WO2012062672A1

WO2012062672A1 - Grafting method and grafted plants obtained thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2012062672A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/069475
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jim Mcconnell; David Baquerizo
Original assignee: Syngenta Participations Ag
Priority date: 2010-11-10
Filing date: 2011-11-04
Publication date: 2012-05-18

Abstract

The present invention provides double engrafted plants and methods of making the same. Double engrafted plants combine a single rootstock with at least two or more scions. The rootstock can comprise multiple stems and each stem can be engrafted to multiple scions.

Description

GRAFTING METHOD AND GRAFTED PLANTS OBTAINED THEREOF

The present invention deals with grafted plants as well as with a method for providing grafted plants.

Grafting is a technique long-used by farmers and gardeners to combine desired attributes of the rootstock with those of the scion.

In the past, grafting was mainly used in herbaceous plants and trees whereas nowadays this technique is also used for annuals, and the percentage of engrafted vegetable seedlings comprising a rootstock and a scion increases constantly.

Numerous vegetables and in particular tomato plants, are more and more engrafted in the vegetable industry. Indeed, this technique improves the quality of final plants by combining the features of the rootstock, such as disease resistance and vigour, with the features of the scion producing high quality fruits. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most consumed vegetables around the world. Many varieties are cultivated for their fruits, harvested and commercialized all around the world. Tomato plants may produce fruits having different sizes, shapes and colors. Depending on the variety or cultivar, tomato fruits may have different skin colors like red, yellow, black, brown, pink and even white. The fruit size ranges from small tomatoes known as cocktail or cherry tomatoes to big tomatoes called beef tomatoes in relation with their similarity of shape. Tomato varieties or cultivars may also differ in regards to the shape of the fruit, being round, elongated, flattened or pear-shaped, the most common types encountered. Besides morphological differences, tomato fruits can also exhibit physiological differences such as sugar content, shelf-life and the like. Tomato plants come from the solanaceae family, from solanum genus, and lycopersicum species. Thus, tomato can be grafted with varieties of the species lycopersicum, but also with other species or genus within the solanaceae family. Other vegetable crops like cucurbits and peppers are also subject to grafting for the same reasons as explained above for tomato. Among the cucurbits, melon, cucumber, watermelon and squash can be cited.

The use of grafted young plants is widespread in the agricultural industry by professional growers in order to achieve higher yields thanks to the vigor and resistance to diseases provided to the whole plant by the rootstock. The plant behavior allows cultivation for a long period of time and thus yields high quantities of fruits. Grafted plants are usually used by professional growers in protected production of vegetables in glass-houses, passive or active. The grafted plants are tethered onto a support that allows the continuous growth of the stem and the highest amount of fruits per plant.

Recently, gardening has become more and more attractive for a lot of people who aim at producing their own vegetables. However, cultivating vegetable plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or the like for example, involves a minimum amount of space for the plant to be grown. Accordingly such gardening activity mainly concerns people living outside of the towns rather than citizens living downtown. In order to overcome this lack of space, alternative forms of plant cultivation have been proposed in order to allow cultivation of vegetable plants in restricted areas such as balconies or patios. Thus, plants producing baby fruits, upside-down culture and dwarf plants have been proposed in order to take into account the space constraint of city gardeners. Moreover, more and more consumers are using vegetable plants for ornamental purposes and the constraint on space is again prevalent.

Faced with the ever increasing varieties of vegetable crops and cultivars available on the market, consumers who are limited in space on their patio or balcony are not able to have the number of plants that they wish to grow for their own consumption and/or ornamental purposes.

There is thus a need for alternative vegetable plant types addressing these needs of providing as much variety as possible in a restricted area. Accordingly the present invention concerns a grafted plant comprising a rootstock engrafted with at least two different scions, wherein said at least two different scions belong to different varieties. In another embodiment, the present invention concerns a method for producing a grafted plant comprising the steps of: a) providing a rootstock, (b) providing at least two compatible scions belonging to two different varieties; and (c) effecting the grafting of the scions onto the rootstock. In an embodiment the grafted plant according to the present invention is obtained by grafting a rootstock with any compatible scions. The choice of the scions to be grafted onto the rootstock is not critical provided they are compatible in term of grafting-ability.

The plant of the present invention being particularly suited for the home gardener wishing to produce their own vegetables, in a preferred embodiment, the rootstock can be selected in the group comprising solanum, cucurbitaceae and capsicum species.

Due to compatibility constraint among species, the at least two scions to be grafted may be selected in the same group than the rootstock onto which they are grafted.

In the context of the present invention, the terms "variety" or "varieties" correspond to the usual denomination in agricultural industry and correspond to a plant of a given botanical taxon which is distinct from other existing plant, which is uniform and stable. Detailed description of the invention:

The present invention relates to plants comprising a rootstock engrafted with at least two different scions belonging to two different varieties.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the example description herein of the invention, it should be considered with any sorts of compatible scions and rootstocks, and for any sorts of grafting methods. Thus, the invention is capable of other embodiments carried out in various ways.

Definitions The term "engrafted plant" refers to a plant comprising a rootstock and at least one scion, preferably at least two scions, wherein the scion(s) is (are) grafted onto the rootstock by any method known in the art.

As used herein, the term "rootstock" refers to part of a plant comprising the rooting system of that plant and intended to receive a scion.

The terms "scion" refers to the stem part of another plant, usually aerial parts, usually the primary stem that is used in the union with a rootstock in grafting.

"Double engrafted plant" refers to a plant comprising a rootstock and at least two different scions varieties grafted onto the rootstock. The choice of the rootstock is not critical and it may easily be chosen by the person skilled in the art for its rooting characteristics, its disease resistances and for the vigor it can confer to the engrafted plant.

Therefore the rootstock may be selected from the group comprising Solanum, Capsicum and Cucurbitaceae families. In one embodiment, the rootstock can be selected from the group comprising Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum habrocaites, Solanum cerasiforme, Solanum pimpinellifolium, Solanum cheesmanii, Solanum parviflorum, Solanum chmielewskii, Solanum hirsutum, Solanum penellii, Solanum peruvianum, Solanum chilense or form the group comprisingand Solanum interspecific crosses (for example cross between Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum habrocaites).

In one embodiment, the rootstock is a tomato rootstock.

In one embodiment, the rootstock may be selected from the group comprising Solanum melongena. In a particular embodiment, the rootstock is an eggplant rootstock.

Many tomato rootstocks are available on the market and the person skilled in the art will be able to select the suitable rootstock for the grafting of selected at least two scion varieties.

As suitable tomato rootstock, Maxifort, Multifort or Beaufort may be cited. These rootstocks are very popular for their disease resistance and for their strong plant vigor and performance. Another suitable tomato rootstock according to the present invention may be Arnold from Enza Zaden for example.

According to the present invention the rootstock may also be chosen from the group comprising cucurbitaceae. Accordingly the rootstock can be selected in the group comprising cucumis sativus, cucumis melo, cucurbita and citrillus.

The cucumis rootstock may be selected from the group comprising cucumis melo and cucumis sativus, respectively melon and cucumber. Various types of melon are currently available on the market and usually correspond to groupings such as "charentais melon", "cantaloupe melon", "piel de sapo melon", "canary melon" or also "Gallia melon".

The cucurbita rootstock may be selected from the group comprising cucurbita pepo, cucurbita maxima, cucurbita moschata, cucurbita fisciforia and cucurbita argyrosperma.

The citrullus rootstock may be selected from the group comprising colocynthis, ecirrhosus, naudinianus and lanatus species. Citrullus lanatus, or watermelon, is the most known species in that grouping and many varieties are cultivated.

A suitable cucurbitaceae rootstock may be a watermelon rootstock such as Aurelia watermelon rootstock from Enza Zaden for example.

In the particular case of watermelon production, the present invention is particularly suited for seedless watermelon production.

Seedless watermelon is produced by crossing a normal diploid plant with a tetraploid plant. The tetraploid is used as the female plant and the other (i.e., the diploid plant) is used as the male or pollen parent. The tetraploid plant is developed by treating the plant with chemicals such as colchicines and or zalin. It is planted near the one that is the pollinator. The resulting watermelon that is seedless is triploid.

The fields should be inter-planted with the diploid watermelon plants to provide additional pollen. Planting them in outside row and every third row is recommended. The pollen is carried from one plant to the other by an insect like the honeybee.

Seedless cultivars are produced by crossing a tetraploid (4X=44) inbred line as the female parent with a diploid (2X=22) inbred line as the male parent of the hybrid. The reciprocal cross (diploid female parent) does not produce seeds. The hybrid is a triploid (3X=33), and is female and male sterile. Since the triploid hybrid is female sterile, the fruit are seedless. Because the triploid is also male sterile, it is necessary to plant a diploid cultivar in the production field to provide the pollen that stimulates fruit to form. Usually, one third of the plants in the field are diploid and two thirds are triploid. Cultivars should be chosen that can be distinguished easily so the seeded diploid fruit can be separated from the seedless triploid fruit for marketing.

The suitable rootstocks for watermelon are wild watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides), Lagenaria siceraria, the interspecific hybrid Cucurbit maxima x Cucurbit moschata, or Benincasa hispida. The examples are Ojakkyo (wild watermelon), Emphasis (Lagenaria siceraria) and Strongtosa (Interspecific hybrid) that are offered by Syngenta Seeds.

Production of seedless watermelon with interplanting male and female plants implies that the final yield in term of seedless fruits is reduced due to the fact that the fruit from male plants are discarded. The seedless watermelon production is done by inter-planting (within row or between rows) the triploid watermelon plant and the diploid watermelon plant (called pollenizer). Growers may not harvest seeded watermelon fruit from the pollenizer plant. Therefore the seedless fruit yield is lower than it could be.

Therefore a plant according to the present invention comprises a watermelon rootstock engrafted with two watermelon scions, one scion being a triploid scion and the second scion being a diploid watermelon scion.

The present invention encompasses a method to engraft at least two scions on the same rootstock; these at least two scions belonging to two different varieties or cultivars.

The selection of the at least two scions is not critical as such, provided they are compatible for grafting with the selected rootstock.

One embodiment of the present invention is an engrafted plant wherein at least two scions are engrafted on one single rootstock.

In a preferred embodiment, these at least two scions are selected from the group comprising Solanum, Capsicum and Cucurbitaceae. In one embodiment, the at least two scions can be selected from the group comprising Solanum.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least two scions are selected from the group comprising Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum melongena group, taken alone or in combination.

In a further embodiment, the at least two scions are selected from the group comprising tomato and eggplant taken alone or in combination.

In a more preferred embodiment, the at least two scions are tomato scions and are different tomato varieties or cultivar.

Accordingly, the engrafted plant according to the present invention can comprise at least two different tomato scions varieties or cultivars. Those scion varieties or cultivars may be any type of tomato provided they are compatible for grafting with the rootstock.

The at least two tomato scions varieties may therefore be different, and may be selected from the group comprising: standard tomato, beef tomato, cherry or cocktail tomato, San Marzano tomato, saladette tomato, plum tomato, Marmande tomato, on the vine tomato, alone or in combination.

The at least two tomato scions varieties may therefore be different, and may have a colour selected from the group comprising red, pink, brown, green, white.

The at least two tomato scions varieties may therefore be different, and may be selected from the group comprising determinate and indeterminate tomato.

Accordingly, the engrafted plant according to the present invention may be a plant comprising a rootstock, preferably a solanum rootstock, more preferably a tomato rootstock. Such rootstock is engrafted with at least two scion varieties, preferably at least two Solanum scion varieties, more preferably two tomato scion varieties, these two tomato scion varieties being different.

In a preferred embodiment and to maximize the advantages and benefits of the present invention, the at least two scions varieties may be different and selected from among the available collection of tomato varieties available on the market.

In the context of the present invention, the choice of the at least two different tomato scions can be made by the person skilled in the art easily and there is no limit - except grafting compatibility - in the selection and combination of the different scion varieties to be engrafted onto the rootstock.

For example, on the one hand a cocktail type tomato variety can be selected and on the other hand a plum type tomato variety can be selected. Alternatively, a beef tomato scion variety can be chosen on the one hand and a San Marzan tomato scions variety can be chosen on the other hand. As it can be seen the choice of combination of different tomato scions varieties to be combined is almost unlimited.

The same type of combination applies to cucurbitaceae, and capsicum.

According to the present invention, the at least two scions may also be selected from the group comprising cucurbitaceae. Such selection of the at least two scions belonging to the group comprising cucurbitaceae is particularly relevant when the rootstock is selected in the group comprising cucurbitaceae. The grafting compatibility between species among and between those groups allows numerous combinations of double engrafted plants.

Thus, as a non-limiting and illustrative example, cucurbita scions can be grafted on cucumis rootstock; cucumis scions can be grafted on citrillus rootstock; citrullus scions may be grafted on cucurbita rootstock; citrillus scions may be grafted on cucumis rootstock.

Obviously scions of a given group can easily be grafted on rootstock of the same group.

The cucumis scions may be selected from the group comprising cucumis melo and cucumis sativus respectively melon and cucumber. Various types of melon are currently available on the market and usually correspond to groupings such as "charentais melon", "cantaloupe melon", "piel de sapo melon", "canary melon" or also "Gallia melon".

The cucurbita scions may be selected from the group comprising cucurbita pepo, cucurbita maxima, cucurbita moschata, cucurbita fisciforia and cucurbita argyrosperma.

The citrullus scions may be selected from the group comprising colocynthis, ecirrhosus, naudinianus and lanatus species. Citrullus lanatus or watermelon is the most known species in that grouping and many varieties are cultivated. The citrillus scions maybe selected in the group comprising diploid or triploid citrillus scions. Selecting one citrillus scion in the group of diploid scions and a second scion on the group of triploid scions allows the production of seedless fruit thanks to the planting of one single plant and does not require interplanting of one diploid plant next to a triploid plant. Additionally, the at least two scions varieties may be of different colour and a plant according to the invention may comprise a first scion variety of a given colour and at least a second scion variety of a different colour.

The plant according to the present invention comprises at least two scions engrafted on a compatible rootstock.

Typically the grafting is achieved by encouraging the fusing of the tissues of one plant with those of another plant. One plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion. Typical stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type. For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants have to be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues should be kept alive until the graft has taken, usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection take place between the two tissues. In order to obtain plants according to the present invention, two scions stems are engrafted on the stem of the rootstock in order to achieve vascular connection between the two tissues.

While usually the rootstock for engrafting may be a one stem rootstock, it may also comprise more than one stem for grafting scions. Thus in order to increase the number of engrafted different scions cultivars, it is still possible to use a root stock with 2 or more stems that is Y shape in order to provide two or more rootstock stems for supporting and grafting scions.

Depending on the size of the rootstock stem and scion stem, it is still possible to engraft and achieve the fusing of more than two scions on one rootstock stem. Accordingly, depending on the nature and quality of the rootstock, the number of stems of the rootstock as well as depending on the grafting technique, the number of different scions engrafted on one rootstock may be 2, at least 2, at least 3, at least 4 , at least 5, at least 6 or at least 7 even at least 8.

The grafting technique used with a single or double stem rootstock is not critical and will be chosen by the person skilled in the art depending on the nature of the rootstock and scions. Therefore, depending on the number of scions engrafted onto the rootstock stem as well as the number of rootstock stem to be engrafted, the combination of rootstock stem and engrafted scion may be selected for example in the group comprising :

1 stem rootstock and 2 different scions

- 1 stem rootstock and 3 different scions

2 stems rootstock and 4 different scions

2 stems rootstock and 5 different scions

2 stems rootstock and 6 different scions

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the plants according to the present invention comprise at least two scions engrafted on one rootstock. The grafting can be achieved according to various techniques comprising, but not limiting to, whip and tongue graft, splice graft, tip-cleft graft, side graft, saddle graft and bud graft, for example.

In fact, the grafting of a scion upon a rootstock is a common horticultural practice used for many years in the propagation of woody plants. Once grafted, water and nutrients are transported from the rootstock to the scion to support growth of the scion. As of today, grafting is widely used with a variety of plants species, to improve the horticultural traits of the resulted grafted plant. The percentage of engrafted seedling comprising a rootstock and scion used in field crops is growing constantly in modern agriculture practice. To meet the growing demand for grafted seedlings, various methods have been developed for high throughput grafting. In all methods employed, complementary ends of the scion and the rootstock are brought together to form a graft union. Callous tissue forms at the graft union as part of the normal healing process of the plant and serves as a conduit for water and nutrients between the scion and rootstock.

Grafting involves the union of two independent plant parts into one plant. It permits to unite the lower end portion of a scion and the upper end portion of a rootstock of another plant variety in order to combine desired features of each part.

Such combination may be performed in various ways, including, but not limited to whip and tongue graft, splice graft, tip-cleft graft, bark graft, side graft, saddle graft and bud graft etc. Cleft graft is one of the simplest and most popular forms of grafting; cleft grafting is a method for top working both flowering and fruiting trees (apples, cherries, pears, and peaches) in order to change varieties.

The bark grafting is used primarily to top work flowering and fruiting trees. In contrast to cleft grafting, this technique can be applied to rootstock of larger diameter.

Splice grafting is used to join a scion onto the stem of a rootstock and is simple method is usually applied to herbaceous materials, or it is used on plants with a small diameter. Rootstock is cut in a diagonal cut and the same type of cut is made at the base of the scion. The scion is fit to the stock and the junction is wrapped and secured by grafting wax or grafting paint.

The whip and tongue technique is most commonly used to graft nursery crops. Both the rootstock and scion should be of equal size. The technique is similar to splice grafting except that the whip on the rootstock holds the tongue of the scion in place. For the whip and tongue graft, make similar cuts on both the stock and scion. The two last methods of grafting, splice grafting and whip and tongue grafting, are specially used for vegetable grafting, wherein one rootstock are binding to one scion both having interesting characteristics.

All vegetable grafting is already made between just two varieties of rootstock and scion. The rootstock is often chosen for its rootstock disease resistances, and its strong rooting power, whereas the scion is mainly chosen for its quality of fruit productions.

Prior to the present invention, all of these grafting techniques were performed with only one rootstock and only one scion. It has not been previously contemplated to provide either a double-stemmed rootstock or multiple scions on one rootstock stem.

In a particular embodiment, the foliage part of the rootstock (the head) is removed in order to leave at least one stem for grafting. An incision is done from the top of the at least one stem, longitudinally, on one side of that stem and repeated at least one time more, opposite to that first incision. The length and deepness of that incision is arranged in order to fit with the scions to be inserted. The incisions can be repeated if more than one stem is used on the rootstock. The at least two scions can be taken from any cultivar as explained above provided they are compatible for grafting with the rootstock. A first scion can thus be inserted into the longitudinal incision of the rootstock stem as explained above and maintained thanks to any appropriate mean such as clip or tube for example. In order to facilitate the insertion of the scion into the longitudinal incision arranged on the stem of the rootstock, the scion stem can be cut with an angle of about 30 to 60° for example, particularly about 60°.

The second scion can thus be inserted into the second longitudinal incision of the rootstock and maintained by the same mean. Usually, care should be taken upon insertion of the second scion in order to avoid disrupting the first grafted one. Alternatively, the at least two scions may be inserted one after the other and thus maintained by the appropriate mean, a clip for example, after insertion of both scions.

The insertion of a further third scion is still possible if the diameter of the stem of the rootstock allows to arrange more than two longitudinal cuts. The present invention brings many benefits to the gardening field. Double grafting plants of tomatoes offer an original alternative for Upside-Down cultures, for example.

Accordingly, the plants of the present invention offer interesting alternative for in patio- container productions, offering at least two distinct varieties of tomatoes or peppers for example in reduced space of production.

The present invention contemplates the simultaneous growth of at least two distinct plants varieties on the same rootstock offering the equivalent of the growth of at least two types of plant in a space occupied by one plant and thus allowing the production of at least two types of different fruits on one single plant occupation zone.

A further advantage of the plants according to the present invention is cost saving. Indeed, besides the saving in term of space, the fact of growing at least two varieties -for example at least two different tomato varieties- in one single pot, allows a saving in term of container, growing medium, fertilizer and the like. Since the vigor is brought by the rootstock, both scions varieties are benefiting from the properties of the rootstock. The fact of using one single rootstock for growing at least two different varieties further saves the cost of one rootstock. Eventually the grafting cost is also reduced since the labor for grafting is reduced thanks to the use of one single rootstock for more than one scion. Moreover, the possibility to produce two different types of fruit onto one single plant provides a gain in convenience and substantial time-saving for the customer. On the other side, the present invention provides originality with fruits that may have, different skin colors resulting in a bi-color plant, or different shapes or different size conferring an original overview of the plant.

Finally, it is clear that the plants according to the present invention provide great space- savings and are particularly suited for home gardeners who do not have enough space to growth several plants on their premises, balcony or patio.

Example of Double grafting with Tomato Arnold variety (Rogers) is used as rootstock.

Supersweet 100 (Fl hybrid cherry tomato) and RFT 9102 (Fl hybrid cluster tomato) are used as scions varieties.

The planting of the rootstock should be made 3 to 7 Days before the scion varieties. The stem of the rootstock should be long (about one inch); therefore the plant is shaded to stimulate the fast-growing of the stem. The girth of the rootstock should be sufficient to accommodate two scions. After a visual determination and around 14 days after the scion sowings the grafting process can begin as follows: First, make a transversal cut to the rootstock below the cotyledons. Second, make a longitudinal cut of 1.0 - 1.5 centimeters on one side of the hypocotyl and another on the opposite side (the cut should be as long as the grafting clip). Discard the foliage of the rootstock into a waste container.

Third, cut the first scion variety (i.e. Supersweet) at a 60 degree angle and insert into the longitudinal cut of the rootstock. Slide the clip upward to secure the graft. Fourth, make a similar 60 degree cut to the second scion (i.e. RFT 9102) and without disrupting the first grafted scion, insert into the opposite longitudinal rootstock cut.

Mist the newly grafted plants and place in a cool area (25 to 28 C°) with high relative humidity (no less than 80%) and low to moderate light intensity for the next 5-6 days. Start acclimatizing the plants to outdoor conditions gradually. The plants should be ready for transplanting 10 to 14 days after grafting.

Claims

CLAIMS claimed is:

(1) A double engrafted plant comprising a rootstock engrafted with at least two different scions, wherein said scions belong to different varieties and are compatible with said rootstock.

(2) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock is selected from the group consisting of Solanum, Cucurbitacea and Capsicum species.

(3) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock and the scions are from the same species.

(4) The plant of claim 2 wherein the rootstock is selected from the group consisting of Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum habrocaites, Solanum cerasiforme, Solanum pimpinellifolium, Solanum cheesmanii, Solanum parviflorum, Solanum chmielewskii, Solanum hirsutum, Solanum penellii, Solanum peruvianum, Solanum chilense, the group comprising Solanum interspecific crosses, cucumis sativus, cucumis melo, cucurbita pepo, cucurbita maxima, cucurbita moschata, cucurbita fisciforia, cucurbita argyrosperma, colocynthis, ecirrhosus, naudinianus and lanatus species.

(5) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock is a tomato rootstock.

(6) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock is a solanum melongena rootstock.

(7) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock is a watermelon rootstock.

(8) The plant of claim 1 wherein one scion is a triploid watermelon scion and another scion is a diploid watermelon scion.

(9) The plant of claim 1 wherein the scions are selected from the group consisting of Solanum, Cucurbitacea and Capsicum species.

(10) The plant of claim 1 wherein the scions are tomato scions.

(11) The plant of claim 1 wherein the scions are selected from the group consisting of Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum habrocaites, Solanum cerasiforme, Solanum pimpinellifolium, Solanum cheesmanii, Solanum parviflorum, Solanum

chmielewskii, Solanum hirsutum, Solanum penellii, Solanum peruvianum, Solanum chilense, the group comprising Solanum interspecific crosses, cucumis sativus, cucumis melo, cucurbita pepo, cucurbita maxima, cucurbita moschata, cucurbita fisciforia, cucurbita argyrosperma, colocynthis, ecirrhosus, naudinianus and lanatus species.

(12) The plant of claim 11 wherein each scion is selected from a different species.

(13) The plant of claim 1 wherein the rootstock is a double-stem rootstock.

(14) The plant of claim 13 comprising at least four different scions.

(15) A method for producing a double engrafted plant, comprising the steps of: a. providing a rootstock,

b. providing at least two compatible scions belonging to two different varieties, and

c. grafting the scions onto the rootstock.