Grafting plants is one of the best ways to get a tree of the required variety on your garden plot, while avoiding buying a seedling and having only a cutting in your hands. In addition, grafting can often improve the frost resistance of the crop and correct the manifested defects of the variety.
What is vaccination
At its core, grafting is a vegetative method of propagating plants by combining their parts into a single whole.
As a rule, the plant in which the stem and root system is used for grafting is called the stock, and the stem, leaves and flowers of the second plant grafted onto it are called the scion.
To carry out such a procedure, it is not at all necessary that the varieties or types of plants coincide. The plant that grows out of the scion retains the characteristics of its parent plant. To carry out successful grafting, it is enough only that a close contact of the tissues of the stock and the scion, namely their vascular system, is achieved.
As a method of reproduction and cultivation, grafting is most often used in relation to fruit trees and shrubs. In this case, the shoot of a cultivated plant is grafted onto the stem and root system of an uncultivated plant that is more resistant to diseases and external conditions.
There are two methods of grafting: budding and grafting of plants by cuttings.
Budding
This procedure can be performed twice a year: in early spring and late summer. In the spring, budding is carried out by the "growing" eye method, and in the summer, a "sleeping" eye is used. At the same time, an eye is called a non-hatched kidney taken from a one-year shoot.
Budding is a simple procedure that is best done in cloudy weather or during the cool sun. A bud is cut from the plant that needs to be grafted, capturing 2-3 mm of wood and 12-13 mm of bark. Such a blank is called a shield.
On the rootstock, the site of inoculation is selected. On the northern side of the trunk, a small area is cleaned of dust and dirt, on which a T-shaped incision is made. The bark at the site of such an incision rises, and the shield is inserted into the incision. The vaccination site is immediately tied up with dense material, or rather with a tape at least 2 cm wide. The kidney itself does not need to be closed.
Inoculation by cuttings
Inoculation with a graft is carried out, as a rule, by the methods "in cleavage", "under the bark" and "in the lateral cut". These procedures are performed at the same time as budding.
The most important requirement in grafting with a graft is the length of the cut. It should be 3-3.5 times the diameter of the cutting itself. The cut must be made with an even and clean wedge. These cuts are made on both sides. This is how the cuttings are prepared for all grafting methods.
The bark method is used if the stock is much thicker than the scion. Such an inoculation is appropriate only at the time of budding on the rootstock. The shank for this procedure is prepared on the same day.
The stem of the stock is cut down. Grafts are placed closer to the south side. A vertical incision is made in the bark about 4 cm long in the chosen place, grasping the wood. A stalk is inserted into this incision, bringing out 3-4 buds. The site of inoculation is wrapped with a cloth, leaving the kidneys open.
Inoculation "in split" is used in cases when it is necessary to re-graft a thin tree. In this case, the stock is cut in half to the length of the scion wedge and the finished cutting is inserted into the cut.
If it is necessary to inoculate a separate branch, use the "lateral cut" inoculation. At an angle of 30 degrees, a cut is made on the branch of the stock. This affects both bark and wood. After that, the branch of the stock is cut down exactly above the incision and a scion stalk is inserted into the cut.
For guaranteed engraftment, the graft sites are tightly wrapped, and the open incisions are covered with garden pitch.
