Scion grafting

Selecting a shoot of a plant as the scion and connecting it to a stock is called scion grafting.

It is done as follows:

Select a shoot from a fruit-bearing plant. (A shoot not currently bearing buds, flowers or fruit is more suitable.)
Cut and separate the shoot in such a way that the place of the cut is not injured.
Connect the shoot to the stock so that the cambium of each touches the other.
Wrap that place with polythene strips, from below upwards.
When the shoot is observed to be growing, loosen and remove the wrapping.

Figure to be added

Figure 14.4 — the steps of scion grafting: the shoot and stock cut to match, the two brought together cambium to cambium, and the joint bound.

Scion grafting is done by several methods according to the shape into which the ends of the stock and the scion are cut.

Examples — approach graft, wedge graft.

Activity 14.3

With the help of your teacher, try to carry out a bud graft or a scion graft. If a grafting knife cannot be obtained, use a sharpened blade.

The following advantages can be gained through grafting plants:

being able to obtain daughter plants with the characteristics belonging to the scion;
being able to obtain disease-resistant plants with a strong root system;
being able to propagate plants in which seeds do not form well.

Disadvantages