Durian Grafting

Basic Principles Of Grafting

DEFINITION:
Grafting is the art of joining parts of plants together in such a manner that they will unite and continue their
growth as one plant.
PARTS OF GRAFT:
In all types of grafting or budding, there are two essential parts:
The Rootstock or Base
and Bud Scion or Top.
Rootstocks are generally strong and healthy seedlings, while the scion is selected from healthy mature plants
or trees which are true to type and have produced good fruit.
The main difference between grafting and budding is that in grafting, the scion can consist of from 1-4 buds,
whilst in budding, only one bud is used per union.

Credit: University of Kentucky

BUDDING:
Budding is therefore advantageous where limited material is available.

Credit: University of Kentucky

There are many forms of grafting and several of budding; some have particular application, whilst some
applicators vary their methods to suit their purpose the best.
COMPATIBILITY:
In grafting, the first consideration must be that there is an advantage in creating the new plant by grafting.
Then we must know if the rootstock and scion are compatible. You have to experiment, but generally plants
of the same genera are compatible with varying degrees in sub-families and families.
ROOTSTOCKS:
Preparation: Whether grown in the field or in pots, rootstocks must be growing well and have free-flowing
sap. They must be healthy and disease-free, as a failure can as often be the result of poorly prepared
rootstock as poor techniques.
SCIONS or BUDS:
Scions should, where possible, be selected with dormant, but near bursting, buds, and again be healthy and
disease-free. They should be dipped in suitable fungicide, if available, to stop or reduce virus and fungal
attack. However, selection of clean material, the use of sterilized equipment and general hygiene and good
techniques should suffice.
When taking scion material from the parent plant, convenient lengths can be taken and the leaves, but not
the leaf petioles, removed. These petioles protect the new buds during transport and grafting.
In making a graft or union, the operator must match the cambial layer or cambium of both scion and stock,
as this is the only area where the union is made by callousing. The better the combination, the better the
graft.
In budding, the bark of the rootstock must lift freely to allow the bud to be inserted without damage.
Scions or bud material are best used as soon as possible after collection, however where there is a delay, the
material should be placed in a sealed plastic bag and kept in a cool, preferably dark, place.

EQUIPMENT NEEDS:
The operator needs a good pair of secateurs that leave a good, clean, neat cut with a minimum of bruised
material; a clean, sharp knife, scalpel or razor blade; and some form of keeping it sharp; something in which
to sterilize your implements - a bottle of methol; some form of tape or strips of clean plastic to bind the

graft; and a label on which should be recorded identity of stock and scion and possibly date done and type of
graft.
Where a grafting knife is not available - and the only difference, really, is that a grafting knife is beveled on
one edge - a scalpel or razor can be used.
POST CARE:
Once the plant is grafted, it should be given special care. It must be kept out of the wind and is best kept out
of direct sunlight, or covered by a paper bag.
Freshly-grafted plants should be watered carefully, as under- or over- watering will cause problems. Never
apply water above the graft, as water-borne fungi kill grafts.
Nutrients can be given, as long as this is done carefully.
The above notes are taken from an article written by Grahame Versace for the Rare Fruits Council
of Australia dated March 1983
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Durian grafting on a matured durian tree which was carried out at Fook Gor Durian Farm in Bentong,
Pahang, Malaysia.

Here are more photos on the field grafting. Photo credit - Fook Gor Durian Farm Bentong

Removing the bark for insertion of the scion

Scion securely attached to the rootstock

Scion or shoot is now growing - time to remove the PVC wrapping

The new shoot atop an old rootstock - bearing fruits after about 3 years

Removing unproductive or poor quality trees for grafting with D197

Removing unproductive or poor quality trees for grafting with D197

Removing unproductive or poor quality trees for grafting with D197

Removing unproductive or poor quality trees for grafting with D197

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General Information on Budding and Grafting

Download this very informative article on budding and grafting of fruit trees written by Leonard P. Stoltz
and John Strang from the College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky. Basic principles can be applied for
durians.

Link to University of Kentucky

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Durian Grafting
Another great write-up on graftings done on tropical fruit trees including a procedure on durian cleft grafting.
Report by....
Chong S.T. and T.B. Chai
Fruit Research Division, MARDI, Serdang
DATE: May 1990

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN VEGETATIVE PROPAGATIONOF SOME TROPICAL

FRUIT TREES
ABSTRACT
The recent vegetative propagation techniques developed for fruits are cleft grafting, side-cleft grafting,
saddle grafting and stem cutting. Fruit types suited to these techniques of propagation are outlined. The
procedures of durian cleft grafting, mango side-cleft grafting, mangosteen saddle grafting and stem-cutting
techniques for duku langsat are fully discussed and illustrated in this paper. The advantages of these newly
developed techniques as compared to traditional budding and marcotting are also highlighted. Saddle
grafting in mangosteen and stem-cutting for duku langsat offer potential for shortening the normally long
juvenile period of these fruits.
INTRODUCTION
Basically, fruit crops can be propagated sexually by seeds or asexually by stem, buds, roots, suckers or other
plant parts. In Peninsular Malaysia, most of the fruit crops are propagated from seeds, as evidenced from the
Fruit Survey in Perak (ANON, 1978) where only 2-3% of mangoes and durian were budded. Seedling
materials are highly variable in terms of fruit quality and yield. Long juvenility is another common
characteristic of seedling trees.

The traditional methods of vegetative propagation for fruits are budding and marcotting. Budding technique
is commonly used for durian, mango and rambutan propagation whilst marcotting is mainly adopted for
ciku, citrus and cashew propagation. These two techniques of propagation, however, have some drawbacks.
For instance, marcotted citrus plants are highly susceptible to stem canker (Phytophthora palmivora). As a
result, many growers had experienced heavy mortality of trees and are now turning to side-cleft grafted
materials with disease-tolerant rootstocks such as Sunki and Rangpur Lime (KO, pers comm.). In the
establishment of budded durian, a high mortality rate is common whereas seedling materials invariably have
less problems, probably because of the long period of holding the seedling rootstocks in polybags until they
are suitable for budding and subsequent field planting. Such long holding periods result in circling/kinking
of roots within the polybag. When field planted, such materials either take a long time to recover and/or
suffer high mortality under field conditions. Thus propagation methods other than budding need to be
developed for durian.
In view of the above shortcomings, recent research emphasis has been placed in the development of new
vegetative propagation techniques for local fruits.
RECENT TECHNIQUES OF VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION
Cleft Grafting Technique: This technique of propagation or with some modifications, have been developed
for a number of fruit types viz., durian, ciku, mangosteen, nangka, cempedak, duku langsat and cashew. The
grafting requirements and success of these fruit types are summarized in Table 1. Working on cleft grafting
technique, CHUA and YONG (1978) reported 15-29% success for durian, 2-29% success for rambutan and
75-87% success for mango. For the above studies, four to ten months-old seedling rootstocks were used.
Cleft grafting studies in durian conducted at Serdang using five-week old seedling rootstocks have shown
100% grafting success (CHONG, 1985).
Table 1
Cleft grafting of some fruit types
Fruit type

Rootstock age

Scion type

Grafting
Duration of covering success
(%)

Durian
Ciku
Mangosteen
Nangka and Cempedak
Duku Langsat
Cashew
Soursop

5 weeks
6 months
1 year
5 weeks
1 year
7 weeks
9 weeks

Sub-terminal shoots
Terminal shoot
Terminal shoot
Terminal and sub-terminal shoots
Terminal shoot
Terminal shoot
Terminal and sub-terminal shoots

2 weeks
1 month
1 month
3 weeks
2 weeks
3 weeks

100
100
80
80
80
90
90

Technique of Cleft Grafting of Durian: A healthy seedling of about five weeks old is selected as rootstock.
The seedling is topped-off leaving a two to three centimetre stem piece in which a V-shaped cut or a slit is
made (Figure 1).

Healthy and succulent shoots just below the terminals (8 - 10 cm long) are selected as scions. All the leaves
of the scion are removed except the two sustaining the buds and these leaves are trimmed to 1/3 size (Figure
2).

The base of this scion is trimmed to fit snugly into the 'V' cut or the slit of the rootstock (Figure 2). The cut,
about 2- 3cm is trimmed to a smooth surface. The scion is then inserted into the rootstock in a manner that
both cambiums are aligned and then wrapped firmly with sealing film to ensure good contact (Figures 3 and
4).

The grafted material is then covered with a plastic bag (Figure 5).

Prior to covering, the soil is adequately watered and plants carefully handled to avoid wetting of the grafted
parts. The plastic bag cover is removed when the scion starts shooting and this occurs two weeks after
grafting. Figure 6 shows a successfully cleft-grafted durian plant at one and a half months after grafting.
This cleft grafting technique can be performed on durian seedlings as young as five weeks old. In contrast,
traditional budding requires seedlings which are about four months old. This cleft grafting approach
constitutes a more rapid multiplication technique which saves about three months of seedling maintenance
costs. Furthermore this technique ensures production of better quality planting materials with lower
incidence of 'root circling' in polybags, resulting in improved field establishment.
Cleft grafted durian plants appear to possess a more erect plant form as compared to traditional budded
materials which require staking during the early phase of field establishment.

Side-Cleft Grafting Technique: Mango, soursop, star fruit and citrus can be successfully propagated by
this grafting technique. This technique offers many advantages over that of budding. Firstly, it can be
performed throughout the year and on rootstocks of various ages. Secondly, the side-cleft grafted trees are
observed to be more vigorous in growth than that of the budded plants.
Technique of Side-Cleft Grafting of Mango: Healthy seedlings of about ten weeks old are selected as
rootstocks. A slanting cut of about 3cm is made on the rootstock (Figure 7).

Healthy terminal shoots of about 8 - 18cm are selected as scions. The leaves are all removed and a similar
slanting cut of about 3cm is made on one side of the scion while a shorter cut (1cm) is also made on the
opposite side of the scion (Figure 8).

This prepared scion is then inserted into the rootstock with the longer cut surface facing inside and making
sure both cut surfaces are in good contact (Figure 9).

Budding tape is used to wrap around the grafting region as well as the whole scion (Figure 10).

This is to prevent the scion from dehydration by providing a more humid environment. The budding tape is
removed up to the union and the seedling rootstock is cut back about three weeks after grafting. Complete
removal of budding tape is done at six weeks after grafting.
Saddle Grafting Technique: In mangosteen, the traditional method of propagation is by seeds. These
apomictic seedlings are true-to-type but possess a long juvenile phase of about 10-15 years. Vegetative

propagation provides a means of shortening this phase. Among several vegetative propagation techniques
tested on mangosteen, cleft grafting was found to be the most promising (CHONG and AZIZAR, 1984).
However, the time taken to prepare cleft-grafted materials is about one and a half years, which is considered
too long. Recent studies have shown that saddle grafting technique developed for cocoa, (KRISHNAN,
AHMAD, AHMAD AND OSMAN, (1988) is also suitable for mangosteen propagation. In saddle grafting
of mangosteen, five-month-old seedling rootstocks are used where 85% grafting success is common.
Technique of Saddle Grafting on Mangosteen: A well maintained five-month-old seedling with a height of
10-15cm is selected as rootstock. The seedling is then lopped-off at a height of 4cm and all the leaves are
removed. Two cuts (about 1.5cm each) are made on opposite sides of the stem so as to form a tapering
wedge (Figure 11).

A healthy terminal mangosteen shoot with two leaves (about 5cm) obtained from a matured tree is
selected as scion. The two leaves on the scion are trimmed to reduce transpiration loss. A clean razor cut of
about 1.5cm is then made on the base of scion (Figure 12). The prepared scion is then placed on top of the
previously prepared rootstock making sure that at least one side of the cambium is aligned (Figure 13) and
wrapped firmly with sealing film to ensure good contact (Figure 14).

The grafted plant is then covered with a plastic bag which helps to keep the humidity high (Figure 15). Prior
to covering, the soil is adequately watered and plants carefully handled to avoid wetting the grafted parts.
The plastic bag is subsequently removed when the scion starts shooting and this normally occurs about one
month after grafting. Figure 16 shows a successfully saddle-grafted mangosteen plant with two new leaves.
Stem Cutting: Although propagation by cutting has numerous advantages, it is rarely used for tropical fruit
trees (GARNER and CHAUDRI, 1976). Indeed, for easy-to-root fruit trees, this method is the cheapest,
simple and a rapid way of producing large quantities of uniform clonal planting materials. Attempts have
been made by MARDI to develop cuttings for propagation of some of our local fruits. Research carried out
recently has demonstrated that duku langsat which is traditionally propagated by seeds, marcotting and
approach grafting can also be propagated by stem cuttings.
Cutting Propagation Technique of Duku Langsat: In propagating duku langsat by stem cuttings,
hardwood cutting are obtained from mature, dormant terminal shoots from healthy stock plants. The cutting

which is about 20cm long and 0.8cm in diameter should have at least three to four nodes and two to four
leaflets on the upper portion of the cutting. The basal cut is made just below a node. Large leaflets should be
trimmed to reduce the transpiration loss and space requirement in the propagating bed. The cuttings are then
given wounding treatment before they are dipped in rooting hormone solution of IBA (indolebutyric acid) at
10,000 ppm concentration for a few seconds. The hormone is allowed to dry before the cuttings are inserted
into the rooting medium of coarse river sand in a heavily shaded mist spray plastic house. Rooting of cutting
will normally occur 70 to 80 days after sticking the cutting into the sand bed.
As shown in Table 2, the percentage of rooted cuttings vary from 55% to 90% for the clones studied. The
source of the materials or clones seem to have some effect on the rootability of cutting. It is possible that
cuttings from different clones may have different requirements for root initiation.
Table 2
Variation in rooting percentage and number of roots per rooted cutting for different Duku Langsat
clones
Cutting source (clone)

% of cuttings rooted*

ST (4)
PG (2)
AP (1)
AP (2)
JAP (2)
JAP (2)

75
55
70
90
60
70

Mean No. of roots/rooted cutting

2.2
1.9
3.1
1.9
2.5
2.8

* % of cuttings rooted was based on 40 samples.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The development of cleft grafting technique for durian, cashew, nangka and cempedak has not only saved
considerable amount of time and costs in the nursery stage but also produced good quality planting materials
with minimum root problems. In mangosteen and duku langsat which have long juvenility, the technique of
grafting using scions taken from mature trees can possibly shorten juvenility considerably. In fact, a few
cleft-grafted mangosteen plants have flowered and fruited about two and a half years after grafting.
Moreover, the cleft grafted plants are more vigorous, have better tree form and have less establishment
problems than the traditional budded or marcotted plants.
Research in the development of propagation by cutting for local fruits have consistently met with
difficulties. But more recently, the use of growth regulators, especially IBA, at high concentration and
intermittent mist propagation system have improved the prospects of propagating fruits by cuttings. Success
in propagating duku langsat by cuttings should encourage more farmers to cultivate this fruit type especially
if they are going to bear earlier than seedlings. In the past, the problems of obtaining seeds plus poor seed
germination and the very slow-growing nature of the duku langsat, has impeded the cultivation of this crop.
With this development of cutting propagation, hopefully the popularity of this crop will pick up very soon.
Another important aspect of cutting propagation is the possibility of having clonal rootstock for local fruits.
The important role played by rootstock in the growth and development and subsequent production of fruit
trees has been overlooked. More emphasis should be given to developing this propagation technique as well
as the development of clonal rootstock for specific fruit types.
The techniques of cleft and side-cleft grafting developed mainly for multiplication of planting materials, can
also be applied in the rehabilitation of unproductive fruit trees by topworking. Topworking provides a fast
means of changing the clones without replanting. The cleft and side-cleft grafting techniques have been
successfully used in topworking cashew and mango respectively.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors wish to thank the Director and Deputy Director of Fruit Research
Division, Dr. Abd. Wahab Ngah and Dr. Abd. Razak Shaari respectively for their encouragement and support
in the preparation of this manuscript.
Chong S.T. and T.B. Chai
Fruit Research Division, MARDI, Serdang
DATE: May 1990
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