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UPMSP Vocational Plant Nursery study materials
UPMSP Vocational Plant Nursery study resources

UPMSP Vocational Plant Nursery: Plant Propagation (Seed, Vegetative, Grafting and Budding)

UPMSP Vocational Plant Nursery · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Plant Propagation (Seed, Vegetative, Grafting and Budding)

This domain tests sexual and asexual propagation: seed handling, cuttings and layering, and the grafting and budding operations that depend on cambium contact. Expect numerical questions on germination and success percentages.

Seed propagation

  • Use viable, correctly labelled seed. Germination % = (seeds germinated ÷ seeds sown) × 100.
  • Treat dormancy by scarification (sandpaper, hot water, acid), stratification (moist chilling) or light, depending on species.
  • Sow at a depth of about 2–3 times the seed diameter; surface-sow fine seed; cover with a thin mulch and keep moist, not flooded.
  • Prick out seedlings at the first true-leaf stage to reduce competition.

Vegetative propagation

  • Cuttings may be softwood, semi-hardwood or hardwood; take a node, wound the base, treat with IBA (often 500–2,000 ppm) and place under mist.
  • Layering (including air layering), division, suckers, rhizomes and bulbs are used where cuttings root poorly.
  • Grafting requires matching cambium layers, a tight tie and a compatible scion/rootstock. Common methods are wedge, whip-and-tongue and cleft grafting; budding includes T-budding and patch budding. Bud in active growth; use dormant scion wood for grafting.

Worked example

Sow 1,000 seeds; 720 germinate, so germination is 720/1,000 × 100 = 72%. Prick out 700 seedlings; 630 survive, so transplant survival is 630/700 × 100 = 90%. Saleable plants as a percentage of seed sown = 630/1,000 × 100 = 63%. The reasoning is that 90% and 72% use different denominators; do not report transplant survival as germination.

Traps that cost marks

Burying the graft union; grafting incompatible plants; taking cuttings without a node; using a blunt knife; sowing depth in centimetres instead of seed diameters; confusing germination with survival.

Key points

  • Germination % and transplant survival % have different denominators.
  • Sow at 2–3 times seed diameter.
  • Cuttings need a node, humidity and often auxin.
  • Graft union must be above the soil and cambium must align.