AusBonsai

Hey!
In a few weeks im going to be air layering a a few trees from a large japanese maple. Should i cut the section i want back to the stump/a few branches or is it better to take the whole branch, let it settle for a year and then cut?
Thanks in advance experts!
Nic

I'd suggest the latter. The foliage is what drives the formation of roots. The more foliage, the better the result in my experience. Is the tree dormant? I'd also wait until the spring growth has hardened before you layer but others may chime in with advice for your area.

Cheers mate, ill wait for spring for sure. So you rekon maybe place the air layer and when i cut the thing off do the larger cuts then?
The branch i want to do the cutting on is about 2 meters long haha.
Apriciate the responce mate

I've had success with layering tridents ... I wanted to take cuttings from my neighbour's JM, and was told winter is the time for cuttings, end of spring for air layers?

What @terryb said… leave the green, it’s the main driver behind the tree being able to produce the new roots. As much as possible until the layer is ready to remove, and yes… you can reduce when you remove the successful layer.
I look to put layers on maples around early October, and hope to remove around late December or so if things go well. You’re not in Melbourne though so timing might be a bit earlier…

Ryceman3 wrote: ↑July 5th, 2022, 3:08 pm What @terryb said… leave the green, it’s the main driver behind the tree being able to produce the new roots

Agreed. I'm a bit earlier, basically I layer as soon as the tree is growing gangbusters & cut off once roots are clearly visible (hopefully the second flush drives more roots). I won't cut anything until the layer's grown out the bottom of the pot it's in, and then under the usual rules: twigs in winter, branches in late spring

I’ve generally started them after the first flush hardens off here in Melbourne, and removed them once I see a good number of roots extending through the bag.

For straight species this can be as early as December as mentioned, though with one I’ve had it on as long as 18 months to be confident enough to remove it. Sometimes you’ll get amazing root growth quickly, sometimes you’ll get one single root. Just got to roll the dice and see what happens

How thick is the branch that you are planning to layer? You mention its 2m long so I'm guessing reasonable thickness. Is there something desirable about this branch that you see will make a good bonsai? I ask because if you cut it back to a stump as you mentioned you were going to, you will have a large scar that will take a long time to heal, especially if you are taking a layer, as I assume then you will be wanting to control growth rather than let it run to help with healing.

You may be better of doing the cut this season and use the strength of growth it has in the ground to develop the next section of trunk and heal the large scar. Maybe even spend 2 or 3 years developing the tree that you will eventually layer off. That way you have all the benefits of ground growing while it's still part of the tree, and have great roots, trunk and the start of branches when you layer and it can go straight into a bonsai pot for refinement.

Thanks Dansai i hadent thought of that. The tree im cutting from is very thick so i might even do all these ideas at once and see how it goes. Developing a bonsai on the tree is a bloody ripper of an idea though

TimS wrote: ↑July 5th, 2022, 9:43 pm I’ve generally started them after the first flush hardens off here in Melbourne, and removed them once I see a good number of roots extending through the bag.

For straight species this can be as early as December as mentioned, though with one I’ve had it on as long as 18 months to be confident enough to remove it. Sometimes you’ll get amazing root growth quickly, sometimes you’ll get one single root. Just got to roll the dice and see what happens

Have you ever air layered a dwarf variety of Japanese maple? I'm assuming these would take longer to root, but if you have had luck with cutting after 6-8 weeks or earlier, I'd appreciate any tips or advice.

I'm nervous about air layering the dwarf varieties I have because any failed air layering will take ages to regrow on the main tree.

SuperBonSaiyan wrote: ↑July 16th, 2022, 10:18 am

TimS wrote: ↑July 5th, 2022, 9:43 pm I’ve generally started them after the first flush hardens off here in Melbourne, and removed them once I see a good number of roots extending through the bag.

For straight species this can be as early as December as mentioned, though with one I’ve had it on as long as 18 months to be confident enough to remove it. Sometimes you’ll get amazing root growth quickly, sometimes you’ll get one single root. Just got to roll the dice and see what happens

Have you ever air layered a dwarf variety of Japanese maple? I'm assuming these would take longer to root, but if you have had luck with cutting after 6-8 weeks or earlier, I'd appreciate any tips or advice.

I'm nervous about air layering the dwarf varieties I have because any failed air layering will take ages to regrow on the main tree.

At one point i made a list somewhere on here with all the varieties i have tried and the varying successes and failures of them if you follow to this thread
viewtopic.php?f=129&t=26532&hilit=air+layering+class

From my experience it tends to matter more about the thickness of the branch than the variety (my personal exceptions to this are Mikawa Yatsubusa & Shin Deshojo which failed i think every one of the layers I tried).

Thumb thickness seems to be the sweet spot in terms of setting the layer and having it able to be removed within one season. The 18 month one was a dwarf variety called Murasaki Kiyohime, but i actually air layered below the graft to keep it on strong roots, however the trunk was more like 1/2 wrist thickness.