Soildoc

I've had a couple of successes airlayering crabapple. But my methods seem fairly simple compared to yours. I cut away the bark of the limb I'm wanting to separate and continue cutting fairly deep into the wood. I'll wet the cut area with water and then apply a paste of dry rooting hormone mixed with water. After I've sealed the cut with the hormone mix, I'll wrap soaked moss around the area followed by a layer of thin white plastic (think grocery sack) and then a thick layer of back plastic. I tie the plastic at the bottom with wire pretty tightly. This will cause the limb to put out roots much more quickly than a loose binding. I leave the top of the plastic open so I can keep the moss wet. After a good amount of roots start emerging, I'll tighten the bottom wire a little at a time until I feel that the root ball is enough to support the plant. After I remove the plastic, I'll cut the limb and stick the whole mass of roots and moss into a pot with soil. This method has worked pretty well and I want to try it on a bald cypress and a crepe mytle in my front yard next year. I also want to try trimming the new roots before planting. This is a method we use in the lab to increase our rooting for plants going into the growth chamber. It works well for row crops (I've worked with corn, cotton, and soybeans), but I don't know how it will work for trees.