How to promote aerial root growth? [Schefflera Aboricola]

[the-icon]

I've been interested in growing bonsai for a while now, and I've finally decided to finally follow through. I have about four years of experience growing dwarf umbrellas as deep-potted houseplants, and have read that they're among the easiest starter plants for novice bonsai growers; I want to start two or three new plants from cuttings in the new year, once I have some theory under my belt.

One of the foremost ideas in my mind at this point is how to encourage the growth of aerial roots. I've seen some really beautiful examples here on the site -- such as in Steven's post viewtopic.php?f=104&t=6366&hilit=aerial+roots#p73150 -- and if I can achieve even a fraction of the success I've witnessed, I'd be elated. There is one major problem, however: I have absolutely no idea how or why aerial roots grow, or how to promote them. All the schefflera I've grown so far (6 separate plants, 5 of which were propagated from cuttings of the eldest -- which is about 6 years old) have shown no signs of sprouting aerials. Google has yielded little so far, but it's a pretty fair possibility that I'm just not searching in the right places.

If there's any help you guys could offer, I would be greatly appreciative.

As a side note, is there any other helpful information you could offer to a first-time bonsai grower?

[Levuccio]

Hey mate,

Usually the areal roots start growing in high humidity, correct me if Im wrong, but there in Canada probably doesn't get that humid in the summer, so you could cover
your tree during summer with a dome or a plastic sheet so that the humidity is retained. If the humidity is high enough and you water it properly (+maybe use humidity tray), you should start seeing roots that then need to be kept humid in order to survive. This can be achieved by misting them and keeping the tree in a semi shade. If the roots dry out they will die and you need to remove them.

To answer why aeral roots grow, is to feed the large branches of the tree and to support their weight.

Hope that helped

Cheers

Levuccio

[the-icon]

Well, I live in an area that's pretty much surrounded by water, but it only gets hot enough for the humidity to spike for a few months around may to august, so a humidity tray would probably be best. Do you think it would help to raise them in a terrarium?

Is there anything else I should know?