What To Do After Air Layering ?

Greggles

Hi!

I've sucessfully air layered a japanese maple (meaning inside the bubblewrap the roots have grown quite long and I can see them). The branch is around 1.5m and around 3 cm in diameter.

My question is:

a) do i cut it off and put it in a pot of full spagnum moss (and for how long?)

b)how do u stop this giant branch from stressing out once i cut it off?

c)how should i nurse it until it roots properly?

d)where should i cut it (as in cut it in half to make it shorter)?

Thanks!

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mkonig

Hi Greggles

From your atavar flag I assume you are somewhere down under.
I don't know what the seaon is down there, so take this with caution.

I have succesfully air layered Japanese Maples and Chinese Elms and Junipers here in the UK. This is my method.

As soon as the roots fill the bag of bubblewrap, cut the branch below the point where it has rooted. Take of the bubble wrap, but leave the moss (or whatever rooting medium you have used) in place. The new roots are the same consistency as bean sprouts and very easily broken, so trying to remove the moss could be counter productive.
Plant the whole thing in to a deepish pot with some sifted akadama or a coarse welldrained mix of peat and gravel and secure it in the pot with tiedowns so it can't rock or sway.
Keep the layer out of direct sunlight, away from wind (and frost free?), mist the foliage daily and keep the soil damp not wet.
Give the layer a few months to establish and for the roots to harden off. Don't apply any feed until it is starting to grow strongly!
It should be ok sort out the roots and to repot after a full growing season.

Hope this helps

Mike

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TreeBay

Hi Greggles,

I noticed you are in Australia and I just wanted to suggest that you wait until the plant is dormant before you lift the layer. You will be virtually guaranteed of success that way, even if the root system isn't fully matured. You can experiment in the future with lifting layers in the fall or spring. I would not try summer (like now) unless you are in a tropical or very humid environment. Of course experience is the best teacher.

MKonig's suggestion to wait for the roots to harden off is a good one. You'll note a color change as the roots will darken somewhat. The initial roots are succulent and snap easily. Later, they will have some fiber to them, which will make them more flexible and less likely to break.

Enjoy your new tree, and please post pictures of the process of removing the layer, if you can! Others would learn from this.

Regards,

Matt

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Jase1972

Greggles, given that it is such a large airlayer I would be tempted to wait also. The new roots are going to have to support a fairly large foliage mass when the layer is separated. Also your airlayer will need to staked in it's pot securely. I usually pot up new airlayers into a 50cm nursery pot with 50% sphagnum/50% free draining bonsai mix and tie 3 stakes around the inside of the pot. Leave it for at least a year, then rootprune and repot. It should be ok to repot into a bonsai pot after a further season.

Jase

Greggles

sigh..I just typed a whole message really long and it logged me out..

I was just telling ppl step by step how I did it hahaha..oh well...thanks for the msg guys..

it's summer here..one more month until autumn. So I guess I have a few more months to wait.

I will post pictures and step by step methods if I can sucessfully do this.

Tony

Most has been covered already but I'll add, when you remove the layer you want to prune the foliage so it won't stress the root system. Up til now the foliage has been fed by the main roots of the tree. When you remove the layer the whole load will be placed on the new roots.

Tony

Greggles

oh ok! so does that mean I can remove ALL of the leaves now? It's mid summer here.

Is all the growing energy still in the leaves or has it started to get back into the roots?

Tony

No, I should have made that clear, don't remove them now and don't remove all of them. Remove a few leaves when you cut the layer off the tree just to balance the top growth with the new root system.

When you cut a ring of bark away and remove the green cambium, like with a layer, it interrupts the flow of sap and hormones that flow back to the roots and they build up at the layer site instead. This in turn prompts the dormant buds to grow roots.

Tony

Greggles

hmm...so just once more for the dummies...

lets say this is the tree branch:

o o o o o <-- leaves
--------------------------< <--roots (area of air layer)
o o o o o

how much should i remove? and where?

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