PLANT PROPAGATION
CUTTINGS: One of the eaiest ways to propagate plants.The growre cuts a section of stem from a plant containing several buds with meristematic tissue.The stem is partially buried in soil or special soil for cuttings.Many herbaceous plants such as coleus root very quickly,but many cuttings from woody plants do not root very easily.One can use rooting powder to speed up rooting.
GRAFTING AND BUDDING
GRAFTING: Used to reproduce seedless plants and varieties of woody plants that do not grow strong roots.A piece of stem from the parent plant,the scion, is attached to a plant with strong roots,the rootstock. Exmples of plants that are often grafted include grapes,apples,pears,citrus,any fruit tree.
BUDDING: Same as grafting,except buds are used instead of stems as scions.
Grafting and budding are successful only if vascular cambiums of scion and rootstock are connected firmly.These propagation techniques are used to produce many copies of desirable plants or produce offsring from seedless plants.