Doing air layers different from now on...

Share your success stories about defoliation, bare rooting and anything else relating to maintaining healthy bonsai.
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fredman
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Doing air layers different from now on...

Post by fredman »

I'm over Sphagnum moss as a medium for AL. This season I did 12 layers. Half I used sphagnum and half a nursery pot filled with bonsai soil. The sphagnum ones that came off is good but the roots are so brittle, it cant be worked. Almost impossible to separate the roots from the moss. I just planted them in containers as is. I will just have to wait a season or two before I can work them further....
The ones that came out the pots were far superior. The roots are flexible and hardened off as it came out a bonsai pot. Some I washed the soil off, trimmed it similar to doing a repot or bare root planting. The roots are healthy, ready to be manipulated and already established.... :tu: I could get in right under the topside of the layer and separate it there. With the moss ones I had to separate it at the bottom of the layer.

I have two moss layers on a Acer osakazuki that didn't grow any roots at all. The muck (according to Ray M technique) is still on there and moist..... :palm:
I had a pot filled with soil on a different Acer osakazuki tree, and that grew roots right out the pot.... :clap:

That set me thinking and this is what I came up with. I found these colanders in a $2 shop. They are 200mm square by 75mm deep. I cut threw one side and wrapped it around the trunk of the osakazuki. Tightened it up to different places on the tree so it don't move, and filled it with bonsai soil. I'll leave it on until next year until it forms roots....
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fredman
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Re: Doing air layers different from now on...

Post by fredman »

The bottom pic is crushed granite that I put on top so the viscious winds here don't blow the soil out :whistle:
I have covered the sides with tin foil. That helps to contain moisture and to see the roots when they fill the container.
Raymond
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Re: Doing air layers different from now on...

Post by Raymond »

loving the colanders you have found...
fredman
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Re: Doing air layers different from now on...

Post by fredman »

Yeah I bought all he had. They are usually flimsy and breaks easily. These are much better quality...
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Re: Doing air layers different from now on...

Post by Bougy Fan »

I think spag moss is good for a layer that you don't have regular access to. I prefer the split pot myself for layers at home and I use a mix of zeolite, diatomite and chopped spag moss soaked in seasol as per RayM. This dries out fairly quickly so it must be watered once a day. It is much better for the new roots rather than have them entwined in the spag moss. However I never fiddle with any roots on a new layer - I very carefully pot it up after separation and wire it across the top of the plastic pot to stop movement.
Regards Tony

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