saw dust as substitute for sphagnum moss

[nozila]

Hi all,
I’ve watched a YouTube video and the guy was air layering a branch. Interesting he said you could use saw dust in place of sphagnum moss? Has anyone tried this or is there any truth to it. I’m thinking in terms of moisture retention, it may have some merit. Unfortunately he didn’t show the result of the air layer so no idea if it worked or not hence why I’d ask here to see your input.


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[shibui]

I have not done this so only conjecture here.

Sawdust does have reasonable air and moisture holding properties so could be suitable but sawdust also tends to absorb N as it decays. Provided you get the layer off early enough it should not affect growth much. If the layer was left in place too long there could be a N deficiency problem.
Sphagnum does seem to have some undefined positive affect on new roots. Plants that won't root in other media do root in sphagnum. sawdust does not have any of those properties as far as I know.
On the + side sawdust should be far easier to shake out of the new roots when you pot up the layer.

It would be worth doing some side by side trials to compare the 2 media.

[nozila]

I was thinking if you have ample branches to do air layers then you could do a comparison to see the results. I might give it a go in the coming season and see if there is any success in terms of root development, length of time it’s on and/or adverse effects from saw v sphag.


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[treeman]

When we had a retail nursery we used to heal in all the bare-root stock in sawdust and new roots quickly grew into it and they were nice and clean. Just make sure the sawdust you use is not from treated wood and that it is aged moist for a few weeks before you use it.

[robb63]

I tried sawdust from my MDF and pencil pine shavings because I had heaps of it.
Needless to say non of my plants seem to like the stuff so now I mulch it.

[shibui]

MDF has a lot of toxic glues and binders to hold it all together. You are supposed to avoid breathing any dust while working with it. I would not give it to trees

[nozila]

It’s meranti wood and as far as I know the seller said it’s directly from the mill.


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[nozila]

When we had a retail nursery we used to heal in all the bare-root stock in sawdust and new roots quickly grew into it and they were nice and clean. Just make sure the sawdust you use is not from treated wood and that it is aged moist for a few weeks before you use it.

Aged moist just means soaking in water I assume? Tried google but to no avail


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[shibui]

Aged moist just means soaking in water I assume? Tried google but to no avail

Correct. Should be kept damp in a pile for a couple of weeks to leach out any water soluble nasties, to soak up enough water and to begin the composting process.

It’s meranti wood and as far as I know the seller said it’s directly from the mill.

Not sure where we mill meranti in Australia. Maybe someone imports large flitches an breaks those down locally? Meranti is a name used for a number of tropical species that grow in SE Asia. Not grown here as far as I know.
More likely to be shavings from the planer when they dress and size the boards for final use.
Shavings from the moulder will probably be even better than sawdust from a mill.

[nozila]

I asked if it was treated before it became sawdust and the reply simply was no, raw from mill.

Worth a shot, nothing to lose since it’s going to be used in air layering.


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