the Pro's and Cons of Vegetative Propagation

Rooting Cuttings of Tropical Trees Here is a basic manual useful for beginner to an excellent review for the experienced grower. These are the different categories of vegetative propagation(from page A3) 1.rooting cuttings - a piece of the stem is encouraged to grow roots 2.grafting or budding a piece of stem or but is attached to a live root system (rootstock) 3.planting shoot or root tubers 4.taking suckers 5.separating offsets or dividing plants that form clumps, etc 6.micropropagation growing pieces of tissue in laboratory Is this the best practice for riparian and wildland restoration?
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The answer to this question depends on how you are using these plants


Ornamental, timber species and plants with economic use are selected for uniformity and special production features. If you are harvesting a commercial fruit crop then it will be useful to have all or your crop to ripen evenly at once, on the other hand in nature the same species with uneven blooming periods and ripening offers benefits to wildlife with sustained food availability.

Genetic variations are also advantage to plants that must adapt to wide selection of climates and microhabitats. In my experiences seed collecting and propagating native plants, I have seen expression of this adaptation in native species in their natural habitat. One of our willow species from my home has 5 strains that are easily recognized. One is adapted to dry sites and even in the vicinity of other strains this type will appear in the proper environmental location.

Seed propagation from diverse locations offers the genetic diversity so plants can self select to their best habitat. With vegetative propagation it is a gamble that you have made the correct choice.