Benefits of and Materials Needed in Plant Cloning

One of the most efficient ways to propagate plants is through cloning, which is an asexual method compared to seed cultivation. For the beginner gardener, there are three methods for plant cloning - layering, cutting and grafting.

Basically, you have to produce new plants from the parent plant.

• Layering means growing new roots from parent stems before removal. Cutting involves cutting off the leaf, the leaf bud, the stem or the root and then sticking it into the medium. Grafting requires fusing two plants - the stock and the scion - to create one new plant.

Cloning Benefits

Despite the negative connotations that plant cloning has in the eyes of the uninitiated who equate it with animal and human cloning, plant cloning poses many benefits to the gardener in particular and humanity in general. Let's just say that plant cloning allows for survival of the fittest in plants albeit in a non-violent way.

• With plant cloning, you can choose the healthiest, strongest and most productive parent plants. In turn, you are more likely to produce only the healthiest, strongest and most productive clones. (Or whatever genetic characteristics you want your plants to possess) And so the cycle continues.

Another benefit with plant cloning is that you can have your almost full-grown plants in as little as a month because you have already allowed the roots to develop.

• Now, contrast that with growing from seeds that takes time to grow to become a mere seedling

And then there is also the matter of the seedlings' characteristics being left to chance. You never know if the plants you will have with seed growing will be healthy and strong even if you have done everything possible to ensure that it will be so.

Materials Necessary

Now, if you are ready for plant cloning, you need to gather the necessary materials. These include the following:

• The parent plant must exhibit the desired characteristics for the new plants, which can include healthy foliage, bright colors and sufficient productivity. Plus, the parent plant must be at least 2 months old.

Whitney Segura is the founder and owner of Mini Greenhouse Kits, a company that manufacturers and distributes garden greenhouses , hydroponics equipment, and composting accessories .

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