Winged Elm or Cedar Elm?

[Darth Masiah]

5/22/21
wahoo, i found a big one so i plan on airlayering a piece off next spring or the next. i was thinking of a fat, semi formal, upright type style. this limb fit the bill, and was pretty corky, so I'll let the tree start healing the sacrifice branch chop before i collect. should've seen me up in that tree clearing the thorny vines out of my way

there's my privet airlayer. my firethorn airlayer is down the fence line a little ways. my Korean managers like when i wonder around over here at work because i pick up any golf balls i see

 

[Darth Masiah]

i was bored

 

[Darth Masiah]

winged elm likes trying to roll over scars

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I like your plan. I'd also consider going big! Cut the trees main leader this year and take the whole trunk next year

 

[Darth Masiah]

I like your plan. I'd also consider going big! Cut the trees main leader this year and take the whole trunk next year

i was definitely considering that option, too. both the main leader (with the most bark) and shoot coming off (thats about the same size) need to be cut back, the latter almost to a stub, as i need buds to pop from the base of that branch.

 

[Darth Masiah]

last winged elm i airlayered did great with a perlite/vermiculite substrate, but i was watering it along with the parent tree, so i wasn't worried about it drying out. this time I'm using perlite/expanded coco coir brick substrate for more moisture retention similar to moss, but without the larger air pockets. i also tried to cut into the tree at an upward, 45° 'ish angle so what little of the old bark i didn't destroy would flow/transition into the roots better.

 

[Darth Masiah]

 

[rockm]

How you gonna cut that off the main trunk when roots show up?

 

[Darth Masiah]

How you gonna cut that off the main trunk when roots show up?

i have some ideas

(Shaolin Cowboy if you was wondering)

yeah, probably a battery powered saw.

 

[Darth Masiah]

checked on this guy yesterday. no roots yet, but callus has formed all the way around, and started bubbling out (so to speak) from a few areas.

 

[Darth Masiah]

finally got time to check this guy. i knew i probably had a bridge somewhere since i didn't see any roots poking out the bottom last month. and there was two. cleaned, cut, and packed back up.

 

[Darth Masiah]

the foliage on the two branches hasn't skipped a beat with the rest of the tree. hopefully i get some good root growth this spring. the flowers were poppin. the bees were buzzing.

 

[Zelrod]

Nice progression photos. I like your plans!

 

[Darth Masiah]

 

[Darth Masiah]

checked on this guy and there's two shoots coming out of the trunk. looks like they've been munched on. noticed a big air pruned root sticking up above the soil... not sure when I'm going to disconnect. no roots on the other side of the pot yet. i see small black ants moving into my soil, too.

 

[Darth Masiah]

leader shoot from the tip of the main branch. all the growing shoots have passed ten nodes already. i should have some good rooting going into next month. i was thinking of transplant and trunk chopping about the end of may. i saw Dolsam mention he gets excellent growth from the chop sites when he trunk chops ceder elm around the beginning of july at 90f.

 

[Darth Masiah]

checking on moisture level.

 

[Darth Masiah]

separated this airlayer on may 11. it was a great reminder how hard cutting through wet wood is
the roots it put out so far were all concentrated in one area like the typical elm response, but the callus looked good all the way around. hopefully it makes it

5/11

5/20
i noticed buds were starting to move


The Great Double H's elm airlayer is my favorite. this is the type of direction i wanted to try going asthetically.

 

[Darth Masiah]

 

[Darth Masiah]