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While collecting facts about our next video, I came across a word that I didn’t recognize. “Grafting.” I had no idea what this meant, so I looked it up. As stated by dictionary.com, Graft Noun “a bud, shoot, or scion of a plant inserted in a groove, slit, or the like in a stem or stock of another plant in which it continues to grow.” or in a simpler definition, taking a part of one plant and connecting it to another plant and having them merge and grow together. Now after reading that I found that concept to be quite amazing. Venturing off I decided to do a little research on the topic and this is what I’ve found out.
Turns out that grafting occurs naturally in the wild, and has been for hundreds and thousands of years. This can be seen on such trees like oak and willow. When trees produce a lot of branches that are in close proximity to each other, wind or other friction causes the branch to break. When an exposed bark of one branch connects to another over a long period of time causes them to fuze. While no one knows for sure when grafting from human intervention first started, one of the earlier first mention is from Mascall, in 1589 who credits it back to Ancient Greece 300 BC. by Theophrastus.
[Image source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theophrastus ]
When ready to graft one of the first steps that need to be taken is picking the stock, or rootstock that you will graft onto. One of the most commonly used rootstock are Apple trees. A little bit more research is needed depending on which fruit you want to graft. For example, Dropes fruit can only be grafted to each other.
[image source: https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/rootstock-reference/]
After getting a right rootstock in mind, next is choosing a scion, or the plant that you want to graft onto your rootstock. When selecting your scion, you will want to look for healthy virus-free plants. It will also help to choose from younger trees, avoiding trees older than 8 years. Wood should be straight and somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5 inches in diameter.
[image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0zSi8NNBdg]
Next is the grafting part. While there are many different methods for grafting, the one I will be talking about is Whip Grafting. Taking a budding knife and cutting a branch from the rootstock at an angle that mirrors a cut from the scion. Connecting the two parts and wrapping it up. Commonly used items for wrapping include grafting tape, but plastic electrical tape also works.
[image sorce: https://www.ehow.com/how_5489281_graft-fig-trees.html]
The following step is just taking care of your newly grafted tree like you would any other plant. It usually heals in three to eight weeks, and can start producing fruit one to three years later.
[image source: http://www.fruitmentor.com/grafting-citrus-trees-cleft-graft ]
While doing research on grafting, one story that really caught my attention is the tree of 40 fruit. Sam Van Aken, an art professor in Syracuse University created the tree of 40. He states that part of his reason for creating the tree is to plant them in different areas, so during spring or summer, people walking by will notice its made up of different color leaves. During summer different fruit would be growing and cause them to question the three and do research into its creation. The tree consists entirely of stone fruit. Examples include different types of plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots.
[Image source: https://www.livescience.com/51717-science-of-forty-fruit-tree.html]
Everyday I seem to find out new things I never knew before. It makes me realize how much I still get to learn about gardening and agriculture. Is there anything new that you learned about gardening that you never knew before? Any other gardening technique that you think I should know? What is the coolest grafted tree you’ve seen? Share it with me in the comments below.
Information sources:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-and-budding-nursery-crop-plants
https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hort494/mg/history/HistGB.html
https://thesmartergardener.com/the-history-of-fruit-tree-grafting/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4113575?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/hort/info/fruit/graft.htm
https://www.livescience.com/51717-science-of-forty-fruit-tree.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik3l4U_17bI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/type-rootstock-use-fruit-trees-57264.html
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/selecting_and_storing_scion_wood_for_grafting
