Advantages of Vegetative Reproduction
Plants are established quickly. Also, since all the progeny are identical to each other
food growers know exactly what type of plant will grow as the plants will have all the
same characteristics as the parent, which the farmer may have selected in the first place.
With propagation by seed there is always the danger of cross-pollination, especially
with certain species (eg rye and most brassica species), so that seed can sometimes
produce some quite unpredictable plants. Such plants are usually less useful than their
real parents, so in the case of a few crops such as rye, and to a lesser degree most other
crops, “new” seed should be bought every year from a professional seed producer.
Disadvantages of Vegetative Reproduction
bulky, moist and do not store well, and they cannot be transported as easily as seed.
Some diseases, and also some insects, which are present in the parent plant may be
passed on to its progeny. This is a problem with Irish potatoes, for example, which
transfer at least two virus diseases, Leaf Roll and Mosaic, from the parent plant to the
tubers.
Examples of Vegetative Reproduction
- Root—rarely used by food growers, although rhubarb, sweet potato, cassava and
carrots can be propagated by their roots; - Rhizome—an underground (usually) stem that often sends out roots & shoots
from its nodes. Very shallow, or even above ground. Also known as creeping
rootstalks, or rootstocks. Examples: asparagus, couch grass, meadow grass, some
irises; - Tuber—the enlarged tip of a rhizome, typically high in starch, used for food
storage. Described in 1Ei.Examples: Irish potato, Jerusalem artichoke; - Stolon—also called runners, they are horizontal, above ground stems, unlike
rhizomes, which are normally below ground. Examples: Trefoil and the clovers; - Stem cutting—propagation by cuttings is commonly known as “striking”. Root
formation may be assisted by applying auxins, such as IBA (Indole-3-butyric
acid).Examples: sweet potato, cassava and sugarcane; - Bulb—a vertical underground stem. Examples: onion, shallots, garlic, leek, lily;
- Corm (Bulbo-tuber)—a short, swollen, fleshy underground stem—Cormels are
new, small corms arising vegetatively from a parent corm. Corms are normally
flattened on the top and bottom. Examples: taro, banana and crocus; - Graft—a woody stem taken from one perennial plant and fixed to another one.
Most fruit crops are grafted at some stage of their lives. - Adventitious buds—develop into above ground stems and leaves, forming on
roots near to the ground surface and on damaged stems. Adventitious roots form
on stems where the stems touch the ground surface.
The plant parts which are used for vegetative reproduction—the stems, roots etc—are