Plant Propagation and Budding

John Gose head of Lykes Brothers Nursery, gave us a lesson on citrus tree budding.  He brought newly developed root stock US 897, which will have a finished height of 7-8 ft.  A very nice size for home gardens.  For budding, we had a choice between Dancy Tangerine and Navel Orange.  Yumm!  John told us a lot about the citrus nursery.  Here is a link to Lykes Brothers' operations: Lykes Brothers, Inc.

Randy Gornto who was facilitating the class while Dee Dee was teaching classes at Disney World, brought in two first aid kits, just in case someone was careless with their budding knife.  I'm happy to report that they weren't needed.

John demonstrated the how to, and it looked easy when he did it.  He told us to 1) find a flat spot on the root stock stem 2) make a vertical cut on the flat spot about 1 to 1.5 long just through the bark 3) make a horizontal cut at the base of the vertical cut about .5 to .75 inches long. Angle the knife so that the bark opens on the second cut.  4)  Cut a bud from the budwood about .25 to .50 inches long that includes a bud and a thin sliver of wood.  5) insert the bud under the bark of the root stock starting at the lower end of the T.  6)  Push it far enough under the bark that is completely enclosed  7) wrap with budding tape.  (Grafting, Budding, Layering, Making Cuts and Other Ways of Propagating Fruit Plants in Florida)

It wasn't as easy as John made it look, but all of us managed it with his help.  We were told to keep our trees well watered, watch for the bud to begin to swell in about 2-3 weeks and then take off the tape.  If it turns brown, it was not a successful union.  I hope that all of us are successful with our shield budding project.

The afternoon brought us Fred Burkey from Martin County and his presentation Plant Propagation: Florida Yards and Neighborhoods.  Mr. Burkey began growing Chrysanthemums for the cut flower market in 1949.  Here is a link to his excellent presentation:  Plant Propagation.

He also brought plants for us to try our hands at some of the propagation methods he was discussing.  At left is an Aurelia on which he demonstrated the process of air layering.  Below is a miniature greenhouse that can be used to replace a misting system on small cuttings.  Coleus and other softwood plants root easily using this method.  At the bottom is Sharon enjoying her new plants.