An interstock can be particularly valuable when the scion and rootstock are incompatible. Malling VIII and Malling IX are used as dwarfing rootstocks for apple trees when full-sized trees are not desired, such as in the home garden. For example, when used as rootstock for commercial apple varieties, the French crabapple (Malus sylvestris, Mill.) can increase resistance to crown gall and hairy root. Compared to the selected scion, certain rootstocks have superior growth habits, disease and insect resistance, and drought tolerance. Take advantage of particular rootstocks.Where this is not possible, the chances that cross-pollination will occur can be increased by grafting a scion from a male plant onto the female plant. To ensure good fruit set on the female (pistillate) plant, a male (staminate) plant must be growing nearby. For example, some hollies are dioecious, meaning that a given plant has either male or female flowers but not both. Portions of a tree or entire trees may be pollinated with the second variety to ensure fruit set. This process is known as cross-pollination. Certain fruit trees are not self-pollinating they require pollination by a second fruit tree, usually of another variety. Optimize cross-pollination and pollination.As long as the scion is compatible with the rootstock, the older orchard may be top worked using the improved variety or cultivar. The newer varieties may offer improved insect or disease resistance, better drought tolerance, or higher yields. An older established orchard of fruiting trees may become obsolete as newer varieties or cultivars are developed. Reasons for Grafting and Budding Skip to Reasons for Grafting and Buddingīudding and grafting may increase the productivity of certain horticultural crops because they make it possible to do the following things: Conversely, flowering pears can be grafted while they are dormant (in December and January) or budded during July and August. For example, conditions are usually satisfactory in June for budding peaches, but August and early September are the best months to bud dogwoods. The timing depends on the species and the technique used. Grafting and budding can be performed only at very specific times when weather conditions and the physiological stage of plant growth are both optimum. However, Pink Sachet dogwood cannot be grafted or budded onto Callery pear. Bradford pear can be grafted or budded onto Callery pear rootstock and vice versa. For example, Pink Sachet dogwood can be budded or grafted onto White Flowering dogwood rootstock and vice versa. The nurseryman must therefore see in them a marked advantage over more convenient propagation techniques to justify the time and cost.Ĭlones or varieties within a species can usually be grafted or budded interchangeably. For these reasons they can be expensive and come with no guarantee of success. Most woody nursery plants can be grafted or budded, but both processes are labor intensive and require a great deal of skill. Since both methods require extensive knowledge of nursery crop species and their compatibility, grafting and budding are two techniques that are usually practiced only by more experienced nursery operators. Also, these methods give the plant a certain characteristic of the rootstock - for example, hardiness, drought tolerance, or disease resistance. These methods of plant reproduction are usually chosen because cuttings from the desired plant root poorly (or not at all). Since grafting and budding are asexual or vegetative methods of propagation, the new plant that grows from the scion or bud will be exactly like the plant it came from. As early as 2,000 years ago, people recognized the incompatibility problems that may occur when grafting olives and other fruiting trees. The practice of grafting can be traced back 4,000 years to ancient China and Mesopotamia.

In the budding process, a bud is taken from one plant and grown on another.Īlthough budding is considered a modern art and science, grafting is not new. In grafting, the upper part (scion) of one plant grows on the root system (rootstock) of another plant. Grafting and budding are horticultural techniques used to join parts from two or more plants so that they appear to grow as a single plant.

Plant stem joint