Editing Fruit tree propagation (section)

==Methods==
The simplest method of propagating a tree vegetatively is '''rooting''' or '''taking cuttings'''. A [[cutting (plant)|cutting]] (usually a piece of stem of the parent plant) is cut off and stuck into soil. Artificial rooting hormones are sometimes used to improve chances of success. If the cutting does not die from rot-inducing fungi or [[desiccation]] first, roots grow from the buried portion of the cutting to become a new complete plant. However, although this works well for some plants (such as [[ficus|figs]] and [[olive]]s), for most fruit tree [[cultivar]]s this method has much too low a success rate to be commercially viable. Root cuttings (pieces of root cut off and induced to grow a new trunk) are also not used to propagate fruit trees, although this method is successful with some [[herbaceous]] plants.

A refinement on rooting is '''[[layering]]'''. This is rooting a piece of a wood that is still attached to its parent and continues to receive nourishment from it. The new plant is severed only after it has successfully grown roots. Layering is the technique most used for propagation of clonal apple rootstocks.

The most common method of propagating fruit trees, suitable for nearly all species, is '''[[grafting]]''' onto '''[[rootstock]]s'''. This in essence involves physically joining part of a shoot of a hybrid cultivar onto the roots of a different but closely related species or cultivar, so that the two parts grow together as one plant. The process of joining the two varieties must ensure maximum contact between the [[cambium (botany)|cambium]] (the layer just below the [[bark (biology)|bark]]) of each, so that they grow together successfully. Grafting is a preferred method because it not only propagates a new plant of the desired hybrid cultivar, it usually also confers extra advantages as a result of the characteristics of the rootstocks (or '''stocks'''), which are selected for characteristics such as their vigour of growth, hardiness and soil tolerance, as well as compatibility with the desired variety that will form the aerial part of the plant (called the '''scion'''). For example, [[grape]] rootstocks descended from [[North America]]n grapes allow [[Europe]]an grapes to be grown in areas infested with ''[[Phylloxera]]'', a soil-dwelling insect that attacks and kills European grapes when grown on their own roots. Two of the most common grafting techniques are "whip and tongue", carried out in spring as the sap rises, and "budding", which is performed around the end of summer.

===Bud grafting===
[[File:Budgraft.png|thumb|300px|Diagram illustrating the bud grafting technique]]
{{See also|Shield budding}}
# Cut a slice of [[bud]] and bark from the parent tree.
# Cut a similar sliver off the rootstock, making a little lip at the base to slot the scion into.
# Join the two together and bind.
# In time, the scion bud will grow into a shoot, which will develop into the desired tree.

===Whip and tongue grafting===
[[File:Whiptonguegraft.png|thumb|300px|Diagram illustrating the whip and tongue grafting technique]]
# Make a sloping cut in the rootstock with a "tongue" pointing upwards.
# Make a matching cut in the scion wood with a "tongue" pointing downwards.
# Join the two, ensuring maximum contact of the [[vascular cambium]] layers. Bind with [[raffia palm|raffia]] or [[polythene]] [[Adhesive tape|tape]] or wind around with a 5mm wide strip of elastic band (this is particularly successful because it keeps pressure on the cambium layers to be joined and eventually falls away without cutting into the bark as the tree grows) and seal with grafting [[wax]].