Two for the Price of One

Two for the Price of One

I believe that it is human nature to love a bargain. I have to laugh when certain stores make a huge announcement saying, “this week only the whole store will be on sale come quickly for the bargains”. Of course the next week they have the same huge announcement. We are attracted to these “bargains”.

I just returned from a trip that took us through Illinois where they were selling fireworks. If you bought one you could receive 6 additional fireworks for free. This was a sale that was tough to pass up. I did pass it up however because I enjoy the neighborhood that I live in. Because plants are always on my mind I mused that nurseries should advertise in a similar fashion. “Two plants for the price of one”. Due to the fact that many of our woody plants are actually two plants put together to make one desirable plant, nurseries could technically say they are selling two for the price of one.

Let me explain this train of thought. My wife is always saying my mind is obscure and hard to understand. Her actual quote which was invented by my wife and my friend Tina is, “Your jokes are predictable and obscure.”

Many plants are selected and sold because their traits are more desirable than their parents. These plants we only want to multiply through an asexual method. If the plants were propagated sexually or through seed we might lose the desirable traits. My wife was afraid of this when we had kids and that is why she spent much of her pregnancy praying that our offspring would not get my singing voice.

The methods of asexually propagating a woody plant are cuttings, micro-propagation or tissue culture, layering, and grafting. Each method has its advantages but they all end up with a “clone” of the original plant.

Many of the woody plants that are purchased at our nurseries are grafted. The main method of producing roses, apples, shade trees and specialty conifers is by some type of grafting. I can only think of a couple of nurseries that produce roses by other means.

On the other hand, most of our ornamental shrubs are produced by cuttings. The propagating nurseries will cut off a branch and stick it into a medium. Sometimes the mediums scream but the propagators wear ear plugs. Actually the medium is a gelatinous material with hormones and nutrients in it. They will use a structure around the cutting to insure the branch doesn’t dry out and soon the cutting will produce roots and then a little plant that will grow up to look and act just like mama.

When you purchase a grafted plant you are actually purchasing two plants for the price of one. The roots come from a different mother than the branches. The root part of the plant is called the rootstock and the branches are called the scion wood.

What people might not realize is that the rootstock affects the growth of the scion wood. The effects of the rootstocks are often times beneficial to the top growth of the plant. This can be seen in grafting apples to certain rootstocks to get a dwarfing effect. Rootstocks can also put a certain amount of stress on the tops. This stress causes the plant to produce more fruit. Also by grafting a mature scion onto a rootstock you can get plants to flower and fruit more quickly.

Scions can also be grafted high on the trunk of the rootstock. A plant with a high graft is called a standard. Standards are often used on weeping plants.

One of the problems with purchasing grafted plants or two plants for the price of one is the rootstock can produce branches or suckers. These suckers can grow very fast and outgrow the desirable scion. I have seen many crabapples and roses that have been taken over by overly aggressive root suckers. Suckers need to be dealt with in a cruel way. Cut them out as close to the root as possible without any remorse.

Buying grafted plants is beneficial. Grafting is labor intensive. The nurseryman has good reasons for this method of propagation. You can look at it as just another deal of getting two plants for the price of one. My only warning is don’t let the root suckers take advantage of your good deal.