[IBC] Timing of A. palmatum airlayer

Jim Lewis

> Given that it is early August, which here in Houston means heat
near (or
> over) 100 for the next month or more and lots of nice
humidity - but also
> more than two more moths of growing season left - is now an
appropriate time
> to attempt an airlayer on a quite healthy A. palmatum "Shin
deshojo"? If
> not, can I do it at all before fall, or should I wait till next
Spring? I
> had intended to do it in mid-May after the leaves hardened off,
but the
> Spring and Summer got away from me.

MUCH too late for a layer on A. palmatum. The hot air, the
plastic wrap, the moisture inside it would result in a parboiled
maple. Start you air layer next spring at about the same time
you would normally transplant, prune, etc. It will take most or
all of the summer to get enough roots to separate the layer, so
at the hottest part of the summer, move the tree into the shade.

Jim Lewis - jklewis@nettally.com - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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