graft

graft, in horticulture, the joining together of plant parts by means of tissue regeneration. Grafting is the act of placing a portion of one plant (bud or scion) into or on a stem, root, or branch of another (stock) in such a way that a union will be formed and the partners will continue to grow. The part of the combination that provides the root is called the stock; the added piece is called the scion. When more than two parts are involved, the middle piece is called the interstock. When the scion consists of a single bud, the process is called budding. Grafting and budding are the most widely used vegetative propagation methods.

The principles involved in grafting are based on the matching of scion and stock cambiums (meristematic tissue, the cells of which are undifferentiated and capable of frequent cell division). Cambial tissue in most woody trees and shrubs is an inconspicuous single cell layer covering the central core of wood and lying directly beneath the bark.

Uses

In modern horticulture grafting is used for a variety of purposes: to repair injured trees, to produce dwarf trees and shrubs, to strengthen plants’ resistance to certain diseases, to retain varietal characteristics, to adapt varieties to adverse soil or climatic conditions, to ensure pollination, to produce multifruited or multiflowered plants, and to propagate certain species (such as hybrid roses) that can be propagated in no other way. The interaction of rootstocks may affect the performance of the stock through dwarfing or invigoration and, in some cases, may affect quality. Further, the use of more than one component can affect the disease resistance and hardiness of the combination.

More From Britannica

horticulture: Grafting

Grafting as a means of growth control is used extensively with fruit trees and ornamentals such as roses and junipers. Fruit trees are normally composed of a scion grafted onto a rootstock. Sometimes an interstock is included between the scion and stock. The rootstock may be grown from seed (seedling rootstock) or asexually propagated (clonal rootstock). In the apple, a great many clonal rootstocks are available to give a complete range of dwarfing; rootstocks are also available to invigorate growth of the scion cultivar.

Compatibility

In theory any two plants that are closely related botanically and that have a continuous cambium can be grafted. Grafts between species are often successful, between genera occasionally so, and grafts between families are nearly always failures. Within the genus the closeness of botanical relationship is not an infallible guide as to probable success, but in the absence of recorded experience it is the best available. The ability of two plants to continue to grow or be compatible when joined together by the asexual practice of grafting is mediated by many complex physiological and environmental factors.

Compatibility or congeniality in grafting is of various degrees. Apple grafted on oak fails immediately; apple grafted on pear may grow well for one or two years but gradually weakens and dies. Some lilacs exist for a number of years on privet stocks but fail ultimately. The common apricot is, other things being equal, the best stock for apricot varieties, but in moist soils in cool regions apricot trees flourish better on certain plum stocks than on apricot. These differences in adaptability of closely related plants that can be successfully grafted permit a greater degree of adjustment to soil conditions than would ordinarily be possible.

Techniques

The basic technique in grafting consists of placing cambial tissues of stock and scion in intimate association, so that the resulting callus tissue produced from stock and scion interlocks to form a living continuous connection. Stock cambium and scion cambium respond to being cut by forming masses of cells (callus tissues) that grow over the injured surfaces of the wounds. The union resulting from interlocking of the callus tissues is the basis of graftage. In dicots (e.g., most flowering trees) cambium—a layer of actively dividing cells between xylem (wood) and phloem (bast) tissues—is usually arranged in a continuous ring; in woody members new layers of tissue are produced annually. Monocot stems (e.g., lilacs, orchids) do not possess a continuous cambium layer or increase in thickness; grafting is seldom possible.

Get Unlimited Access

Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.

Subscribe

The success or failure of any grafting operation is based upon the compatibility of each plant part, closeness of fit, and cambial contact. The union is initially held in place by pressure exerted by the stock, by grafting tape, or by rubber budding strips applied over the point of union. Warm temperatures (80–85 °F [27–30 °C]) increase callus formation and improve “take” in grafting. Thus grafts using dormant material are often stored in a warm moist place to stimulate callus formation.

Budding is effected by raising or removing a segment of bark from the stock and inserting a segment of the scion, containing a bud, into the wound thus made. In bud grafting involving fruit trees, the bark is lifted away from around an upright or inverted T-shaped incision, and the bud is then inserted under the bark and tied securely in place.

Grafting of a larger scion, on the other hand, usually involves the use of the complete circumference of a plant as the scion. Certain types of grafts thus may necessitate sawing through the trunk and inserting the scion in vertical slits made between the bark and wood of the trunk’s bared core.

The establishment of union between grafted components is effected through the formation of a loose growth of cells (callus) contributed by both elements. These cells fuse into a mass so continuous in compatible grafts that the precise location of the line of union is frequently impossible to determine, even microscopically. Just as in wound healing, union proceeds more rapidly if the wounded areas are protected against drying out; and, in most forms of grafting, rapid knitting is essential to maintenance of life in the scion.

In grafting and budding, the rootstock can be grown from seed or propagated asexually. Within a year a small amount of scion material from one plant can produce hundreds of plants.