The process of Combining two different plants by
joining a bud or a section cut from the stem from a choice plant
(known as the scion) on a selected rootstock or stem of another
plant (known as the
stock) so that, when the union heals the cambium of the two
plants meet and they behave as a single plant.
Budding/Grafting is a method of plant propagation widely used in
horticulture, This is often done to produce a hardier or more disease
resistant plant or to propagate desirable cultivars or forms selected
for their stems, leaves or flowers. It is most commonly used for the
propagation of trees and shrubs.
Cacti and other succulents of widely different forms are also sometimes
grafted on to each other.
Grafting can only be done between reasonably closely related plants.
Most often the limits of success are with other species in the same
genus or Family.
For successful grafting to take place, the cambium tissues of the stock
and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues
must be kept alive till the graft has taken, usually a period of a few
weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection
takes place between the two tissues.
In stem grafting (a common type of grafting) a shoot of a desired
plant is grafted onto the stock of another type. The graft union
is the point at which the scion and the stock were joined together
In budding (another common type of grafting) , a dormant side bud
is grafted on the stem of another stock plant, and when it has fused
successfully, it is encouraged to grow by cutting out the stem above the
new bud – In this case the point where a plant has been grafted is
called the Bud Union. Usually indicated by a small knoblike
growth on a stem.
Occasionally, a so-called "graft hybrid" or "chimera" can occur where
the tissues of the stock continue to grow within the scion
The cultivation of grafteds plant is usually easier but it is
sometime necessary to eliminate the Suckers that comes from below the
graft union (where the top of the plant was originally joined to the
stock). Removing the growth as close to the main body of the plant as
possible.
Other major methods of asexual propagation are cuttings, layering,
division, and budding/grafting.
