plant propagation – Page 2 – Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener ^SM volunteer

Are you interested in learning how to propagate woody plants, including your own fruit and nut trees? Come learn the art of cleft grafting with some of Durham’s Extension Master Gardener ^SM volunteers at our annual workshop which will be held on February 1,2025.

Grafting Class and Workshop

The workshop will teach you both how to graft and what plant combinations will be successful. Whether you are interested in preserving an heirloom family fruit tree or grafting multiple related fruits onto a single rootstock (Yes, “fruit cocktail trees” are a real thing), this workshop is the perfect opportunity to learn what works, what doesn’t and how to do it. Seats are limited and registration is required and available at the Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers site.

Scion Workshop 2023 (Image credit: Ashley Troth)

The class will offer education on unusual fruits to consider for your landscape as well as how to propagate woody plants. The grafting workshop will teach how to graft and what plant combinations will be successful and provide hands-on practice. The schedule for the workshop is:

Schedule: February 1, 2025

9:00 to 9:25 am – Unusual Fruit to Grow At Home
Interested in growing fruit but bored with the run of the mill varieties? We will show you some alternatives to grow at home.

9:30 to 10:00 am – Hardwood Cuttings
Nothing to do on a cold winter day but daydream about how you’re going to get more plants this spring? We have the answer. Making hardwood cuttings while they’re dormant is one of the easiest ways to get lots more of your favorites. Join us to learn this simple method of vegetative propagation.

10:00 to 10:50 am– Grafting demo and hands on workshop

Imagine a rose bush with different colored blossoms or a nectarine/apricot tree. Do you want to increase your inventory of shrubs and trees but have little room? Learn the grafting method commonly used to add different varieties onto an existing plant so that both varieties produce flowers and/or fruit.

Image credit: Sarah Smith

Scion Exchange

February is the perfect time for winter pruning of trees and bushes including fruit and nut trees. Instead of composting the discarded branches (scions), exchange them for others and pick up some new-to-you varieties. The Scion Exchange will be held from 11:00-12:00 on February 1, 2025 at the NC Cooperative Extension (721 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701). Registration is not needed. Just show up with your scions and tools. Bring bagged and labeled dormant scions to share with others; empty plastic bags to collect new scions; and damp paper towels. Take only what you will use. A 6-8 inch scion can supply two to three pieces for grafting.

Gardeners enjoying a previous Scion Exchange (Image credit: Triangle Fruit Growers Association)

What is a Scion?

Scions are twigs of the above ground portion of a tree representing last year’s newest growth, typically 8-18 inches in length and roughly the size of a pencil. They can come from fruit trees, grapes, kiwi, berries, or woody ornamentals. Scions are used to graft onto existing trees or new root stock, the below ground portion of a tree.

At this event, you will be bringing scions (twigs) home with you to graft onto your existing tree or rootstock. We encourage you to bring scions from your garden to share with other scion exchange participants. The more plant varieties people bring, the better the choices will be!

For detailed instructions on collecting and preparing your scion, see the Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers page: collecting and preparing scions . You can also email KatCauseyEMGV@gmail.com with any questions.

A group of scions labeled, bagged and ready to graft onto root stock. A close up of a grafted scion.

(Image credit: Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers Group.)

The History of the Scion Exchange Program in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Area

Around 2015, Ms. Susan Emshwiller, moved to Durham, NC from California. An avid orchardist, she was surprised that, unlike California, a scion exchange program did not exist in the RTP area of North Carolina for fruit and nut orchardists. She decided to start one.

Acquiring the support of Seeds™, a non-profit, two-acre urban garden, and kitchen classroom operating in Durham, Susan initiated the Scion Exchange. This event incorporated classes on grafting along with the exchange of dormant scions for those interested in grafting different varieties on to their fruit trees.

In 2021, Susan, longing for open spaces, decided to go back west, this time to Arizona. Understanding that the scion program was in jeopardy without Susan, NC State Extension Master Gardener ^SM volunteer Kat Causey approached Ashley Troth, the Durham County Extension Agent, with a suggestion that the EMG program continue hosting the grafting workshop, scion exchange, and the scion exchange website. Ashley agreed.

Kat, together with fellow member Sara Smith, visited Susan in her home to discuss this idea. They admired her many fruit trees with multiple varieties grafted on dwarf stock. Susan agreed to the transfer and relinquished her documents, website and knowledge to Kat and Sara.

In 2022, Kat and Sara, together with others on the plant propagation team, hosted the first grafting workshop and scion exchange. This time it was held at the Cooperative Extension building on Foster Street under the Master Garden ^SM program of Durham. It was a success. We thank Kat and Sara for their early vision and continued service to the community.

Additional Readings and Resources

Want to know more about propagation techniques and growing tree fruit and nuts in your home garden? Check out these two chapters from the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/13-propagation
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/15-tree-fruit-and-nuts

For more information on grafting and different techniques, see NCSU Grafting and Budding Publication : https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-and-budding-nursery-crop-plants

The Missouri Extension Service also has a publication on grafting: Read Missouri Extension
publication for more in-depth information. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6971

Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-5sE

by Lissa Lutz, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

If you’ve ever tried to reduce your carbon footprint, you know that it can take patience, persistence, creativity, and sometimes compromise. As the plant sale committee works to make our community a greener place with plants, we are also trying to keep our efforts green in the process.

As our Backyard Treasures Plant Sale name implies, much of our inventory has traditionally been sourced through generous donations from Master Gardener^SM volunteer gardens. In recent years, however, we’ve grown to understand the risks of transferring unwanted species far and wide–not just invasive plants but also unintended species such as weeds and soil-dwelling creatures that may come along for the ride. The first way to combat this problem has been to increase the number of plants we start from seed.

Starting Plants from Seed

Our veggie and herb selections have always comprised almost a third of what we sell and are lovingly home-grown by a dedicated team of seed starters. In addition we now have a team growing a variety of native plants from seed. Many of these plants are challenging to start, their seeds often requiring complex temperature cycling to initiate germination. We also rely on our propagation team, another spin-off from the plant sale committee, for providing us with a variety of propagated plants. All of these plants, whether started from seed or propagated, are grown in clean potting mixes that reduce the spread of unintended species.

A variety of native seedlings get their start under grow lights before transitioning outdoors and then they will be sold at the Backyard Treasures Plant Sale! (Image credit: Lissa Lutz)

Growing Plants by Division

Many wonderful plants that we share are still sourced through the division of garden-grown favorites, and those plants are now thoroughly washed to remove all soil from the roots before they are potted up in fresh potting mix. While not perfect, this system can vastly decrease the chance of sharing undesirable plants and organisms.

Root washing to remove contaminants reveals the beautiful intricacies of the root systems. Clockwise from left: aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium); Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense); Formosa lily (Lilium formosanum); celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum); Columbine sp (Aquilegia sp). (Image credit: Lissa Lutz)

Searching for the Right Potting Mix

Two years ago the committee began efforts to move away from peat-based potting mixes. Peatbogs, the source of peat for these mixes, are unique ecosystems and carbon sinks that are extremely slow to replenish. The committee had fun developing its own formula of a non-peat-based growing mix using coconut coir, perlite, vermiculite and compost. We tested the look and feel of various mixes to try to replicate the consistency of our traditional brand.

Soil mixing party with Durham Master Gardener^SM volunteers Bev Tisci, Lissa Lutz, and Durham County Extension Agent Ashley Troth. (Image credit: Lissa Lutz)

Scaling up proved to be challenging, time consuming and very dusty! There is a reason the best mixes are proprietary secrets, and indeed the seedlings in our concocted mix languished. For now we continue to start seeds in a peat-based mix for best results, while still searching for an economical and sustainable alternative. We have found an acceptable non-peat-based mix that we use for divisions and potting up seedlings once they are established.

From Plastic to CowPots®

This year, our focus has been on reducing our reliance on single-use plastics, specifically with respect to the pots we use. Most garden pots and flats are difficult to recycle because of the mix of plastics. Our approach to this problem will be twofold. First, we are trying to use a single pot size more consistently, namely what we call a quart pot. We are tagging plastic quart pots this year with a label that reads, “Return clean, intact quart pots to 721 Foster Street by May 31st.”

Our hope is that our local buyers will rinse and return the pots once they have planted their purchases. With a little extra care we should get at least one more season out of them and are excited to see what percentage of pots come back to us. In addition, we are spreading the word about how pots and flats can be recycled.

Second, we are piloting a biodegradable pot in our sale. After researching a variety of biodegradable options, we landed on CowPots®, a pressed pot made from dehydrated cow manure sourced from a dairy farm in Connecticut. The size is roughly equivalent to our plastic quart pots. They can be fragile to handle especially when wet, but the entire pot can and should be planted in the ground with the plant and should be completely degraded by the end of the growing season.

Plants grown in CowPots® are reported to have healthier root systems because of air pruning, a process that starts when the roots begin to grow through the sides of the pot. When the root tips meet air on the outside of the pot, it stimulates lateral growth from the root back inside the pot, as opposed to the circling of the root that occurs when it meets the side of a plastic pot. Additionally, the pot itself provides amendments and a small amount of nutrients to the garden soil as it slowly decomposes. These pots are only slightly more expensive than the plastic pots. It will be interesting to see how they are received by the public. Only a small percentage of plants this year will be grown in the CowPots, to give us a chance to evaluate them and address any problems that arise.

(Left to right) Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense) in the back and perfoliate bellwort (Uvulariaperfoliata) in the foreground growing in CowPots®; Pink turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) and mountain mint(Pycnanthemum muticum) getting established; CowPots® allow roots to penetrate their containers as they grow and prevent damaging root circling that occurs in plastic pots. (Images credit: Lissa Lutz)

Adding these green initiatives to our plant sale practices has not necessarily made the work easier, less expensive, or even better in some cases. But it does feel like we are moving in the right direction to be responsible stewards of our land and to set an example for our community.

Resources and Additional Information

To learn more about the environmental impacts of plastic horticultural pots, check out “2023 State of the Pot” by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers’ and Healthy Pot, Healthy Planet Initiative.

https://www.healthypotshealthyplanet.org/_files/ugd/5ceae1_56fb60127c1f4794a94b0c38b3cd90a0.pdf

For more information on Cowpots®, an example of a more environmentally garden pot, visit their site.

https://cowpots.com/marketing

To learn about additional ways to be green in the garden, see our August 2022 blog post “Minimizing the Use of Plastic in the Garden” by Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer Wendy Diaz and NC Cooperative Extension’s factsheet.

https://durhammastergardeners.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=9832&action=edit

https://pender.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/10/recycling-plastic-plant-pots-and-containers/

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-4p9

Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

Category: plant propagation

Annual Grafting Workshop and Scion Exchange