How Plant Grafting Actually Works and Why It's So Cool

To make the fruit taste sweeter.

To make the tree grow taller.

To get fruit much faster than growing from a seed.

To change the color of the fruit.

Two leaves from different plants.

A root from one plant and a shoot from another.

Two flowers from different plants.

A seed from one plant and a fruit from another.

European grape roots were grafted onto American grape shoots.

American grape roots, which resisted the pest, were grafted onto European grape shoots.

The pest was genetically modified to not harm European grapes.

A new type of pesticide was developed specifically for the pest.

Grafting makes the trees grow much larger.

Seeds from fruit trees often produce fruit that tastes different or bad.

Grafted trees require less water and sunlight.

Grafting is a faster way to develop true-breeding varieties.

They immediately form new leaves.

They de-differentiate and become stem cells.

They stop growing and die.

They only form new roots.

Phloem

Cambium

Xylem

Epidermis

They only help the plant produce more flowers.

They establish a connection between the root and shoot and regulate growth.

They cause the grafted plant to reject the new shoot.

They make the plant grow slower.

They directly create new genes.

They destroy or modify RNA molecules that produce proteins.

They only increase the activity of all genes.

They prevent the plant from growing.