Plant Cloning

• Vegitative propagation is the production of plant clones from non-reproductive tissues
• Rhizomes are stem structures that grow horizontally underground away from the parent plant. They have 'nodes' from which new shoots and roots can develop.
• Stolons or Runners - They grow above ground, on the surface of the soil. New shoots nad roots can either develop from nodes or at the end of the stolon.
• Suckers are shoots that grow from sucker buds present on the shallow roots of a parent plant.
• Tubers are large underground plant structures that act as a food store for the plant. They are covered in 'eyes'. Each eye is suitable to sprout and form a new plant.
• Bulbs are underground food stores used by some plants. New bulbs are able to develop from the original bulb and form new individual plants.
• Horticulturalists use other natural methods of vegetative propagation to produce clones. The methods include taking cuttings, grafting and layering.
• Grafting is the joining of the shoot of one plant to the growing stem and root of another plant.
• Layering is bending a stem of a growing plant downwards so it enters the soil and grows into a new plant.