AusBonsai

my neighbours has a large prunus in their front yard. they recently gave it a hacking, butchered it like they do every year. one of the large stumps (the remainder of a once long branch) has so much curve and character i asked them i may airlayer it. they are fine with me doing so. my question is, since it has just been cut bare, no leaves on this branch, can i still airlayer it or should i wait for new growth to sprout and harden off above where i intend to layer before actually applying the airlayer?

For an airlayer to be successful it is important to have the sap flowing. I follow a simple guideline for deciduous trees- Airlayer Melbourne Cup day and separate on Australia day.
This is only a short window but when new growth is strongest.
A tree which has been cut back will need to wait until the new growth is stronger maybe around Christmas time and leave for about 2 months.

do u mean leave it till christmas then airlayer and leave on for 2 months or that it will take till xmas to shoot and grow then leave for 2 months to harden off?

Wait until you see vogorous new growth, then put on the layer.
Monitor it after 6- 8 weeks and take off when you see positive root growth

Ken

exellent. do any of you guys know how long it takes a ground growing prunus to grow roots via an air layer?

sorry. i know you said 6 - 8 weeks. just not sure if that is a broad time frame or if its specific to prunus

Hi astroboy76,
Two months is a general time for a lot of trees. The prunus should have reasonable roots by then. Trees like Black Pine can take many months to have sufficient roots. As the layer fills with roots you will feel the layer getting firmer as it fills.

Regards Ray

cool. cheers!

Don't know much about different species of prunus but I've just got a couple of successful airlayers with a double flowering crabapple. The airlayers was done when the old buds started to push out young leaves and some late flowers. It tooks exaclty 7 weeks for the one i did to have heaps of roots. I didn't even bother removing the flowers.

kvan64 wrote:Don't know much about different species of prunus but I've just got a couple of successful airlayers with a double flowering crabapple. The airlayers was done when the old buds started to push out young leaves and some late flowers. It tooks exaclty 7 weeks for the one i did to have heaps of roots. I didn't even bother removing the flowers.

Hi Kvan, do you have any updates on this little fellow?

Ken