Plant Propagation Study Notes

Propagation Methods by Plant Group

  • Plant Propagation: Multiplication of plants via sexual or asexual methods.

  • Ferns: Propagated using division and spore culture.

  • Conifers: Propagated using seeds and cuttings.

  • Angiosperms (Monocots): Propagated using seeds, cuttings, and division.

  • Angiosperms (Dicots): Propagated using grafting, budding, seeds, and cuttings.

Sexual vs. Asexual Reproduction

  • Sexual Reproduction: Propagation by seed.

    • Seed Viability: Indicates how long seeds remain living and capable of germination.

    • Certified Seed: Guarantees seed quality.

    • Pure Seed: Seeds free of weed contamination.

    • Germination Percentage: Measure of how many seeds successfully germinate.

  • Asexual Reproduction: Propagation using cuttings, layering, grafting, or tissue culture.

    • Guarantees identical genotype.

    • Establishes plants faster than seeds.

    • Allows combining different plant traits onto one individual.

Cutting Techniques & Polarity

  • Types of Cuttings:

    • Leaf Cuttings: Attempting to root an excised leaf.

    • Root Cuttings: Taken in late winter or early spring before new growth emerges.

    • Stem Cuttings: Must contain at least one bud; categorized as softwood, semi-hardwood, hardwood, conifer, or herbaceous.

    • Leaf-Bud Cuttings: Consists of a leaf blade, petiole/bud, and a short stem piece.

  • Stem Cutting Categories:

    • Softwood: Current season's soft new growth.

    • Semi-Hardwood: Mature growth taken in mid-summer.

    • Hardwood: Dormant growth taken before spring flush.

    • Conifer: Taken in early winter.

    • Herbaceous: New growth taken from potted plants.

  • Polarity: Cuttings must maintain correct orientation (distal vs. proximal end relative to the root/shoot junction).

Diagram showing proximal and distal polarity relative to the root and shoot junction

  • Rooting Hormones:

    • Benefits: Faster root development, uniform root production, increased root count, and higher percentage of successful take.

    • Chemical Formulations: IAA (Indolaecetic Acid), IBA (Indolebutyric Acid), NAA (Naphthalenacetic Acid), and natural options like Willow Water.

Budding & Grafting

  • Grafting Principles (performed on dicots):

    • Joins a scion (shoot portion) to a compatible stock (rooted portion).

    • Vascular cambium alignment between stock and scion is required.

    • Graft junctions must be protected from drying out.

    • Interstocks bridge compatibility gaps between stock and scion.

  • Grafting Techniques:

    • Whip or Splice: Applied on young trees.

    • Cleft or Wedge: Used to make multiple grafts on a single stock.

    • Approach: Unites two intact, growing plants at a single point.

    • Bridge: Used to repair bark damage.

Diagram illustrating whip or splice grafting attaching a scion to a stock

  • Graft Incompatibility: Indicated by necrosis, absence of vascular connections, or heavy callus formation at the graft union.

Longitudinal section of a graft union showing callus formation and absence of vascular connections

  • Budding Techniques:

    • Uses a single bud rather than a shoot section.

    • Buds are taken from current season vegetative shoots; rootstock should be 11 to 22 years old.

    • Methods include Chip budding and T or inverse T budding.

Division, Separation, & Layering

  • Monocot Propagation:

    • Division: Cutting plant clumps or roots apart.

    • Separation: Pulling naturally separated plant structures apart.

  • Layering Techniques (inducing roots on stems while attached to parent plant):

    • Simple Layering: Yields one new plant per stem by bending shoot into ground.

    • Tip Layering: Occurs naturally when shoot tips contact soil.

    • Trench Layering: Produces multiple shoots per branch by burying stem horizontally.

    • Air Layering: Applied to rigid stems that cannot be bent to ground level.

Diagram illustrating the steps of simple layering

Micropropagation (Tissue Culture)

  • Micropropagation: Uses single cells or small tissue segments in a sterile culture environment.

  • Requirements: Requires parenchyma cells and axenic conditions.

  • Examples: Meristem culture and spore culture.

Diagram showing meristem tip culture process on carnation stems

Regulations & Propagation Media

  • Legal Protection:

    • Plant Patent Law: Protects rights for asexually propagated cultivars.

    • Plant Protection Act: Protects rights for sexually propagated cultivars.

  • Propagation Media Properties:

    • Water: Rooting medium; can present aeration issues.

    • Soil: Preferred for hardwood and root cuttings.

    • Sand: Common for conifer cuttings.

    • Vermiculite & Peat Moss: High moisture retention.

    • Perlite: Provides high aeration and drainage; useful for difficult-to-root species.


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