Chapter 17 - Layering

Question 1

How does layering differ to cuttings propagation?

Answer 1

A system of vegetative propagation where stems are rooted while still attached to the source plant

Question 2

What are some plants that naturally layer?

Answer 2

blackberries (Rubus), runners of strawberry (Fragaria), stolons of Bermuda grass (Cynodon spp.)

Question 3

What are some practical advantages of layering as a propagation method? 4

Answer 3

1. Maintaining physical attachment of the stem to the mother plant.
2. Increased accumulation of photosynthates and hormones in the rooting area of the stem.
3. Excluding light to the stem in the rooting zone.
4. Utilizing seasonal effects on rooting.

Question 4

What is girdling?

Answer 4

The practice of cutting through or removing the bark completely around the stem to interrupt the downward movement in the phloem, in order to cause the accumulation of carbohydrates and other substances just above the girdle.

Question 5

simple layering

Answer 5

A type of layering in which single one-year-old shoots are bent to the ground, covered with soil, and then (sometimes) girdled to stimulate root initiation of the stem.

Question 6

compound layering

Answer 6

A type of layering in which the entire horizontal shoot is covered with rooting media.

Question 7

serpentine layering

Answer 7

A type of layering in which a horizontal shoot (or vine) is covered at individual nodes for rooting.

Question 8

air layering

Answer 8

A type of layering in which an aerial stem is girdled and enclosed with rooting media to produce rooted layers in the upper part of the plant.

Question 9

mound layering, (Stool) Stooling

Answer 9

A type of layering in which shoots on established plants are cut back to the base annually and mounded over with rooting media at intervals during growth to stimulate rooting.

Question 10

stolons

Answer 10

A specialized underground stem that grows laterally from the crown of the plant to produce either another plant or a tuber.

Question 11

runners

Answer 11

A natural form of layering in which a specialized stem grows laterally from the crown of the plant and takes root at alternate (or other) nodes to produce a new plant that provides for vegeta-tive expansion of the original plant.

Question 12

crowns

Answer 12

The root-stem juncture of a plant (also used to indicate the top of the tree in forestry).

Question 13

offsets

Answer 13

A specialized leafy plant stem that develops from the base of many monocotyledonous plants and is used for propagation.

Question 14

suckers & slips

Answer 14

• Adventitious shoots that emerge from a root or from the vicinity of the crown (often synonymous with watersprouts).
• An offshoot of pineapple that forms from the peduncle and is used in propagation.