Essay On Grafting

Grafting (graftage) is an agricultural technique used to join tissues from one plant to another plants tissue which will then grow together as one plant. Grafting has been used for centuries and most if not all the hard-stemmed plants sold at stores are grafted; If one were to plant a seed, it would take years for that plant to produce any fruit. Therefore, grafting is done because it enhances the genes of the plant and the plant 's production of fruits. Grafting is mainly done on fruit trees so that they can be prodigious. In most cases one plant would be used for its roots which is called a rootstock. The other plant would be used for its leaves, stems, fruits, or flowers which is called a scion. The scion would contain the desired genes for the future production of the plant that would be grafted together.

There are many types of grafting such as whip grafting, "V" grafting, and bark grafting. Whip grafting is when both rootstock and scion are about the same size and are both cut diagonally so that they fit almost perfectly with each other. "V" grafting is when you cut the rootstock straight down the middle and insert the scion in the middle. Bark grafting is when the scion is inserted between the rootstocks bark and trunk. The bark grafting should be done in early spring when the scion starts to bud. The "V" grafting, and whip grafting should be done when both the scion and rootstock are dormant so usually towards late winter. Most grafting 's are done either in the winter or in the spring. The scion is the most important part of the grafting because it would contain the desired genes that engender phenotypic traits seen in the plant that will grow from the grafting. Grafting can also occur naturally. For example, when two trees are growing too close to each other their roots may scrape each other and expose the vascular cambium where their tissues can then