Two apple grafts made at the workshop; Granny Smith left and Braeburn right.
A group of plant enthusiasts, including Otago biochemists, had an amazing opportunity to learn the technique of grafting at Otago Biochemistry recently.
A grafting workshop was held for members of the department who volunteered at the Jim Dunckley Heritage Germplasm Orchard earlier in the year and interested members from the Coastal Otago Branch of the NZ Tree Crops Association. The morning workshop was followed by an afternoon of related talks and presentations open to the public.
Grafting is the practice of joining the roots of one tree, the “rootstock”, with a branch from another, the “scion”. By bringing parts of two trees together, you can create a new tree with the best features of both trees. The rootstock determines how tall the tree grows, how it branches, what soil and climate it will grow in, whereas the scion decides what type of fruit the tree will produce. Grafting also takes away some of the genetic uncertainty that comes when growing trees from seed.
After an introduction from Donal Ferguson and Peter Rodwell (NZ Tree Crops Association), participants practised with sticks from willow, then grafted selected apple or pear rootstocks to scions of their choice. Participants were able to take their grafted trees home for planting.
The afternoon’s talks aimed to strengthen the relationship between university researchers and the caretakers of the orchard, particularly around teaching opportunities.
They included talks by Otago scientists Professor Craig Bunt, Associate Professor Lynette Brownfield and Professor Richard Macknight about their plant-related research of interest to local tree crop enthusiasts, including research into plant reproduction and the genetic control of flowering time.
Science communication students Chloe Warren and Josh Byford-Pothan presented Forgotten Fruit, the short film they have created about the Jim Dunckley Orchard.
Participants also heard about research on developing grafting for blueberry plants and monocot plants such as date and bananas from Dr Greg Reeves (Plant & Food Research Motueka, and Honorary Fellow of Otago University and the Biochemistry Department), and Maddi Post from AbacusBio presented her research on bee behaviour on cherry trees.
You can see a video of the Jim Dunckley Orchard in an Otago Daily Times article from earlier this year.
The workshop preparing for grafting: budwood at the front and Peter Rodwell (Coastal Otago Branch of the NZ Tree Crops Association) talking in the background.
Associate Professor Alan Carne (front left) receives grafting advice from Donal Ferguson of the Coastal Otago Branch of the NZ Tree Crops Association (middle).