enhancement. In bonsai, a tree that lacks an essential
branch at certain part of the trunk, or branch, can have one by grafting
thereon a scion, usually by side or approach grafting. This is a strategy
applied in creating fine bonsai trees that requires a substantial
understanding on what is grafting and its various techniques.
6. Repairing Damaged Trees. Tree plants with damaged portions of the
trunk are common where there are goats and carabaos. Occasionally,
damage to trunks and branches is also caused by fire, insects, diseases,
mechanical impact, and mishandling of tools. These damaged parts
can be repaired and saved by inarching or bridge-grafting.
7. Additional Anchorage and Support. In places that are prone to
strong winds, it is advantageous if tree crops are anchored well to the
ground. Lodging can be prevented or minimized by producing tripods
or multiple-trunk trees by inarching. Similarly, weak branches and split
trunks can be prevented from breaking by brace grafting.
8. What is Grafting: Indexing for Virus Diseases. Some plants have
strong tolerance to virus diseases so that even if the disease is present,
they exhibit little or no symptom. To identify plants that may carry the
virus, scions or buds from such plants are grafted onto a healthy,
susceptible indicator plant. If the suspected plant from which the scion
or bud is derived is infected, the virus will be transmitted and the
indicator plant will show the symptoms of the disease (Hartmann and
Kester 1975).

What Is Grafting?

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What Is Grafting?

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Grafting is the process of joining two plants together (an upper portion

Grafting or graftage[1] is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of

What is Grafting: Method of Plant Propagation and Other Uses

1. Plant Propagation. In some plant species and varieties, grafting is

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