Have you ever tried to join two plants so they grow together? This is called grafting.

Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock.

In our Knowledge Park, we use grafting onto kiwifruit seedlings and it is a common method for propagation. Grafting success rate depends on both the rootstock and grafting type such as cleft, tongue and side grafting.

The best time to start kiwi seeds is between February and April in nursery seedbeds and then the kiwi seedlings should be transplanted into nursery beds. The transplanted seedlings in nursery beds reach suitable size for grafting after one or two years, depending on the site. The scions are collected in the month of January and grafted to the seedling rootstocks.

The grafted plants need at least three to eight weeks and after healing the grafted part, the graft tape should be removed carefully. After this, the grafted kiwi plant in the nursery bed is ready to be removed and transported to a plantation site. The grafted kiwi plants take one to three years after plantation to bear fruit, but that too depends on the age of the kiwi plant.

Our Knowledge #Park demonstrates how to propagate #Kiwi plants from #grafting and promotes kiwi #cultivation across suitable locations in the #HKH region