TYPES OF PLANT PROPAGATION
Introduction:
Propagation may be defined as multiplication of plant by sexual and asexual means for a specific purpose. It includes growing from seed, cottage, layer age and various method of grafting and budding. In general, propagation is carried out by two methods viz. sexual and asexual methods.
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| Types of Plant Propagation |
In order to obtain true to the type plants, the asexual method of propagation is employed for various horticultural plants. Different methods of asexual propagation like the use of apomictic seedling, cutting, layering, budding and grafting are used for propagation of various species and varieties of fruit, ornamental and plantation crops. Apomictic seedlings are used for multiplication of true to type rootstocks in case of citrus, jamun and mango. A piece of stem and leaf bud can regenerate both a new shoot system from adventitious bud and new adventitious roots in the pieces of roots and leaves. The success in the multiplication of stem cutting depends upon factors such as the condition of the mother plant, position of the tree, time of the year (season), the precaution in planting and after-care operations. Cutting can be made during the rainy season (July-September) and spring (February-March) depending upon the plant species. Layering is the development of the roots on the stem while it is attached to the mother plant. It includes several forms of ground and aerial layering. When rooting is encouraged on the aerial parts of the plant after wounding it is known as air layering. Similarly, when branches running parallel to ground are utilized by placing them in the soil, is known as ground layering. The term “grafting” includes all forms of grafting and budding. It is the art of joining the parts of different plants together in such a manner that they will unite and continue their growth as one plant. A grafted plant consists of two entities; a rootstock or under-stock or stock and a scion or cion. The part of the graft combination which will give rise to the top of the plant known as scion and the part which support the top i.e. roots known as rootstock. When the scion is a piece of bark containing only one bud, the operation is termed as budding, but when the scion part is a branch containing more than one bud, the operation is known as grafting. The budding and grafting are successful within the close relatives. Better results are obtained when the rootstock and scion are equal in thickness and the operation is performed during rainy and spring seasons for evergreen plants. The grafting makes it possible to multiply varieties that cannot be multiplied by other methods of asexual propagation for example change of top and to get the benefits of inters stocks.
