AusBonsai

About a year ago I started an air layer on the apple tree in the backyard.
It’s an older variety and it has suffered a lot of damage in its life. There was one branch that had a nice flow to it. So in an effort to learn the technique of air layering I started by ring barking a section and then wrapping the branch in a garbage bag stuffed with cactus potting mix. I just used a wide sticky tape to hold it all together. It was all going fine until a couple of months I was working on it, standing on a chair to carve some of the wood out, and I noticed some rot. I put it down to my poor technique allowing the water to soak into the wood and cause the rot. I would suggest using sphagnum moss like everyone seems to suggest to hopefully avoid this.
So off came the brank and it was put into a pot. I was still being careful to keep the soil moist, despite the rot. It’s the less of two evils to keep the soil wet and try and get root growth.

So a year later it tried to flower. It still doesn’t have a root system yet but it give a little idea of where I could go if I can get it to survive.

Hi Mate , i gave up using the spagnum moss and plastic wrap method , opting for an open pot method using bonsai mix with some added spagnum . While it has calloused up it may take another season or two to grow roots from there . It should have been left on for a while longer or at least have more growth foliage left to aid root production . It may very well grow a one sided root mass , as there is very little foliage and seems to be 1 sided . I would remove the flowers and concentrate on leave growth . All the best with it .

Cheers Alpineart

Keep an eye out for Nematodes as i have found air layered Malus are very susceptible. also keep vigilant for fungus. I dont know why the layerings are prone to nematodes but i have found through experience they just are.

Keep an eye out for Nematodes as i have found air layered Malus are very susceptible. also keep vigilant for fungus. I dont know why the layerings are prone to nematodes but i have found through experience they just are.

That might be a result of the rootstocks used to graft most apples. Many of the rootstocks have been selected because of their resistance to pests and diseases as well as size of tree. The varieties we grow for fruit are just selected for the size and taste of the fruit because disease resistance can be provided by the rootstock.
It does not mention nematode resistance but here is a list http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/h ... /rootstock

I think I can use the fact that the roots will be one sided. The plan will be to hollow out the branch creat a flow through to a canopy, after the next couple of seasons ofgrowth, of course.

I have been concerned about fungus because the parent tree has suffered from root, ideally it would have been removed much later on. Its good planning from the tree's prosective that the bark can still carry out photosynthesis. I'll have to look for any signs of nematodes. I don't like my chance of being able to graft on to this stick but maybe if I plan the next one better.

I did remove the flowers after the taking the photo and the leaves have started developong after a week.

The soft wood isn't ideal for the way I did the air layering as it was a harizontal branch and it would have worked better on a more vertical branch where water drained away from the exposed wood.

shibui wrote:It does not mention nematode resistance but here is a list http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/h ... /rootstock

Thanks Shibui, good info.