 Sexual  Recombination of genetic materials to form a unique genetic individual  Asexual  Use of vegetative organs to create plantlets genetically identical to the parent plant

Asexual Propagation

 Plants are uniform  Quick establishment of plants  Only means of propagation in certain speices  Seedborne diseases avoided  Less expensive  Heterozygous material may be propageted without genetic alteration

 Systemic viral infection can spread to all plants  Planting materials are bulky  Storage of asexual material is cumbersome and usually short term  Genetically identical and thus subject to the same hazards  Mechanized propagation in some cases not practical

 Divisions  Cuttings  Layers  Grafting/budding  Tissue Culture

 Remove loose soil  Remove dead leaves and stems  Note root system of plant  Spreading  Clumping  Rhizome  Tuber

 Spreading root systems  Many slender roots from center of plant  Plants can be invasive  Cut with shears or pulled apart by hand  Asters, bee balm, lamb’s ear, purple coneflower, many common perennials

 Clumping root systems  Many fleshy roots from crown of plant  Can crowd own centers  Keep one bud/eye with each division  Astilbes, hostas, daylilies, orn. Grasses

 Rhizome division  ‘Horizontal stems’, Primarily bearded iris  Divide after flowering through fall  Cut and discard rhizome sections > 1 year  Inspect for disease and insect damage  Cut back leaves to ‘fans’  Replant with top of rhizome above soil level

 Tuberous roots  Enlarged roots for storage  Divide with sharp knife  Each root must contain stem tissue and bud  Can be replanted or stored  Dahlias

 Vegetative plant part which is severed from the parent plant in order to regenerate itself, thereby forming a whole new plant  Leaves, stems, roots

 Herbaceous: succulent, soft materials (green)  Softwood: soft, succulent growth of woody plants  Semi-Hardwood: partially mature wood of the current season’s growth  Mid summer, leaves present

 Hardwood: dormant, mature stems  Taken before spring growth  6-12 inches  Grapes, roses, honeysuckle  Conifer:  Obtained in early spring  Prefer cool and humid conditions  Juniper, spruce

Axillary Bud Terminal Bud Stem Leaf Adventitious Roots

 Cane/Shoot Cutting  Leaves  Stems  Buds

Axillary Bud Terminal Bud Stem Leaf New bud

 Full or partial leaf cuttings  African violet, sansivieria  Leaf-vein cuttings  Plantlets  Leaf-bud cuttings  Rhododendron

 Leaf Cutting  Leaf only

Cut end of branch Cambium exposed

 Stems still attached to their parent plant may form roots where they touch a rooting medium  Severed from the parent plant, the rooted plant becomes a new plant

Tip LayerSimple LayerCompound Layer StoolingAir Layer Stolons

 Useful procedure on leggy plants  Wound stem and cover with moist medium to induce rooting