First go @ airlayering, building a record

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 24th, 2015, 9:00 pm

G'day all,
My first attempt at doing an air layer on my ficus. I'm not a fan of ficus (beat me up later!), but I have come to revise it is a fantastic tree to learn on. So this poor specimen will be my guinea pig...

Background: delivering water all over our town I see plant suffering in offices everywhere. I was permitted to rescue this one tree and nearly succeeded in killing it last summer. It came back slowly and I reported it into a much bigger pot with potting mix, cow manure and a little blood & bone (all that I had at the time). It's tripled its trunk thickness from then to now... I am in awe, even tho I'm not a fan...

Hacked it back relentlessly, it comes back. Trimmed it so it wouldn't topple over constantly, it came back. Then I choose a few areas and formulated a plan for them (mainly broom style, but one branch will be a cascade).

Took a sharp knife and cut the bark deep to the hard wood. It peeled off remarkably easy and then I scraped the underlying hardwood to make sure if removed all the necessary material.

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I then flared the bottom edge (of the top bark) because, and I may be wrong here, I suffer from the illusion that that would assist in building a flared base from the get-go.

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Tied a wire underneath the flare (may be overkill but I'm making sure) and brushed on a mix of rooting hormone (mix of powdered and gel). Brushed this in between the flares, on the edge of the bottom cut bark and a little underneath the flare on the inside (probably a waste, but I had he mix there).

Now I cut a piece of Plastic (no idea of dimensions, but did it about triple the size of the cut, as a guess) and wired the bottom shut with some random gardening wire I had.
Then I filled the 'bag' with moist sphagnum moss that's been hydrated for a couple of days and tied off the top with more of the random wire.

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So now I wait.

I open this up for discussion, please show me where I can improve or things I have missed.

I noticed that the smaller the material the more difficult it is to 'fiddle' it all in!

Cheers
Elmar

Boics · Post by **Boics** » September 24th, 2015, 9:21 pm

Looks great to me Elmar.
You've been learning and good on your for putting a number of additional techniques into place here.

The only thing I would say is that I've found too wet a mix can prevent root growth.
It's actually a bit of fine line I've found as I'm always so concerned about things being too dry that I often err on the wet side to my detriment.

shibui · Post by **shibui** » September 24th, 2015, 9:25 pm

Looks good Elmar. As long as the top of your cut with its flared bit is touching the sphagnum it should root in a month or 2, maybe even quicker over there.

I noticed that the smaller the material the more difficult it is to 'fiddle' it all in!

Do you mean thinner branches/ trunk? With figs cuttings are easy and it is probably easier to make cuttings of anything under finger thickness.

The only thing I would say is that I've found too wet a mix can prevent root growth.

Just don't tie the bottom tie too tight so that excess moisture can drain out. Should be ok then.

Sno · Post by **Sno** » September 24th, 2015, 9:30 pm

Hi Elmar . Make sure your bag has some holes in the bottom for drainage . The sphagnum moss should be moist not soggy . I also wrap 'glad wrap ' tightly around the plastic bag to keep it air tight . I have found the problem with airlayers is once you start doing them they get abit addictive . Just for fun I would try it on some local natives too .
Cheers Craig

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 24th, 2015, 9:31 pm

Boics wrote:Looks great to me Elmar.
You've been learning and good on your for putting a number of additional techniques into place here.

The only thing I would say is that I've found too wet a mix can prevent root growth.
It's actually a bit of fine line I've found as I'm always so concerned about things being too dry that I often err on the wet side to my detriment.

Thank you - I did squeeze he moss but can not say with any certainty how moist it is... I can always get a needle and poke some hole into it at a later stage ... Will see what it looks like after tomorrow.
Then put up another picture and then let you comment.

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 24th, 2015, 9:33 pm

shibui wrote:Looks good Elmar. As long as the top of your cut with its flared bit is touching the sphagnum it should root in a month or 2, maybe even quicker over there.

I noticed that the smaller the material the more difficult it is to 'fiddle' it all in!
Do you mean thinner branches/ trunk? With figs cuttings are easy and it is probably easier to make cuttings of anything under finger thickness.

The only thing I would say is that I've found too wet a mix can prevent root growth.
Just don't tie the bottom tie too tight so that excess moisture can drain out. Should be ok then.

Thanx Neil - haven't had much luck taking cuttings, not that I've stopped! But that'll certainly open up another few opportunities for me!

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 24th, 2015, 9:34 pm

Sno wrote:Hi Elmar . Make sure your bag has some holes in the bottom for drainage . The sphagnum moss should be moist not soggy . I also wrap 'glad wrap ' tightly around the plastic bag to keep it air tight . I have found the problem with airlayers is once you start doing them they get abit addictive . Just for fun I would try it on some local natives too .
Cheers Craig

Haha - just beat me to it! I'm not sure I'll get glad wrap in there ... theres not a lot of room and I have passion fingers! Short stubby and not overly sensitive ...

Ryceman3 · Post by **Ryceman3** » September 24th, 2015, 9:40 pm

shibui wrote:Looks good Elmar. As long as the top of your cut with its flared bit is touching the sphagnum it should root in a month or 2, maybe even quicker over there.

Nice Elmar. In line with Neil I would think about adding extra wires around the layer to ensure there is contact between the sphagnum and the area you wish to root. That is generally key to a successful layer. Good luck!

Jarad · Post by **Jarad** » September 25th, 2015, 6:51 am

and now we wait.

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 25th, 2015, 7:47 am

I've packed the sphagmoss pretty tightly, but, as this is my first time, I'll be checking it every chance I get (reminder to self: No touching!)

Cheers
Elmar

Wayne R · Post by **Wayne R** » September 25th, 2015, 10:19 am

I'm of the opinion that roots need a darker environment to grow. I'd suggest wrapping the layer in alfoil so the dark doesn't escape.

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » September 25th, 2015, 10:19 am

Checked this morning. Sphagmoss is good but maybe too moist - holes punctured into plastic wrap.

Will attempt glad wrap this Arvo, but I like Wayne's idea - alfoil as that might assist in sun radiation deflection(?!?)...

Cheers
Elmar

Luke308 · Post by **Luke308** » September 26th, 2015, 11:10 am

alfoil or black plastic (garbage bag etc) will help keep the area warm, and protect from light.

I have used these before with great success http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 36&p=46938 and they have a black label to block light out.

Sno · Post by **Sno** » September 26th, 2015, 2:02 pm

With the glad wrap I think it would help in stopping the spag moss from retaining to much moisture .

Ben Thomas · Post by **Ben Thomas** » September 27th, 2015, 6:50 am

Thanks for posting your experiment. Really interesting. I'm in the same position, been thinking of trying on fig I scored cheap sometime ago. Feeling inspired! Look forward to seeing how yours works out. Luck!!!

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