Air layering - Root development - How long?

[bonsaiarmy]

Hey all,

Some of you may remember me from my optimistic "[WANT]Cheap, thick-trunked bonsai" topic in the trading forum. Due to underwhelming response, I have opted for air-layering some well developed branches in my garden. This was my first attempt at air-layering and I did so on various tree species (from weeping cherries to jacaranda). When removing bark I did so in two different ways. On some branches I removed a full ring around the entirity of the branch and on others I did a half ring of exposure. I did this due to conflicting information I've read about air-layering. I always selected very healthy branches on very healthy trees, the sphagnum I used was soaked in water & seasol.

My question is.... how long should I expect to wait for roots to develop?
I assume tree species plays a part?

Any help = much appreciated.

Steve.

[Bougy Fan]

Hi Steve
Any layers where you didn't remove the entire ring will not work. The idea is to interrupt the flow to force the top to root instead of dying. Sometimes if you don't make the ring wide enough the tree will bridge the gap itself as there is less energy to do that than to put out new roots. Usually the rule of thumb is twice the diameter of the trunk for the width. Yes it depends on species - I have some benji's I did 6 weeks ago that I can remove now if I want. I have had natives take a lot longer - over a year for a banksia and callistemon. Try not to disturb them checking too often

Tony

[daiviet_nguyen]

Hi Steve,

Check out the Wiki. There are some good links in there on the air-layering subject.

I have never doused my moss in Seasol. But I have sprayed the rooting hormone powder (hard-wood) closer to the top edge of the ring. It is not expensive about $9.00 from the hardware store.

You will just have to wait it out We cannot tell the trees to hurry up

[Hornet]

I have 2 ficus air layers here, a month on and one has yet to even callous, the other has calloused but is yet to produce roots. Some species can take many many months to root. If your very careful it shouldnt hurt too much to cheack every month or 2 to check progress

[kcpoole]

Check the wiki here https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... =Air_layer
depending on species but anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 months

good luck
Ken

[bonsaiarmy]

Thanks everyone. I've ring-barked all my air-layers properly now. Time to play the waiting game