Grafting of Mangoes
Grafting of Mangoes
Mango rootstocks are ready for grafting when 5 to 6 months old. Cleft or wedge grafting can be used.
Definitions
- Grafting: the technique of connecting two pieces of living plant tissue together so that they unite and form a functional plant.
- Scion: the aerial part of a tree that will form the crown of the new plant. This part contains the dormant buds of the tree whose desired characteristics need to be multiplied.
- Rootstock: the belowground or lower part of a tree, sometimes including part of the stem and some branches that will form the root system of the new plant. This part may also contain dormant buds, which should not be allowed to develop on the new plant since they do not have the desired characteristics that need to be multiplied.
- Vascular cambium: a thin layer of meristematic cells between a tree’s bark and wood. Meristematic cells are capable of dividing into new cells that may differentiate into new tissues and organs.
Reasons for Grafting
- To obtain a tree which combines both the good characteristics of one tree and the rootstocks of another.
- To shorten maturity period of the trees.
- To perpetuate clones that cannot be readily maintained by cuttings, layers, division or other asexual methods.
- To maintain characters of plants unlike the case is with sexual reproduction.
- To change cultivars of established plants.
- To detect viral diseases.
