Blue Atlas Cedar

[Ovaldes2019]

Hi all,

I’ve be looking for a good nursery stock blue atlas cedar for over a year now and can’t find any good for bonsai. This past weekend I did find one for $99 and also 30% on sale. It has a trunk about 4 feet tall. Can this be air layered to shorten the trunk? I stupidly didn’t get a photo so I’ll have to go back and get one.

 

[Hartinez]

Hi all,

I’ve be looking for a good nursery stock blue atlas cedar for over a year now and can’t find any good for bonsai. This past weekend I did find one for $99 and also 30% on sale. It has a trunk about 4 feet tall. Can this be air layered to shorten the trunk? I stupidly didn’t get a photo so I’ll have to go back and get one.

I think it all depends on the quality of the trunk and the base. An air layering is possible I suppose, but I haven’t seen a ton of it done on blue atlas.

 

[Ovaldes2019]

I think it all depends on the quality of the trunk and the base. An air layering is possible I suppose, but I haven’t seen a ton of it done on blue atlas.

If I did air layer I would be chopping off everything with it, so my question is would the root system be big enough to withstand keeping everything alive?

 

[Hartinez]

If I did air layer I would be chopping off everything with it, so my question is would the root system be big enough to withstand keeping everything alive?

I’m not entirely sure what you mean. If you’re talking about layering the tree, then chopping off all the foliage once it’s been seperated, it will almost certainly die.

 

[Ovaldes2019]

I’m not entirely sure what you mean. If you’re talking about layering the tree, then chopping off all the foliage once it’s been seperated, it will almost certainly die.

No, sorry that’s not what I mean. If I air layer it. Im going to air layer right bellow all the foliage. So it will all start from a new root system.

 

[Hartinez]

No, sorry that’s not what I mean. If I air layer it. Im going to air layer right bellow all the foliage. So it will all start from a new root system.

Gotcha. If you get a strong set of roots at the point of layer, there is no reason it wouldn’t survive if separated.

 

[Bowhuntmuledeer]

That seems like a pretty big risk I think. I tried to air layer one this summer and everything above the layer died. I did somehow manage to keep one of two cuttings seemingly alive for several months now though, while one deteriorated pretty rapidly. There would be a pretty decent chance I think that the layer would fail and you’d be out of luck with no foliage left below it.

 

[caffeinated]

They are supposedly layer-able, but they seem to have a pretty low success rate. If you do manage it, it may be a 2 to 3 year process.

 

[Ovaldes2019]

They are supposedly layer-able, but they seem to have a pretty low success rate. If you do manage it, it may be a 2 to 3 year process.

That’s what I have found so far. I think I might give it a try!

 

[WNC Bonsai]

There have been a few good air layering videos by a guy in England on air layering his atlas cedars successfully.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

There have been a few good air layering videos by a guy in England on air layering his atlas cedars successfully.

I just got a response from him and he has had very good success but he says you need to be patient as it takes about 3 years from the initial layering until you actually cut the rooted layer off and pot it up.