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Air Layer Question

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Post  Jake16 Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:33 pm

When do the roots of a tree stop growing? I have this these air layers (one better than the other) and I finally got some sphagnum moss around them. I figured I have about a month or two for more/any roots to develop.
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Post  0soyoung Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:44 pm

When the temperature is in the neighborhood of 40F.
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Post  Leo Schordje Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:45 pm

(sitting here avoiding cleaning the kitchen)

Easy to root trees will root in as little as 2 months. Some, like pines will take years. So the answer depends on which species and your specific growing situation. If you don't see roots coming out to the plastic, don't separate the air layer. It can hang on all winter. In spring open the plastic, check for roots, if there are none, remove any new cambium that formed over the callus and wrap it up again.

Any air-layer that you separate in fall, you really need to protect from extreme cold in winter.

The process runs like this. First callous has to form, as in this Malus 'Ann' - Weeping Crabapple. I had wrapped a band of wire around the trunk in April. It is now July, and I removed the wire, scraped off the bark and cambium that had re-formed since April and hung a 1 gallon pot with bonsai mix over the site. In particular I scrapped the underside of the callus clean. That is where the roots should form. It might root out before fall, I used a pot with bonsai mix, so I am not planning on removing the pot until next spring.

Air Layer Question WeepingCrab-July2012-callous

Some trees resist air layering. Note that I said resist, not that it is impossible to air layer them. For example this Arakawa Japanese White Pine.
Air Layer Question AraKawaJWP-July29-2012after2years-inTurface

That was 2 years with a pot of Turface-pumice mix hanging over the air layer site. So I removed the wire, and scrapped it clean.

Air Layer Question AraKawaJWP-July29-2012cambium-removed

Then I re-wrapped it with wire, in part to keep the cambium from re-forming and in part to support the now thin strip of wood remaining. Hopefully the pine will root in the next year to 18 months, before the wood connecting and feeding the layer breaks.

Air Layer Question AraKawaJWP-July29-2012-re-wired

Then I re-wrapped with sphagnum for more moisture than the Turface-pumice mix was providing. Then I moistened the already damp moss with a rooting hormone. Note the Prop supporting the air-layer. It is for stability, don't want it to break before the roots form.
Air Layer Question AraKawaJWP-July29-2012final


Hopefully it will take. I have about a 50% success rate with air layering pines. Out of 20+ attempts, I have had 10 or so successes. JBP have the highest success rate for me, but I have had success with Mugo, JWP and P. strobus, so it can be done. I am afraid that this Arakawa may not form roots on this particular attempt, but I will keep it wrapped as long as it is still alive, even if it takes 5 or 6 years to get it to root. Twice a year I will open it up and re-clean the callus.

So I hope this helps.
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Post  Jake16 Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:53 pm

Leo,

Thank you it did help. I have one air layer on a american elm which has already callused and threw out a hand full of roots (two or three are pretty long, also this was before the switch over to sphagnum moss) Im assuming this one will take of quickly. The second is some type of oak which didnt callus much but did start throwing out small white bulges that are now 1/16 - 1/8 in (2-4mm) long. So I asked this question because I wanted to know if the roots would fill up the bag by the end of sept. I didnt know that they would be ok through the winter. What kind of winter care do you need to do for air layers? (watering, etc?). I have one more american elm air layer that is in line with the oak, I might undo that one and replace soil with sphagnum moss.
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Post  Jake16 Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:26 am

Also why didnt you just ring the trunk of the crabapple, scrap the cambium away and the put a pot around it?
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Post  AlainK Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:32 am

Jake16 wrote:Also why didnt you just ring the trunk of the crabapple, scrap the cambium away and the put a pot around it?

Putting wire around the branch and making it swell means more cells and auxins, thus more chance to produce roots, particularly with species that are difficult to air-layer.

It's a method that is also used to have a higher rate of success with cuttings.
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Post  Jake16 Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:47 am

Nice, should I do that witty all future air layers? Also for cuttings do you let it swell, cut, expose cambium, them pot?
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Post  0soyoung Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:10 am

AlainK wrote:
Putting wire around the branch and making it swell means more cells and auxins, thus more chance to produce roots, particularly with species that are difficult to air-layer.

It's a method that is also used to have a higher rate of success with cuttings.

I don't think this is entirely true. The basal flare or swelling is because more xylem cells are created by the pile up of sugar and auxin (i.e., the sugar primarily gets converted into cellulose for xylem cell walls). The only gain in living cells is the single layer of cambium cells (plus a few layers of xylem and phloem daughter cells) that cover the base of this flare. I do agree that there is an accumulation of auxins, though, and that these stimulate adventitious cells to become roots. However, one can dust a standard girdle with an auxin-talc powder, to have a higher rate of success with cuttings and air-layers. Hormex, for one, makes auxin powders in standard concentrations upto 4.5% IBA.

BTW, wire stricture of black pine produces amazing basal flare! But it does make what could be a 1 year air-layering process using a standard girdle into at least a 2 year long project instead. I don't have enough experience growing pines yet to know if the trade-off of time versus flare is worth it.
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Post  bucknbonsai Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:23 pm

leo, so do you wrap the trunk with wire for several months to get the flare, THEN you perform your air layer? Possibly if you want lots of flare prior to doing the air layer you could wrap more and more material and leave it on for several years, then air layer it? It sounds like you leave your airlayers on during the winter, since you live in the north your airlayers must be on trees in pots that you can move into protection right?
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Post  Leo Schordje Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:15 pm

Jake16 wrote:Leo,

Thank you it did help. I have one air layer on a american elm which has already callused and threw out a hand full of roots (two or three are pretty long, also this was before the switch over to sphagnum moss) Im assuming this one will take of quickly. The second is some type of oak which didnt callus much but did start throwing out small white bulges that are now 1/16 - 1/8 in (2-4mm) long. So I asked this question because I wanted to know if the roots would fill up the bag by the end of sept. I didnt know that they would be ok through the winter. What kind of winter care do you need to do for air layers? (watering, etc?). I have one more american elm air layer that is in line with the oak, I might undo that one and replace soil with sphagnum moss.

If the air layer is still attached to the understock, I simply winter the whole plant just as I would without the air layer in progress. Outdoor natives get moved to a shady spot with a wind break (under the bench) and partially buried in leaves, that's about all I do for locally hardy material. The less hardy material I winter in an unheated storage space under the patio, it used to be a well house. Gets to about freezing, seldom much below. If I separate a winter hardy air layer in fall, it will go with the satsuki azalea into the well house for the first winter. Extra protection might not be needed for newly separated air layers, but I do protect mine, and I protect any late summer & early fall repotted trees. The reason is just in case the new roots forming haven't had time to harden off and fully go dormant for a severe winter. I shoot to keep the well house above 23F, that seems to be mild enough that trees with roots that haven't had time to harden off will do okay.
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Post  Jake16 Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:21 pm

thanks Leo
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Post  Leo Schordje Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:22 pm

Jake16 wrote:Also why didnt you just ring the trunk of the crabapple, scrap the cambium away and the put a pot around it?

Actual truth as to why I did the wire wrap before the pot or moss. In April, my back hurt. I was not feeling up to hauling out my 'work tools' and doing the whole thing. I had a piece of wire in my hand that I picked up off the ground and said to myself if you don't get that air layer started, next year you will just end up cutting the branch off and throwing it out. So random expediency. And seeing the wire reminded me to take care of yesterday when I posted the response to this thread. Those pictures were less than an hour old when I put them up.

I should have made a note that for Malus species there is no need to do the 2 step process that I tend to do with my pines.
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Post  AlainK Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:01 am

I've used the "wire method" for several air-layers that I made a bit late in the season (last week in June) on maples and I've found back this photo of an A. palmatum I took during the process :

Air Layer Question 20120731114336-e38b026f-me

I did the same on a 'Shishigashira' and the roots are showing through the plastic container (a pot of Chinese noodle to put in the microwave oven when watching rugby on TV Wink ):

Air Layer Question 20120731114339-1557ed5d-me

An Acer buergerianum I did in June 2009:

Air Layer Question 20111229122055-d97c267f

In late October the same year:

Air Layer Question 20111229122112-db569972

Air Layer Question 20111229122202-5b547934

they were obver 1m50 (about 5 feet and a toe), and I then repotted them in very large pots so I could plant one in my garden later and keep the other one as a mother plant for further cuttings and air-layers and they were developping very well, but unfortunately they didn't survive last winter. I managed to save the base though even if a few of the new branches died and it's now recovering in a patch of my garden.
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Post  Jake16 Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:07 pm

Does any one no if cutting away more wood from the ring has better succes?
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Post  AlainK Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:58 pm

On the contrary, the more wood you take away, the fewer the chances are for the air-layer to take: you must remove the liber and the cambium so the elaborated sap can't go further down, and leave enough sapwood for the crude sap to go upward.

When I air-layed my A. buergerianum, I actually removed far more wood than was necessary.

Here is a page in English that explains the process:

How sap circulates in a tree

There's also an excellent article on a forum, but it's in French. The pictures speak for themselves though, and with the help of the previous link and Google translation, you should understand how it works:

La marcotte de A à Z
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Post  Jake16 Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:16 pm

Thanks Alain. I just saw u and a few people doing it, so I figured I might as well ask, thanks also for the links ill look at them as soon as I can
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