How to Graft Potted Plants
Grafting one plant onto the rootstock of another plant is more common than you might think. Nurseries do this type of grafting all the time. One of the main reasons for grafting one plant to another is to attach a plant with desirable traits to an established, healthy root system, or rootstock. Many cuttings can be taken from one plant, allowing you to create multiple copies that can be grafted to good rootstock. Plants can only be grafted when they are from the same species, but the mechanics of grafting are basically the same no matter what types of grafts (called scions) you are grafting to what type of rootstock. Grafting must be done in the spring or early summer when the plants are in their most active growing period. Another advantage to grafting is that the grafted plant has the maturity of the original plant, meaning it can start producing fruit or flowers immediately. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Plant cuttings (scions)
- Rootstock (dwarf potted rose)
- Sharp knife
- Plastic wrap
Instructions
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1
Find two plants of the same species that you wish to graft together. Several different varieties of roses, for example, can be grafted to the same rose rootstock to produce a single plant that will have several different types of blooms.
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2
Cut a small, healthy branch of the plant you wish to graft onto your rootstock. Remove one of the leaves from the branch and then use a sharp knife to cut a small section of the branch that contains the node where the leaf was growing. The cutting should be no more than 1 to 3 inches long, with the majority of the cutting below the leaf node.
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3
Cut a branch off of your rootstock with the knife and throw the branch itself away. Make an X in the cut end of the rootstock and shove about 1/4 of an inch of the scion into the cut end of the rootstock. Wrap a piece of plastic wrap firmly around the cut section so no air penetrate into the cut where the two pieces meet. Leave a small hole in the cling wrap where the leaf bud is so that a new leaf can form.
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4
Additional branches can be cut from the rootstock and additional scions can be grafted onto the cut ends of the rootstock following the directions in Step 3. Different colored roses, for example, can be grafted onto the same rootstock so that the new grafted rose bush will have several different colors of blooms on the same plant.
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5
Watch for new bud growth. You should see new bud growth within 2 weeks if the graft was successful. Remove the plastic wrap.
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Tips & Warnings
Once your grafted plant begins to grow, water and fertilize it as you would any other potted plant.
