Air Layering

[Booyah!]

For how old and successful this method is I don't see anyone working it into their grows much.

I have tried it on Rose bushes so far using an old Sphagnum and Saran wrap method which leaves a lot of room for improvement.

So this is a thread on Air Layering

tell me your method...when you do it (veg/flower or time of season for outdoor). Have you been able to eliminate the small clone stage of your grow? What are the benefits for you etc.

Hopefully by throwing around and comparing ideas we can come up with a modern method that works and is simple to duplicate.

So bring on the Air Layering!

 

[vajra]

I am going to be trying this soon using beercups (split and taped) of promix fixed around a branch. There is an excellent video tutorial of this procedure for tomatoes on Youtube--sorry that I cannot remember the title. I am confident that air layering will work!

 

[razor ridge]

have done it with rapid rooters in veg only. You still have to wait till there is enough root mass to support the plant fully before you flower it

 

[Booyah!]

Welcome to the thread...

good info Vajra. I'll have to try and find that video soon (couldn't find it with a quick search so if you do please post the link), but can visualize the beer cups working quite well.

When I did it I found the wrapping of the branch with Saran wrap somewhat hard to get perfect with the loose sphagnum moss. I ended up wrapping and binding the spagnum moss with a string before I wrapped the Saran wrap around it...Never thought of using a cup which sounds like an easier solution.

Promix is mostly just peat and Perilite with some gypsum for ph if I remember right...well at least that's what sunshine #4 is and I'm pretty sure they are the same.

I bet using coco or a coco mix w Perilite in the cups would work very well. But you'd probably have to add water at some point since coco tends to dry a bit faster than peat in my experience.

Razor Ridge--I've read about someone using rapid rooters before, but can't remember where. Did you just wrap it with Saran wrap? How did it work out for you? Were you able to take really large clones?

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

Has anyone any tips for doing this on trees? Podocarpus and fruit trees? I tried this last year with not much luck, with about a handful of compost for each layering.. None took, but none have died.. They still look like they are part of the tree, no infections, but no roots after more than 6 months..I have coir available, is this a better option that the living medium? Hmmm. The beercups sound like a good idea.

I've had such good luck with my aerocloner lately for soft plants that I think I'm going to try throw tree green shoots in and see what happens.

Keep up the air-layering discussion chaps, Bom Booyah!

 

[Booyah!]

Hey MaryJane,

glad to hear from someone else that tried it too. I think coir may be better for initial rooting...perhaps a bit of compost mixed in might help, but I'd be worried about root rot in the early stages if too much was used. Then again...a popular method that works is simply cracking a branch and putting it under the earth--one I haven't tried but heard works just fine.

Heard good things about rooting almost anything in the aerocloner...let me know if your air layering works out on the Podocarpus and your fruit trees (might want to try your hand at grafting for fruit trees).

Thanks, I'll keep up the discussion...hopefully get air rooting up to date--I have a feeling with the right method roots could explode.

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

Fruit trees I just want to do for the hell of it and there are quite a few established trees where I stay but the Podocarpus and other endangered and indigenous trees that are also here I want to propagate thousands and thousands of them. For commercial reasons and for replanting in other areas where they are gone.. What happened in my country is equivalent to having the giant redwood forests cut down and leaving like maybe 10 of the big ones behind..in the whole country! So I want to do my bit.. Was really amped on the air-layering as I can make bigger seedlings off the bat but I'm going to try the greenshoots in cloners in the next few months.

Coir makes sense to me and I'll try it too when the season is right again. The compost didn't really work or so I think. None of the branches have rotted off though, they are just sitting doing nothing all wrapped up. Its been a few months and some were even done at the end of last year, I've unwrapped a few to see what is going on but nothing. I'll just leave them and see what happens. Cheers for the input bro..

 

[Booyah!]

Doesn't sound like they left much of a diverse gene-pool...good thing your helping re-propagate! I'll help out if I can. What type of podocarpus do you have? Do they self pollinate or would you have to be different siblings to be fertile? Apparently there are a few different types native to different counties but all seem to be endangered to some extent.

My air layering experiment (the one on the rose bush using sphagnum moss) developed a mass of root around the edges of the bark where I used hormone, but never sent roots into the sphagnum moss. I removed the sphagnum and re-potted into soil with the hope that the root mass would develop some hairs in the soil...the result doesn't look too healthy...hasn't died but definitely not growing either.

The sphagnum never did dry out even though the air layer was in the sun for almost 2 months straight. I think coir would have to be watered over that period, but that's just a guess. I bet you could even use an auto dripping system like the blu mats with the beer cups though. That's something I've never heard anyone doing but makes sense especially if maintaining many many air layering sites.


Good luck with your greenshoots! Interested to hear how that turns out in the aerocloner