Air Layering

[legoman_iac]

Inspired and reminded to layer some more, did three today ... one on my big trunk, and two on a fork I layered off the trunk few years back. Need to add some alfoil tomorrow to keep it shielded a bit.

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[BonsaiBobbie]

No photos of mine, but Friday I was wondering, “why should you check how your air layers are going?” As in why should you unwrap the plastic.

I am glad I did. The first I did was the fig I had done some time ago before I sharpened the knife. I swear it must have taken as the Moss suddenly dried out. No I hadn’t actually pulled the bark off properly. All good fixed that.

Next was a jacaranda. The moss had slipped somehow but it was looking good.

Same with a JM.

Final JM. Perfect! Nice strong roots coming through. I could take it off now, but will leave a few more weeks. I decided I’d also put another layer on another part of the tree too.

[legoman_iac]

No photos of mine, but Friday I was wondering, “why should you check how your air layers are going?” As in why should you unwrap the plastic.

I know how you feel ... last few layers I've done, I thought it was great, then find the trees usually bridge when you least expect it, guess it prefers to stay intact, haha.

Nice work on checking, hope they all work now!

[SuperBonSaiyan]

I put an air layer on a Chojubai back at the start of October and checked on it today. It had a mass of roots coming out from one side of the container so I separated it and pot it up.

My first successful air layer. I just hope the rest I've put on (mainly Japanese Maples) are as successful.

I was so delighted to see roots. I am curious to see how the roots emerge from the wood, but I didn't want to risk breakage so I just potted it right up - sphagnum moss and all.

[TimS]

Great result, I’ve never tried air layering Chojubai but good to know it works.

I’ve set I think 5 maple layers last week on shishigashira and Kotohime so we’ll see how long they take

[BonsaiBobbie]

Think this air layer on my JM was successful.

Can’t believe the roots are actually already sticking outside of the pot. I only cut it a week or so ago. It is sitting in a tile.

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This one is more targeted at the tree I took it from.

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I have another air layer higher up too.

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[SuperBonSaiyan]

An air layer I had put on a maple was unfortunately snapped off today.

I dug through the sphagnum and saw a number of white nodules on the bark - I assume these were going to turn into roots in the coming weeks.

I dusted it with further rooting hormone powder and stuck it into a pot. Is there any chance it'll develop roots? Or is it a lost cause? It was definitely old growth (around pencil thickness).

[Daluke]

Not all is lost. The nodules quickly turn to roots.

Hopefully it pulls through - if not, you can reuse the sphagnum and put on another layer.

[legoman_iac]

My trident layers aren't looking so crash hot ... might be staying too moist.

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[BonsaiBobbie]

Oh yeah. Not so good. I have been wondering about what is the real sign of air layering failure.

Is it no roots or no leaves (or more to the point, no roots AND no leaves).

[SuperBonSaiyan]

I put some layers on a shimpaku and some Japanese maples about 6 weeks ago. I can see roots through the plastic of the shimpaku, but haven't seen anything through the plastic of the maples yet.

Do shimpaku's root quicker than Japanese maples in general?

[SuperBonSaiyan]

My shsishigashira has rooted and I've taken off the layer.

Pretty happy with the success.

Should I partially defoliate it or leave it as is?

[TimS]

How much rootage do you have? I don’t think I’ve ever defoliated a newly separated layer to be honest

[SuperBonSaiyan]

How much rootage do you have? I don’t think I’ve ever defoliated a newly separated layer to be honest

I didn't check because I didn't want to disturb the moss ball but I saw a couple of roots at the bottom of the ball.

I won't defoliate either then, especially as Melbourne seems to be quite humid rather than dry over the next few weeks.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Hmmm... Is it normal for newly removed air layers to drop their leaves?

My shishi has crinkled more than half of its leaves since I removed the layer.

Not sure what to do to give it the best chance of survival.