24-3 Plant Propagation
and Agriculture
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Vegetative Reproduction
Vegetative Reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a method of asexual
reproduction used by flowering plants.
Vegetative reproduction enables a single plant to
produce many offspring genetically identical to itself
by mitosis alone.
This process takes place naturally in many plants,
and is also used as a technique by horticulturists who
want to produce many copies of an individual plant.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Vegetative Reproduction
Vegetative reproduction includes the production of
new plants from horizontal stems, plantlets, and
underground roots.
Because it does not involve pollination or seed
formation, it enables plants to reproduce quickly.
Some angiosperms produce tiny plants, or plantlets,
at the tips of elongated stems.
If the plant is knocked over or if plantlets fall off, they
can take root and grow into new plants.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Vegetative Reproduction
Other plants grow horizontal stems. These long
trailing stems, called stolons, produce roots when
they touch the ground.
Once the roots are well established, each stolon may
be broken, forming a new independent plant.
Bamboo plants grow long underground stems that
can send up new shoots in several places.
Stolons of strawberry plant.
Bamboo forests are often
descendents of a single
bamboo plant that has
reproduced asexually.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Plant Propagation
Plant Propagation
In plant propagation, horticulturists use cuttings,
grafting, or budding to make many identical copies of
a plant or to produce offspring from seedless plants.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Plant Propagation
Cuttings
One of the simplest ways to reproduce plants
vegetatively is by cuttings.
A grower “cuts” a plant stem that includes buds
containing meristematic tissue.
That stem is then partially buried in soil or in a
special rooting mixture.
Some plants are treated with rooting powders to
help them grow.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Plant Propagation
Grafting and Budding
Grafting and budding are used to reproduce
seedless plants and varieties of woody plants that do
not produce strong root systems.
A piece of stem or a lateral bud is cut from the
parent plant and attached to another plant.
The cut piece is called the scion, and the plant to
which it is attached is called the stock.
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24-3 Plant Propagation and
Agriculture
Plant Propagation
When stems are used as scions, the process is
called grafting.
When buds are used as scions, the process is called
budding.
Grafting usually works best when plants are dormant
because the wounds created can heal before new
growth starts.
In all cases, grafts are successful only if the vascular
cambiums of the scion and stock are firmly
connected.
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