Grafting & Propagation

Now that we've got great plants going, we need to learn how to continue their genetics and preserve their heritage.

Pun Pun is very focused on saving seeds, but we are also learning how to propagate plants through cuttings. Here we just cut foot long sections of mulberry and keep them in the nursery.

Less than one month later, we've already got new shoots forming on the stems.

Another technique involves stripping off a one inch piece of bark from a branch on the main tree.

Then we cover the bare spot with soil and wrap a little plastic around it to hold moisture in. In a few weeks a new root and shoot should form and we'll be able to cut the branch from the main tree.

The final technique we learned was grafting where we are selecting choice varieties of avacado to graft to a variety with a stronger root system. We are also grafting the shoots of female mango branches to male trees so that more of the mango trees on the property will bear fruit.

Here, we make a slice in the bark, insert the new shoot at a angle that matches up to two cuts and cover with plastic. Within a year we should be able to cut off the old branch and let the new desired branch to grow in its place.
How fun!