Have you ever heard of skin grafting in human surgery? If not, it is usually when a healthy piece of skin is applied on a wounded site of the body. The skin then meshes and over time it produces healthy looking and acting skin. This same concept can be seen in plants. Plant grafting is a propagation technique in which a severed plant is attached to another severed plant that is rooted and bound together.
In an article, titled, “Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants” by Ted Bilderback, et al, they discuss what plant grafting is, how it is done, and different types of grafts. They discuss that this practice is not new, it has been around for a long time, ancient time. The main purpose of doing this is for propagation of vegetation. The stages of different plants have the same steps but different specifics. Plant grafting has the step of preparing the two different plants by cutting them in half, this results in the scion, the upper part of a plant, and a rootstock, a bottom part of another plant. Then a person sticks the scion part into the root part and seals their attachment. It will grow to look like the plant that the scion came from. One reason they do this is because if the plant that was attached has a poor root system, such as drought resistance and disease resistance, and it gets attached to a stronger root system, it will propagate and thrive much more efficiently. This process can only happen with the right weather conditions and when the plant is at its best stage.
This process is very useful for farmers because it allows different plants of the same genus to grow faster and more fruitful. So, plant grafting is kind of like surgery since there is cutting and fixing together of different parts. Not many people know that this process can be done but is more common than one might think. Plants benefit from this because they can have more fruitful bearings in a shorter amount of time, they can fight off diseases and drought resistance. Humans benefit from this because they can have access to quicker vegetation and in a world where the population is growing faster than the food produced, this process might be a great option to combat that.
Posted by Kristina Baldeo (4)
Hi Kristina,
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting because its something that is commonly used but something that most people don’t know about. It is very important to learn more about this and expand our knowledge on food production. Especially with the comment you made at the end of our growing population.
Hi Jacky,
DeleteI agree with you about the importance on food production. I think it is necessary to keep it in mind because we have a growing population and we need to have the food to feed them. I think this is such an interesting topic and people should keep it in mind when gardening.
Thanks for commenting,
Kristina Baldeo
This is very interesting! It is cool how its been around for so long but I feel like it is not talked about as much!
ReplyDelete- Lara Pereira
Hi Lara,
DeleteI know! I think more people should know more about it so that they can implement it and tell others about it. It can be used in such a beneficial way. This has gone way back into ancient time and it is still used today! That is crazy.
Thanks for commenting,
Kristina Baldeo
We just learned about this topic in our plant bio courses and it's super fascinating. Plants having the ability to differentiate their cells to adapt to injury is incredible. Imagine if us as mammals could de-differentiate and accommodate grafts as efficiently as plants.
ReplyDelete-Alan Papenfuhs
Hi Alan, I totally learned about this in my plant bio course this semester. I thought it was such a cool topic that others should know it too. I think if animals could de-differentiate and accommodate grafts as efficient as plants, it would make surgery and recovery much more easy.
DeleteThanks for commenting,
Kristina Baldeo
I never knew that plant surgery was a thing! The procedure is clearly very delicate and beneficial for successful vegetation. I wonder how long, on average, how long this process takes?
ReplyDelete-Morianna Saint-Cyr