Could someone please tell me what the difference is between grafted and cutting grown conifers of the same plant ? Descriptions given are identical for both and other than the few dollars difference in price, why should I choose one or the other ?
Grafts are weaker at the graft union. From seed is the best, because you get a better root system. Pull some out of the ground some time and look. Cuttings will grow just like the part of the tree that they came from. Grafted trees are many times cuttings at the base, to begin with. The base stock of grafted trees, is usually selected to be more suitable,ie.vigorous roots,tolerant of the wet/dry conditions and diseases.... of the local conditions, and the upper graft is usually somewhat intolerant of the local conditions. There are many exceptions, to what I put down here.
For conifers, sometimes a grafted plant will grow differently than a cutting grown plant. One good example is Abies koreana 'Starker's Dwarf'; a grafted plant tends to be almost prostrate as a young plant, and then somewhat irregular and layered as it ages. A cutting grown 'Starker's Dwarf' will be irregular but upright from the start. Many conifers are very difficult to root, and so grafting is the practical way to propagate them. And some varieties are slower as cutting grown than when grafted. Most propagaters graft conifers for the simple reason that they are easier to grow that way. But there are some plants that are routinely grafted that may be better on their own roots- Chamaecyparis nootkatensis comes to mind. And there are some that may perform better as grafted plants- some growers are now grafting Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cultivars, on a phytopthera resistant rootstock, to avoid root problems common to these cypresses. Not an easy question or answer.
I'd expect the orientation of the propagule to be a factor of where on the stock plant the cuttings/scions were cut. A common exception might be when seedling rootstocks of normal vigor impart added vigor to dwarf or slow-growing, bushy cultivars that then become more treelike than they are supposed to be. Such specimens might also be more erect than they would have if not invigorated by the rootstock. Seedlings, cuttings and grafts will all tend to be slow the first few years, but after that seedlings of large-growing species may really take off. But, cuttings of some vigorous, easily rooted garden forms such as Leyland cypress develop rapidly also. With grafts you pay alot more for the additional production cost but these are really the only way to reproduce many garden selections true-to-name. The main issue to watch out for at first is rootbound rootstocks, something I have found hard to avoid. It seems there is an idea prevalent that since the stock is going to be used for rootstock, there is no need to pot it on. Of course, there is also a pandemic problem with other plants not being kept potted on as well! Much later in their development some grafted specimens may also develop problems with vigor of stock and scion not being well-matched, so that you end up with a little bush sitting on a disproportionately fat trunk or vice versa.
i've seen that a lot with top worked Prunus.. i dont think you have any idea how difficult it is to make sure all the plants are always at that perfect stage, not too light and not heading towards pot bound....there is also the problem of costs, the more often a plant is handled the more expensive it has to be, also there is the ignorance factor, people cant see the roots, so they buy on price and size of plant......i'll stop there coz i could go on for hours about the problems of modern horticulture.
Interesting thread! One aspect of the issue I would be interested in, is whether the trunk of a grafted plant - i.e. the root stock - only grows in girth, or also gains some height ? For instance, will a low graft eventually gain some height, or is it absolutely fixed, from the moment of grafting ?
I am quite familiar with horticultural production operations. Plants sitting for years in the same pots is not the result of insurmountable obstacles, like it being impossible to tell (?!) when it is time to pot on. No, the lower trunk of a tree does not elongate as the tree grows larger. It's more like a coral formation, with increase in overall size accomplished by adding to the outside. Branches remain where they first started, until they fall off.
