Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How do i make my project more scientific?? Im in an honors 8th grade science class and my teacher/football coach expects a lot out of my project... Im doing a project to do with Vine Grafting.... I have access to everything agriculture as my parents own ag companies........ Please HELP!!!!!

Hello, and welcome to Scibuddies.
Grafting is a very ancient and reliable method for growing a desired variety of fruit tree or grape vine onto a hardy root stock. It is a proven method, but I am having a hard time coming up with a science project that you can do that uses vine grafting. Science uses innumerable methods and techniques in doing experiments but these are not hypotheses. You need to ask a question that would require you to use grafting in order to answer it.

I used to think it would be cool if oranges and lemons, or pears and apples could be grown on one root stock, but I realize now that apples and pears are too genetically different to be graft compatible. But why is this exactly? If we understood the genetics better, maybe we could figure out a way to graft a pear scion onto an apple root stock. I believe this is possible--just not right now. If you wanted to tackle a really tough problem, that would be one to try.

I know there are plant hormones like auxins and giberellic acid that affect plant growth, but I don't know if they have any effect on grafting. You could do some searching for this and see if any information is out there. This would make a good project and one that you could do with grape vines if you have enough time.

Good luck,

Sybee