Grafting micropropagated tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O.!Kuntze] shoots on tea seedlings -: a new approach to tea propagation

Tea microshoots excised from well-established multiple shoot cultures grown in vitro and 8-week-old, three- to five-leaved seedlings from a local chinery stock (Banuri-96) and UPASI-9 (from southern India) were selected as scions and root stocks, respectively, for grafting. In addition, 4-month- and 12-month-old seedlings of Banuri-96 were also used as root stocks. Cut ends of root stocks and scions were pretreated with varying concentrations of BAP and NAA for 10 min. A treatment of BAP (5 mg/l) and NAA (5 mg/l) to both scion and stocks in water renewed foliar development at a relatively early stage (40-60 days). The grafted plants were kept in hardening chambers with CO2-enriched air. No significant difference was observed between autograft (scion and root stock of Banuri clone) and heterograft (scion of the Banuri clone and root stock of UPASI-9). Of the three types (in terms of age) of seedling-raised root stocks employed, grafts on young tea (4-month-old) performed the best (88.33%). Grafts made in early summer established relatively faster and at a high rate of success. The percentage survival of plants transferred to the field was 88.33%.