ARTIFICIAL WAYS OF GROWING NEW PLANTS

1. Layering
Simple layering can be accomplished by bending a low growing,
flexible stem to the ground. Cover part of it with soil, leaving the
remaining 6 to 12 inches above the soil.

Tip layering is quite similar to simple layering. Dig a hole 3 to 4 inches

deep. Insert the tip of a current season’s shoot and cover it with soil.
The tip grows downward first, then bends sharply and grows upward.
Roots form at the bend.

Compound (serpentine) layering is similar to simple layering, but

several layers can result from a single stem. Bend the stem to the
rooting medium as for simple layering, but alternately cover and
expose sections of the stem. Each section should have at least one bud
exposed and one bud covered with soil.

Mound (stool) layering is useful with heavy-stemmed, closely branched

shrubs and rootstocks of tree fruits. Cut the plant back to 1 inch above
the soil surface in the dormant season. Dormant buds will produce new
shoots in the spring.

Air layering can be used to propagate

large, overgrown house plants such as
rubber plant, croton, or dieffenbachia
that have lost most of their lower leaves.
Woody ornamentals such as azalea,
camellia, magnolia, oleander, and holly
can also be propagated by air layering.
2. Marcotting

Marcotting is an old term for the propagation technique now called air
layering, where a stem is induced to form roots while still on the parent
plant. The stem is cut partly through and a rooting hormone (auxin) often
applied. Then it is wrapped with moistsphagnum peat moss and ties in
place
with plastic sheeting. When roots are well formed, the branch is cut below
the roots to make a new plant.
3. Grafting

Grafting is the act of joining two plants together. The upper part of the graft (the
scion) becomes the top of the plant, the lower portion (the understock) becomes the root
system or part of the trunk. Although grafting usually refers to joining only two plants, it
may be a combination of several. A third plant added between two others becomes the
trunk or a portion of it. This is called an interstem. Multiple grafts may produce an apple
tree with several varieties or a rose-of-Sharon shrub with several different colors of flowers.
4. Budding

Budding is a grafting technique in which a single bud from the desired scion is
used rather than an entire scion containing many buds. Most budding is done just
before or during the growing season. However some species may be budded
during the winter while they are dormant.

Budding requires the same precautions as grafting. Be sure that the scion and
rootstock are compatible, that the scion has mature buds, and that the cambia of
the scion and rootstock match. Be especially careful to prevent drying or
contamination of grafting materials. With practice, the speed with which the
process can be performed and the percentage of successful grafts those that
"take" - should equal or surpass those of other grafting techniques used on the
same species. Generally, deciduous fruit and shade trees are well suited to
budding.
5. Cutting

Plant cutting, also known as striking or cloning, is a technique

for vegetatively (asexually) propagating plants in which a piece of the stem or root of the
source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil, potting mix, coir or rock wool.
The cutting produces new roots, stems, or both, and thus becomes a new plant independent of
the parent
Typically, striking is a simple process in which a small amount of the parent plant is
removed. This removed piece, called the cutting, is then encouraged to grow as an independent
plant.
Since most plant cuttings will have no root system of their own, they are likely to die
from dehydration if the proper conditions are not met. They require a moist medium, which,
however, cannot be too wet lest the cutting root.