Hypocotyl grafting

Hypocotyl grafting [ Horticulture]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

A grafting technique used to join a very small growing apex excised from a juvenile seedlings (Epicotyl explant) onto a hypocotyl portion of the stem (sliced below the cotyledons) of an equally small seedling.

Hypocotyl grafting of cacti: Some rare species of cacti find hard to grow in cultivation because it is very difficult to provide the appropriate growing conditions and after a short time they die. This is a serious problem with some species characterized by extreme root-rot sensitivity. The solution was found in grafting the sensitive scion on a rot-resistant stock
Epicotyl grafting is a sophisticated technique used for changing the root system of a susceptible seedlings with the root system of a strong, easy to cultivate and resistant species. To achieve this it is required to excise the seedling apex ((The Epicotyl explant) from just above the cotyledons or immediately below and graft it on an equally only few weeks old seedlings (the hypocotyl stock) deprived of the epicotyl portion and sliced just below the cotyledons.
To do this work (since young cactus seedlings are very small, sometime less than 1 mm) it is necessary a binocular magnifying-glass, a razor blade and a quiet hand! In 24 hours grafting is perfect and some weeks later plants shows a speedy growing. As the grafting cut is made in the hypocotyl tissue (under the cotyledons), this root changing is called "Hypocotyl grafting”
The result of this hypocotyl-grafting is an expedited and healthy growth, soon flowering of the plants - certainly caused by the strong growing root system. The plants look very natural and nobody has the impression, that they are grafted. Hypocotyl grafted plants are also long living and are of easy cultivation.

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994