a question on grafting

[mrstinky]

does grafting two plants produce a hybrid with characteristics of both plants? eg cross an apple with a pear and get a nashie. Ive had all sorts of conflicting answers to this question. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done some grafting for themself and know from experience. thanks

[mrstinky]

I think cacti do but what about those fruit trees with a heap of different fruits... are they all just hybrid fruits?

[Torsten]

hydrid means that the genes of one strain combine with that of another. when you graft you do not combine any genes, you simply stick some strange cells onto an existing organism. both organisms retain their genetics but are supplied by the rootstock with nutrients.

[mrstinky]

so if I grafted a white rose onto a red one I wouldnt get a pink one- It would still be white? What about cacti grafts? Dont they produce a new plant that looks somewhere in between? Im confused.

[coin]

yes, your rose would still be white.

cacti are the same.

say madonna & the pope wanted to have a child..they'd have sex [sorry about any weird mental images] to combine genetic information, and a whole new being would be created & born, which had some qualities of both parents.

this is a 'hybrid' (ie the result of breeding, or "a cross")

if you cut off madonna's head and attached it to the pope's body, dr frankenstein style - this is grafting (when two organisms join together). you wouldn't get the material girl's face looking more polish. you'd just end up with a parkinsonian kabbalist..actually, probably not - artistic license.

[infinite_monkey]

i have heard of weird monsters forming from cactus grafts where at the graft site an offshoot appears with charateristics of both

Graft chimaera (frequently called 'graft hybrids') are cellular hybrids between representatives of two or more named genera. They are a rare phenomenon arising exclusively in cultivation where two species, frequently of two distinct genera, are grafted together. The mingling of tissues belonging to the stock and scion through grafting in a nonsexual manner. The chimaera come up as a branch or shoot from the point of union which contains tissues of both species, resulting in a arrangement of both species being expressed in the shoot. Such shoots can be vegetatively propagated and cultivated. The formula for the graft-chimaeral nature of such a plants uses a “ + “ sign against the initial letter of the generic name and to connect the two "parent" species (not the multiplication sign “ X “ this show that they are not sexual hybrids). If intergeneric, graft-chimaeras can be given their own genus name (which is a combination of the two constituent generic names) preceded by a + sign. An example is: + Ortegopuntia (Ortegocactus macdougalii + Opuntia compressa). Graft chimaeras can be given cultivar names. The example above has been named +Ortegopuntia cv. Percy, They cannot be given species names.

found these pic's

A. scaphirostris chimera, A young plant of Ariocarpus scaphirostris grafted on Echinopsis, with a chimera growing from the graft union.

Gymnocalycium mihanovichii v. fleischerianum and Echinopsis tubiflora

Ariocarpus retusus and Echinopsis eyriesii.

but it could all be part of some eloborate conspiracy to confuse us all

[Absinthe]

There is also an interesting phenomenon called graft-chimaeras, which are both plants growing together. check it out

http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede_fotografi...ia_cv_Percy.htm

Jon

edit: ahhh u just beat me!

[ 01. November 2004, 14:07: Message edited by: Cacti Master ]

[coin]

ahhh .. interesting

so maybe she could look more polish..hmmm, no - she'd grow polish warts

[infinite_monkey]

i musy say a pope madonna chimera growing form the neck (graft) would be an intersting sight

this makes me think,

12:1 A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

12:2 She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.

12:3 Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

perhaps we could convince ol bush this is a good idea (help the whole apocalypse thing along)