Air layering maple between nodes?

[CptnGlyn]

Hi guys, quick question on air layers on maple, I have an arakawa with a horrendously long internode on the main stem. It’s luckily sacrificial growth, but I’d like to air layer it off all the same, that way, if nothing else, i have a good source for grafts down the way.
The only issue is that the ideal spot to air layer would be right in the middle of the section between two nodes. I didn’t know if this increases the chances of failure, or perhaps is impossible to do in such a location?

 

[misfit11]

You don't need a node to air layer. Nodes are where new shoots/leaves emerge. The roots from an air layer are going to be rising from the cambium/phloem

 

[Shibui]

Agree with above.
Go for your layer between nodes.
Just some words of caution. Layers don't always work on thinner branches. If you can still see nodes it may not be thick enough to work.

 

[CptnGlyn]

Yeah this makes sense. I kept seeing guides mentioning cutting near a node and I couldn’t work out why, perhaps just something lost in translation.

It’s an arakawa so the nodes tend to cork up first which is why I know where they are. This section is about thumb thickness. I have air layered it a few times already (in fact the tree itself is an air layer from a grafted nursery plant) but always near a node without stopping to question why.

 

[Shibui]

There sems to be a little more rootability closer to nodes which is why recommendations for cuttings is to cut just below a node but cambium can become bark, wood or root given the correct conditions and there's cambium under all live bark - nodes or no nodes.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Great question and I now understand that the layer can be cut on angle as it doesn't have to be straight across the node. Thank you for the "aha moment".

 

[misfit11]

There sems to be a little more rootability closer to nodes which is why recommendations for cuttings is to cut just below a node but cambium can become bark, wood or root given the correct conditions and there's cambium under all live bark - nodes or no nodes.

I wonder if this has to do with auxin concentrations near the nodes. They may be more concentrated as this would signal for shoot elongation. When you cut the cambium right at the node, those auxin concentrations would be devoted to root development.

With the addition of synthetic auxin (root hormone) you can cut anywhere along the branch/trunk and mimic the conditions at the node.

Just a theory. Don't know if this is true. Interesting though...