Propagation methods in plants

1. Propagation methods in plants
Prepared by:
Dipan Bashyal

2. Introduction
• Reproduction: a biological process by which
offsprings are produced from their parent or
parents
• In angiosperms, reproduction/ propagation by
either sexual or asexual method or both
• Sexual reproduction: plants developed from
seeds of parents
• Asexual reproduction: plants multiplied by using
vegetative structures such as leaves, stem, roots,
etc

3. Sexual reproduction
• Easy and cheap method of reproduction/ propagation
• Most plants are propagated by seed
• Seeds formed by fertilization of male and female
gametes
• E.g. Citrus, guava,
papaya, rice

4. Sexual reproduction (Contd…)
Advantages:
• Source of variation and diversity
• Enables organisms to adapt and survive in
changing environment
• Simple and easy method
• Seeds can be stored for longer time period
• Easy to transport
• Some plants which cannot be propagated by
asexual means are propagated by sexual means.
Eg. papaya

5. Sexual reproduction (Contd…)
Disadvantages:
• Characters of offsprings are not same as
parents due to variation
• Takes time for multiplication
• Takes time to give yield
• Some plants which do not produce seeds can’t
be propagated

6. Asexual reproduction/ vegetative
propagation
• Vegetative parts of plants are used to produce
new plants
• Plant parts such as roots, stem, leaves, buds
used

7. Advantages
• Offsprings are alike to their parents
• Plants which do not produce seeds can be
propagated
• Multiplication takes shorter time
• Gives yield earlier
• Useful characters can be preserved

8. Disadvantages
• Chance of transmission of diseases of parent
plants
• May not adapt to changing environment, so
chance of extinction of species
• Quality of plants cannot be improved
• Unwanted characters cannot be eliminated

9. Methods of asexual reproduction
A. Use of specialized vegetative structures
1. Bulbs
• modified underground stem which perform as storage organ
of food
• Tiny bulblets formed around mother plant used for
propagation
• Eg: onion, garlic, tulip

10. 2. Corm
• Solid enlarged fleshy underground stem
• Cormels separated and used for propagation
• Eg: gladiolus, colocasia

11. 3. Runners
• Specialized aerial stem
• Arise in leaf axils of plant
• Form roots at their joints
• Eg. Strawberry, dubo, etc

12. 4. Slips
• Shoots originated from axillary buds borne at
the base of plants or fruit
• Eg. Pineapple

13. 5. Suckers
• Adventitious shoots produced from
underground portion of stem or from
horizontal shoots
• Eg. banana, pineapple

14. 6. Crown
• Shoot produced at the top of fruits
• Eg. pineapple, dendrobium

15. 7. Rhizome
• Horizontal underground stem which have
buds and sufficient stored food
• Eg. banana, ginger, turmeric
8. Tubers
• Enlarged ends of underground branches
• Bears a number of nodes called eyes
• Eg. potato, sweet potato

16. Cutting
Portion of stem, leaf or root detached from
mother plant, used for propagation
1. Root cutting
• Some plant species have tendency to
produce adventitious shoots from roots
• Eg. rose, fig
2. Leaf cutting: Begonia, bryophyllum,
sansvieria, opuntia

17. Fig: Bryophyllum
Fig: Sansvieria

18. 3. Stem cutting
• Can be hard wood cutting, semi-hard wood
cutting, soft wood cutting or herbaceous
cutting
• Eg. rose, grape, mulberry, croton, tomato,
chrysanthemum

19. Layering
• Process of developing new plantlets by rooting
a branch or a part of stem before detached
from parent plant
• Generally, thin layer of bark in stem removed
• To facilitate rooting, rooting hormones applied
in cut portion
• Types: simple layering, tip layering, multiple or
compound layering, mound layering, air
layering

20. Types of layering
Air layering
Serpentine layering

21. Grafting
• Joining of two different parts of one or more
plants
• Joined in such a way that both the parts unite
and continue their growth as one plant
• Scion/cion: part above the union
• Rootstock: lower part below union
• Types: splice grafting, whip or tongue
grafting, cleft grafting, saddle grafting, side
grafting, bark grafting, approach grafting or
inarching

22. Splice grafting
• Slanting cut made on lower end of scion and upper end
of rootstock,
• Cut surfaces put together and
tied
Whip or tongue grafting
• Similar to splice grafting
• But, a tongue is made on the cut surface of scion and
rootstock so that scion and rootstock will interlock
each other
• Practiced in apple and pear

23. Cleft grafting
• Main stem of rootstock is cut horizontally
• A vertical slit made on center of stem deep enough to hold scion
• Wedge shaped cut made on basal end of
scion
• One scion inserted in each side of
scion
Saddle grafting
• Inverted ‘V’ shaped cut made on the lower end of scion and wedge
shaped cut on top portion of rootstock
• Scion and rootstocks tied together so that
cambium of scion and rootstock come in contact
• If wedge shaped cut made on scion
: wedge grafting

24. Side grafting
• A long sloping cut extending downwards made on
side of rootstock
• Scion prepared by making a cut which matches on
cut surface of stock
• And scion inserted into stock
• If ‘V’ shaped cut is made on
rootstock: Veneer grafting

25. Approach grafting
• Selected shoot of desirable plant is united with the branch of
mother plant and grown together
• A branch of mother plant having same thickness as that of
plant used for rootstock selected
• Long cuts are given in the stem of rootstock and scion
• Cuts are matched together and tied securely with rope
• After the union, scion is cut below the union and rootstock
cut above the union
• Eg. mango

26. Epicotyl grafting/ stone grafting
• Quicker method
• A 7-14 days old seedling with it’s stone attached taken as
rootstock
• Top portion of rootstock removed 6 cm above root portion
• Vertical cut made on the rootstock
• Wedge shaped cut on basal end of scion
• Scion inserted into vertical cut of rootstock
and tied with plastic
• Takes about 20 days for union

27. Budding
• Actually, a form of grafting
• Same physiological processes in budding and grafting
• But, in budding only one bud used as scion
• May have small section of bark with or without wood

28. Types of budding
T or shield budding
• Bud with section of bark from desired plant selected as
scion in the shape of shield
• T shaped cut made on the bark of stem of rootstock
• Shield shaped bud inserted into t-shaped cut in the stock
• After inserting bud properly, stock and scion bud wrapped
to avoid drying
• After when grafted bud resumes growth, top of rootstock
above bud removed
• Eg. citrus, peach, plum

29. Patch budding
• Used in species having thick bark
• Rectangular patch of bark removed from the stock plant
and replaced with a same piece of bark containing bud
from a desired plant
• After inserting bud, wrapped with grafting tape and wax
to prevent drying
• Eg. jackfruit

30. Chip budding
• Practiced in those species in which bark does not slip
easily
• Bud with a chip of bark and wood taken as scion
• Bark along with some portion of wood of root stock
removed in the same way so as to fit scion
• Bud then inserted into stock and tied properly to prevent
drying A

31. Ring budding
• Stock completely girdled by removing
1.25 to 2.5 cm of bark
• A ring of bark containing dormant bud
from a desired plant placed in such
girdled space
• Then wrapped with budding tape

32. Tissue culture/ Micropropagation
• A tissue from plant taken and placed in a suitable growth
media under asceptic (disease/pathogen free) condition
in lab
• Each living cell of plant carries all genetic information
needed to produce a entire plant (totipotency)
• Favorable environment for growth provided

33. Advantages of tissue culture
• Disease free plants can be produced
• A large number of plants can be multiplied within short
period of time
• Only a small amount of tissue sufficient for production of
a number of plants
• Multiplication can be done at any time of year. i.e. not
dependent on season

34. Disadvantages
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