Introduction
Grafting is the union of two plants of different genetic origin that interact with each other. Graft performance may be influenced by the clone from which the scions are derived.
Objective
To evaluate the effect of clone on grafting success and initial scion growth in crown grafts of C. odorata.
Materials and methods
Crown grafts were performed using scions from five C. odorata (CR-A, CR-B, CR-C, CR-D and CR-E), morphologically selected from a provenance trial in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico. Grafting success, initial growth in height and diameter, number of buds, and graft crown diameter were evaluated using a randomized complete block design.
Results
Statistically significant differences (P ˂ 0.05) due to clone effect were observed for all variables except grafting diameter (mean = 13.1 mm). After two months, clone CR-E showed 5, 10 and 35 % higher grafting success than clones CR-B, CR-A and CR-C, respectively, whereas clone CR-D showed no graft take. After six months, grafts with scions from clone CR-B grew 19, 21 and 57 cm more in height than grafts with scions from clones CR-C, CR-A and CR-E, respectively. On average, grafts developed 26 lateral buds per plant and a crown diameter of 90 cm.
Conclusions
Clone significantly influences grafting success, initial height growth, number of buds and crown diameter in crown grafts of C. odorata.