Advice On An Air Layer

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Hello everyone,
I recently started my first 2 air layers. One from a large in ground Pear Tree and one on a little Ginko Biloba “Elmwood”.

I need some help on the Ginko. I started this air layer 19 days ago. The tree has been healthy and has been growing pretty vigorously the last couple months. You can see in the picture it has 2 trunks. The one on the left is much taller and doesn't have a single branch .
I wanted to prune it down shorter than the right trunk and hopefully encourage some branching, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to air layer. The last 48 hours the leaves above the air layer have started to wilt and just gone limp. Even after watering. So I’m wondering what I should do. My first thought is to go ahead and chop it off, remove the foil, stick it in a pot and hope for the best. But I would love to hear from people with more experience that may have some feedback or advice.
See attached thanks!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Ill have to check Dirr, but if memory serves me, they do root from cuttings so... shouldnt be a problem with species. Maybe try cutting the branch back to leave less foliage on it to reducd perspiration? Its a small branch, i probably would have tried cuttings instead of an air layer.

 

[Jrmcmich]

Do you have any pictures of the air layer where you cut the ring of bark off?

 

[SeanS]

That’s a pretty skinny, tall layer. The weight of it blowing around has possibly damaged the heartwood where you did the layer. Try supporting it with a stick shoved into the pot and some ties or wire to attach it to the stick.

 

[Shibui]

No real scale in the photos but it is common for air layers on thinner stems to fail. I believe that's something to do with not enough circulation after the bark and cambium is peeled, especially if you cut a bit too deep.
As mentioned, ginkgo strike as cuttings very easily so maybe cuttings would have been more appropriate.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Do you have any pictures of the air layer where you cut the ring of bark off?

No I didn’t get any pictures of it. I should have and definitely will next time.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

No real scale in the photos but it is common for air layers on thinner stems to fail. I believe that's something to do with not enough circulation after the bark and cambium is peeled, especially if you cut a bit too deep.
As mentioned, ginkgo strike as cuttings very easily so maybe cuttings would have been more appropriate.

This branch is about the width of my forefinger. Slightly over an inch thick and already hardened off. So probably too big for a cutting I would think but maybe I’m wrong. I think I’ll do as

Ill have to check Dirr, but if memory serves me, they do root from cuttings so... shouldnt be a problem with species. Maybe try cutting the branch back to leave less foliage on it to reducd perspiration? It’s a small branch, i probably would have tried cuttings instead of an air layer.

I will give that a shot thank you

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

No real scale in the photos but it is common for air layers on thinner stems to fail. I believe that's something to do with not enough circulation after the bark and cambium is peeled, especially if you cut a bit too deep.
As mentioned, ginkgo strike as cuttings very easily so maybe cuttings would have been more appropriate.

Ya I should done something to show the scale. The trunk with the air layer is about 3.5 ft tall and a little over an inch thick at the base. About the width of my forefinger.

 

[Shibui]

This branch is about the width of my forefinger. Slightly over an inch thick and already hardened off. So probably too big for a cutting I would think but maybe I’m wrong. I think I’ll do as

Thicker than I had guessed. Should have been big enough for a layer so that leaves technique, conditions or just bad luck as explanations for apparent failure.
Most of my cuttings are from 1 year old shoots but pencil thick and up to finger thick will strike as cuttings.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Thicker than I had guessed. Should have been big enough for a layer so that leaves technique, conditions or just bad luck as explanations for apparent failure.
Most of my cuttings are from 1 year old shoots but pencil thick and up to finger thick will strike as cuttings.

Oh wow, no kidding. Didn’t you could do hardwood cuttings on ginkgo. Awesome. I really should have picked a different variety of ginkgo for bonsai but we’ll see how it goes w this one for a while

 

[Lorax7]

This isn’t a great time to be starting layers. Generally, in spring after the tree has leafed out is the time to start a layer. It sounds like the layer is having trouble keeping up with transpiration in the hot Texas summer. Reducing the foliage mass is probably necessary to avoid dehydrating the layer. Unfortunately, that will also slow down root production because less foliage means less auxin. But, the branch won’t survive if it dehydrates, so I don’t see another option.