Types of Propagation

Sexual or Asexual or
Seed Vegetative
Propagation Propagation
Plant characteristics are not genetically true to type to
that of their mother plant.

Through this method, seedlings may take years together

to produce flowers

e.g. a Litchi plant may take 6-8 years to produce flowers but a
plant raised through vegetative propagation from another
mature plant flowers with in a season or between 3-4 years.
It is a process where a plant can reproduce asexually, with the
use of a vegetative part of the mother plant.

This process can occur naturally and can also be done

manually.

Vegetative propagation results in the production of clones that are

genetically identical to the parent plant and can be used to reproduce
plants that are difficult or impossible to reproduce from seed.
 •Unlike sexual propagation, only one parent is involved in
1. this process.

2. •It is faster means of propagation.

•This method of propagation is beneficial to floriculturist, as they
can raise various flower crops without the requirement of
3. buying seeds.
•The offspring produced are generally identical and thus more
4. beneficial characteristics can be preserved.
Asexual propagated plants have
shorter life-span.
Asexual propagation restricts
diversity.
Sometimes asexual propagation disseminates
diseases e.g. Tristeza virus in citrus.
Cutting
Modified Stem: Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers, Suckers, Stolon,
Bulbils

Layering

Grafting

Budding
It is a process by which a plant is produced
by taking a vegetative portion from the
plant and rooting it in a favorable medium
under optimum conditions.

The plant parts used for cuttings are stems,

leaves, roots and modified stems like
tubers, corms, rhizomes, runners and
bulbs.

In general, propagation by cuttings is

the most convenient method and
hence, it is used popularly to raise new
plant.
The proper development of root and shoot system is
essential in propagation through cuttings.

Regeneration of a plant part (cutting) into an entire plant

structure basically depends on two fundamental properties of
a plant cell.

A. Totiopotency: The ability of an individual living

plant cell to reconstitute all plant functions.

B. Dedifferentiation:The capability of mature cells

to return to a meristematic condition and develop
into a new growing point.
A cutting of stem is
taken.

The cuttings having few

leaves at the top, root
better than leafless
cuttings.
a) Soft wood or Herbaceous
cuttings

b) Semi hard wood cuttings

c) Hard wood cuttings

d) Terminal cuttings
These are taken from below a node and the bottom leaves are removed.

These may further be divided into two categories:

Herbaceous Plants: Cuttings taken from herbaceous plants such as carnation,
chrysanthemum, coleus, dahlias, grapes, fig, olive, kiwi, pomegranate, plum and
apple, etc.
Woody Plants: Cuttings taken from unripe tips of woody plants such as
ornamental shrubs and trees.

These are generally 2.5-10 cm long.

The portions of stem which has
passed the soft wood stage but
are not yet mature are known
as semi hard wood cuttings.

These are used in

propagation of jasmine,
citrus and olive.
 Semi
Hardwood
Cutting
The cuttings of shrubs and trees taken
from mature current year’s growth are
known as hard wood cuttings.

The length of cuttings varies with type of

plant and weather conditions.

Generally, the length of cutting is 15-20 cm.

e.g. grapes, fig, olive, kiwi, pomegranate,
plum and apple rootstocks
These are obtained from the tip
portion of the shoots.

The lower leaves are removed by

tearing off and only four terminal
leaves are left in such cuttings e.g.
carnation, chrysanthemum, etc.
Layering
 The method of inducing roots in a stem which
is still attached to the plant and then detaching
it after the root is formed for transplanting is
known as layering.

After rooting, stem is detached from

the parent plant and planted in the
nursery to become a new plant,
growing on its own roots.
It is a reliable means of plant propagation and is adopted
for species which are difficult or impossible to root from
the cutting or large number of plants.

Therefore, nurserymen use it only for difficult-to-root

plant species.

Mostly shrubs, climbers and trees are raised by this

method.
Simple Layering

Mound or Stool Layering

Compound or Serpentine
Layering

Tip Layering

Air Layering
Short stemmed or stiff branched shrubs which do not bend easily are raised by this
method.

Such plants are encouraged to produce many shoots from the ground level by cutting
back the main stem the previous dormant season.

Then the soil or other medium is mounded around the base of newly developed
shoots.

This treatment encourage root formation on the stem.

This method is used in Apple, Pear, guava etc

In this method, the stem is
covered at several points with
soil, alternating with other points
which are not covered.

The stem is injured at the

lower part and covered
thereafter.

e.g. Guava
This is similar to simple
layering where tip must
remain above the ground
whereas in tip layering, the
tip is buried in the ground.

Low growing trailing type of

ornamentals in which rooting
takes place in current year's
growth are propagated by this
method.
The plants whose branches cannot be bent to ground level for
layering are propagated by air layering.

This is generally done on one year old shoot.

The selected shoot is girdled in a band of about 3-4 cm.

The girdling must be done below 20-30 cm from the tip.

The girlded portion is covered with moist moss and tied
tightly with transparent polythene sheet or aluminium
foil.

After rooting, the shoot is cut removed below the girdle.

This is practiced in Pomegranate, fig, litchi & many

ornamentals including climbers.
The basis of the successful graftage is graft union.

In the process of grafting, the stock and scion are placed in close contact with
each other and held together firmly, until they unite to form a composite plant.

The formation of graft union is basically a process of healing of wounds.

In this process, the parts of graft that are originally prepared and placed in close
contact to grow together.
The union is accomplished entirely
by cells that grow and develop after
the actual grafting operation has
been done.

Further, in a graft union there

is no intermingling of the cell
contents of both stock and
scion and cells maintain their
own identity.
Tongue Veneer
Grafting Grafting

Cleft
Grafting.
In whip and tongue grafting corresponding cuts through
rootstock and scion material are joined end to end and
then bound.
The interlocking ‘tongues’ add structural support to the
join as the cambium layers heal and fuse together, as well
giving a larger surface area of cambial contact.

Example- Apple
Veneer grafting, or inlay grafting, is a method used for
stocks larger than three centimeters in diameter.
The scion is recommended to be about as thick as a
pencil.
Clefts are made of the same size as the scion on the side of the
branch, not on top.
The scion end is shaped as a wedge, inserted, and wrapped with
tape to the scaffolding branches to give it more strength. E.g.
Mango
This is a form of grafting, the only difference is that
instead of grafting a scion twig only a single bud is
inserted in the stock.

Some precautions should be taken while performing

budding in flower crops.

Select the right type of bud and perform the operation in

the right season.
T- Budding

Annular or Ring budding

Patch Budding

Chip Budding
T budding or shield budding is a special
grafting technique.
In T- budding the scion piece is reduced to a single bud.

A T shaped cut is made on the rootstock and the

bud is inserted.
E.g. Peach, plum
 Budding in which a A similar ring of
complete ring of bark containing
bark is removed a bud is removed
from the stock and it from the bud stick
is completely and is inserted on
girdled. to the root stock.
E.g. Ber
The production of exact copies of plants that produce
particularly good flowers, fruits, or have other desirable traits.

To quickly produce mature plants.

The production of multiples of plants in the absence of seeds or

necessary pollinators to produce seeds.

The regeneration of whole plants from plant cells that

have been genetically modified.
Crop Plant part for regeneration
Rose Axillary buds
Marigold Seeds and cuttings
Chrysanthemum Terminal cuttings or suckers

Gladiolus Corms and cormels

Dahlia Tubers
Gerbera Cuttings or suckers
Seasonal or annual flowers Seeds
A. Tongue Grafting

B. Patch Budding

C. Veneer
C. T- Budding
Grafting

D. Cleft Grafting
 A. B.
Stolon Grafting

C.
C. D.
Corms
Corms Sucker
A. Sucker
A. Sucker

B. Stolon

C. Bulbil

D. Cormel
A. Compound Layering

B. Trench Layering

C.Air
C. AirLayering
Layering

D. Continuous Layering
C. Seed