Rose Plant Grafting Methods; Techniques; Procedure

Rose Plant Grafting

Today, we are discussing Rose Plant Grafting Methods; Techniques; Procedure.

Grafting is a process in which two plants are joined together so that they can grow as one. The upper portion of the plant which is called as scion will be attached to the lower portion of the plant called rootstock.

Reasons for Grafting:

• Grafting is mostly done to the trees which bear fruits and almost all the trees present in orchards will be grafted.
• The process of grafting in the orchards takes place because the seeds of trees which bear fruits will not be able to reproduce their real genetics. Hence, a branch will be taken from any desirable tree and grafted to a rootstock which is suitable.
• Grafting is a process which takes place for the production of plants which are dwarf and are almost genetically true to their species.
• A plant which is less desired can be modified by inculcating the process of grafting a species which is more desirable to the rootstock.
• Many varieties can be grafted to one rootstock in order to produce a tree which will produce a different variety of fruits on one tree. Many of the roses are the product of grafting done to a different rootstock.

Grafting can be done through the stem cutting to the rootstock and also through budding. Budding is a process in which a bud from the stem is grafted instead of the whole stem. This method is most preferred for the trees of apple and other few trees as well. Usage of wax is done in order to cover the area which is grafted and then wrapping is done by using the growing tape in order to protect it at the time of healing.

Many varieties of plants can act as the rootstock, but preference would also be given to the flowering quince as is remains tolerant to the climate in the north. If grafting is done to a rootstock which is hard, it gives the plants a capability to grow in a climate which is cold without undergoing the freezing of roots.

Identification of a Grafted Rose Plant:

A plant which is produced by the method of grafting can be identified through a lump which occurs at the stem base where it gets attached to the rootstock. The point which is grafted should not be buried. If it is buried, the rootstock will start growing instead of the upper portion of the plant which is grafted.

Rose Plant Grafting Procedure:

Preparation for Rose Plant Grafting:

• It is better to perform grafting on your roses in the middle of summer because this is the time when the sap present in the plants will be flowing. If the nutrients along with the sap keep flowing, there would be a better opportunity for the grafting to take place and also for the survival of the new roses.
• Scion which is also called as a bud is the plant which you are going to graft onto other plants. In the case of roses, the selection of Scion is done based on the flowers which are beautiful because it is these flowers which continue growing after the process of growing is done. The scion which would be the best is the stem which is the youngest of the plant. The stem should have a good establishment of leaves on it and the flowering should have been done recently and there should be a start of hardwood developing on it.
• To get the best of the results, you need to select a stem from which the bloom has faded recently.
• The rootstock is the plant to which the fusion of the graft will be done. Rootstocks are selected considering their health and hardiness, irrespective of the flowers and their beauty. For the process of grafting to take place, the rootstock should belong to other rose plants.
• Rose plants are the ones which need lots of water for survival and the grafting will have a good chance of success if both rootstock and scion are watered well before the process takes place. You need to start providing both the plants with plenty of watering on a daily basis for the first 15 days before grafting.
• Ensure that the roses are watered regularly before two days of the graft and also till the previous night.

Grafting:

• Plants are very much prone to bacteria, fungi, and viruses similar to human beings. These can be prevented by making use of the gardening tools which are sterilized mainly when you have chosen a sensitive method like grafting. This will not only ensure the successful grafting but also the survival of the plant.
• The simplest way for the sterilization of the grafting knife is by using isopropyl alcohol or ethanol.
• Use cloth damp with alcohol and then start wiping the blade in a thorough manner by ensuring that you get the sides, base, and the tip of the grafting knife. Be careful while doing this process as it may hurt you. Now, keep the blade aside so that it would dry in air for some time.

Pruning:

• By using the clean shears of pruning, start pruning your rootstock plant so that the foliage which is dead can be removed. Choose a stem which is healthy and has a large number of leaves which are developed for the actual grafting. By making use of the grafting knife, take off all the buds and prickles from the center part of the stem.
• It is not that necessary to remove the prickles, but it will help because this will reduce the chance of hurting yourself in the process.
• Bud removal is very important as the buds have to grow from Scion and not from the rootstocks.
• While pruning, make the cuttings in an angle of 45°to decrease the damage and improve the circulation of air.

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T-shape Cut:

By using a grafting knife, cut a T-shape into the bark of the rootstock which has a length of an inch. Remember not to penetrate the layer of cambium which would be wet and also in green color looking pale. By making use of the tip of the knife, carefully open the flaps which are created by you in the bark.

The best location for the T-cut to take place is near to the center of the stem in between both the nodes. Nodes are the locations where the buds and leaves grow out of the stem.

Cutting and Thinning of the stem for Rose Plant Grafting:

• Now, cut the stem which you want to use as a scion. The upper portion and lower portion of the stem have to be cut off by leaving a section of up to 5 cms at the center. While doing this, ensure that the section of the stem has a minimum of one eye bud where the growth of a new leaf takes place from the stem.
• By making use of the grafting knife, you can cut the buds, prickles and the leaves from the part of the stem you have taken.
• Now start trimming the stem for 2.5 cms beneath the bud eye located at the lower portion.
• After that, locate the knife on the stem at the upper portion of the bud eye. Insert the blade very deep into the stem so that the penetration of the cambium layer and the bark takes place. This layer would just be behind the bark which consists of the nutrients.
• Now cut the bud eye by ensuring that the bark, as well as cambium layer, are taken by you.
• Ensure that the bud eye is towards the upward direction as it means the stem is towards the correct direction. When the scion is inserted into the rootstock, the flaps of the bark will be opened around the scion. Now start pushing the scion into the bottom of the T-cut by leaving the bud eye which has been exposed at the upper portion of the flaps.
• The cambium layers of the rootstock and scion will be in contact with each other and this is what is required for the grafting to take place successfully.
• Now close the flaps of the bark over the scion. Start wrapping some layers of the grafting tape surrounding the graft. The top and bottom area of the bud eye should be wrapped and make sure that the bud eye is exposed.
• Do not be frightened while pulling the tape in order to stretch it as this is important so that we can make sure that the cambium layers are in contact.
• Thinning will help in the removal of the branch at its origin. It will help in cutting the branch back to the plant base. This does not result in strong and healthy growth beneath the cut. Hence the plant will be open and there would be fewer branches which in turn increases circulation of air. This prevents diseases.

Maintenance:

• The plants which are grafted will require plenty of water. For the next 15 days, you need to water the rootstock on a daily basis to make sure that the soil is moist. The soil should not be soaked wet but it should be damp.
• As soon as the scion will start creating new growth on the rootstock, it will start growing fresh buds. Bur when the scion is still in the establishment stage, the buds will be very heavy and can even cause damage to the union of buds. To decrease the stress on the union of buds, you need the trim the first four buds which grow till the graft is completely healed.
• Use a knife which is sharp in order to trim the buds immediately after their emergence.
• To help the new plant, pruning can also be done to the rootstock above the graft.
• Grafting tape is a kind of tape and as time passes, it will decompose naturally and falls off. Make sure that you are not removing the tape from the rootstock. When sufficient time has passed, the tape will fall off and this will make sure that it stays for a long time till the graft heals.

Different methods of Rose Plant Grafting:

There are different methods of grafting which have been devised for the vegetative propagation of plants to take place artificially. The methods of grafting which are used commonly for the rose plants are bud grafting and whip grafting.

Whip Grafting:

This is the simplest and the most commonly used method for grafting small rose plants. If you are grafting for the first time, trying this method is always suggestible as it is very simple.

• The first thing you need to do is to make a slanting cut on the rootstock of the plant.
• The Scion in the process of whip grafting is a branch which consists of a minimum of two grafting buds and very few leaves. Make a slanting cut as you have done for the rootstock, but this should be complementary.
• Ensure that the cambium layers of both scions and the rootstock are in contact. The cambium layer gets infusion to form a bridge of living tissues in the form of a callus.
• Now place the scion on the rootstock in a careful manner and start applying some grafting wax. You can buy it in stores and the grafting wax consists of resin and beeswax in the ratio of 3:1.
• Wrap the scion in a polythene strip which is perforated and tie it in place. Then make the scion secure by using a rope. Do not tie it too much tight as it restricts air circulation. It should not be loose too.
• The fusion of the graft takes place in 45 to 60 days. To make sure if the grafting of the scion is done, unwrap the graft gently and check. It is always better to leave the graft without even touching it for at least 75 days so that the scion will be grafted with the rootstock for sure. If there is any sort of disturbance in the arrangement for checking the process, the fusion may fail.

Bud Grafting:

Bud grafting which is most suitable for the rose plants which are grown in small pots or the rose plants which are grown in nurseries with thin branches is the process which takes place when the rootstock is very delicate with a diameter of 1 cm. In such cases, grafting the complete branch on the rootstock gets tough as there is a chance for the branch to get dried or wilt before the fusion takes place. Moreover, if the branches of the rootstock are thin, then the entire arrangement will turn up to be delicate for the grafting to be completed successfully. In such scenarios, bud grafting is preferred. This is simply called budding. In this process, the scion is a vegetative bud. As per the cut which is made on the rootstock, budding is classified into two types.

• Patch bud grafting
• T-Bud grafting

Patch Bud Grafting:

In this method, a patch is taken from the rootstock plant to make a place for the bud in order to fuse. While cutting the patch o the rootstock, it is very important to make sure that the stock is not getting wounded in a way which is not at all healable. The patch cut should not be so deep. Expose the inner portion of the stem and that would be simple rather than cutting it so deep. The below steps can be followed in the process of patch budding.

• Choose the plant you want to graft and cut a vegetative bud from it and this is termed as the scion. You need to ensure that you are cutting a very little part of the stem and the bud.
• Patch cut should be made as per the shape and size of the rootstock. For budding, the size of the scion will be very small. So, ensure that the patch cut which has been made will be in such a way that it fits the scion.
• Gently put the scion on the stock plant and start applying some grafting wax.
• Protect the scion same as in the whip grafting method. You need to take proper care when protecting the bud graft, as the scion here is just a vegetative bud which is very small. There is a chance of the scion falling off if not protected properly.
• It is simple to monitor the bud graft fusion. The scion will grow as a branch after the graft is fused with the rootstock in a proper manner. Hence, there is no need to open the graft to check if the fusion happened. You will know it when the branch starts growing out of the graft.

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T-bud Grafting:

In this method, a cit which is of T-shape is made on the rootstock plant so that the partial peeling of flaps from the stock takes place. The main advantage of T-budding is that, because of the T-shaped cut, a pocket is created which would be small and this would be created on the rootstock. Due to this, the scion can be inserted into the pocket in an easy way. This type of graft arrangement is very secure.

• After cutting the vegetative bud or the Scion, make a cut on the rootstock which has a T-shape. Now gently grab both the ends of the T with a couple of forceps and start peeling them from the stock so that the inner portion of the stem gets exposed. Do not peel them completely from the rootstock.
• Now insert the vegetative bud or the scion into the T-shaped cut in such a way that the bud will come out of the cut and is not sealed by the flaps.
• Application of grafting wax should be done now. Flaps should be closed and the graft has to be protected.
• The union which is made from a T-bud has a great chance of success than the plant which is bud grafted. This is because the scion is safe inside the pocket and hence it is not vulnerable to any forces which cause damage.

Advantages of Grafting:

• Grafting is the only method which helps in the preservation of the characteristics which are desired of the seedless hybrid plants.
• Grafting makes the plants resistant to the diseases caused by pests and also the diseases which occur to the soil. This is considered to be the biggest advantage as the plants attain resistance from viruses, bacteria, fungi etc.
• The plants show improvement genetically. Grafting helps in the creation of a new plant by using improved technology and being faster than other conventional methods.
• The physical growth of the plant will be improved by grafting. There would be a tremendous improvement in the number, size, and quality of the fruits.
• The productivity of the plant increases. It would be more tolerant to adverse situations such as excess humidity or salinity.
• The plant gets established in a short time which would be a great help if raised on commercial purposes.
• The old trees can be renewed by grafting.
• The standardization of the production of fruits will be done. This will help in propagating the varieties that are not adapted well to the conditions of soil or the plants which are having the root systems which are weak by grafting them into strong patterns.
• The juvenile period of the plant will be reduced and hence, they enter into production prior to the plants which are not grafted.

Disadvantages of Grafting:

• Skilled labour is required to take up the grafting process and hence they need to get trained.
• If the execution has failed, the growth of the plant gets affected and there would be disorders appearing physiologically.
• There would be some incompatibility which occurs at several stages of grafting and this will have a huge impact on the genetic composition of the individual plant.

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