Crops like tomatoes, aubergines and peppers, plus ornamental trees and shrubs, can be grown from grafted plants. It combines two types of plant to produce a stronger, healthier variety.
Grafting a plant is difficult and needs much practice, but lots of pre-grafted plant options are available to buy.
With vegetable plants, for example, grafting combines a strong base plant, called the rootstock, with another variety that has great flavour fruits.
The two plants are held together with a clip or tape so that the cell structures can knit. The result is a strong plant, shrub or tree that’s stronger and more resistant to disease.
Grafting can produce a fruiting plant in a much shorter time than if it was grown using the original root system.
Ornamental trees and shrubs, too, benefit from a stronger root system and large flowers in a quicker time.
Early spring’s the optimum time to graft ornamental plants, but autumn is also an option. Fruit trees can be grafted at most times of the year, depending on the variety.
Most plants must be grafted to their own species. Occasionally though, some can be grafted to another species, as long as they come from the same family. Grafting needs practice and often trial and error, so be patient!
Side-splicing is a technique that’s usually done at the very end of winter or early spring.
A grafting method called ‘whip and tongue’ is used for fruit and some ornamental grafting plants.
