Japanese Maple Air Layer

[0soyoung]

Congratulations!

 

[GrimLore]

I'm starting to think it's safe to call this a success, though winter may still have some tricks up its sleeve . . .

Good for you! Looks Happy and Healthy enough to make it through anything YOU call Winter!

Grimmy

 

[ColinFraser]

Maybe next year:

No repotting this year, but I did pick up this lovely Japanese mid century production pot that might be good for this tree in the future.

 

[Eric Group]

Aftercare is about what you are doing. Watch the water because it will not be really growing that much. The biggest problem is that the roots that grow on a layer do not have the network of really fine root hairs responsible for healthy growth. All of that was provided for at the bottom of the parent plant. Also, I have a theory, this is based on my theory and no scientific facts, just my study of maybe a hundred layers that I have done over the years. My theory is that layers that come from a plant in the upper 50 percent of the tree seem to have a much less chance of living after removal than a layer done in the bottom half of the tree, with ground layers done in the first two or three inches of the soil being the most reliable. It seems that while the old upper wood will sprout roots in the right conditions, the tree dies soon after because the wood is just too old to start over so high up in the tree. It also depends on the species, I have taken grape cuttings from four feet off the ground and 1.5 inches thick and grown roots, and I am sure a layer would root easily as well as olives and pomagranites. Elms and pyracantha seem to be this way also, making roots easily from cuttings and layers while maples and hornbeams are a little more tricky.

Have you really had so many layers fail on you after removal Smoke? I have had basically 100% success with mine once any roots are visible. They just grow a bunch more in the first year, have limited branch growth during that time and seem to take off at a normal speed the following year. I am not recommending that others do it this way I guess.. Probably best to error on the side of having more roots than potentially having too few, but even when I only had a few small roots on some in the past, the trees lived and eventually thrived!

This year I am experimenting a bit. I did three layers on the same tree- one with the pot an perlite method where I just removed a ring of bark with no root hormone or wire tied around it to prevent the bark from covering, one with the perlite pot, WITH hormone and WITH a wire in addition to the bark ring being removed, and I did a sphagnum bag method with hormone, ring and wire... Basically just wanted to see which one grows the fastest, best radial roots. Last year I had insanely fast success with the trees I layered... Hoping to get three nice trees from this one. If I get three trees, no matter which is faster/better, it is a win!

 

[petegreg]

I am not recommending that others do it this way I guess.. Probably best to error on the side of having more roots than potentially having too few, but even when I only had a few small roots on some in the past, the trees lived and eventually thrived!

This year I am experimenting a bit. I did three layers on the same tree- one with the pot an perlite method where I just removed a ring of bark with no root hormone or wire tied around it to prevent the bark from covering, one with the permits...

I've never had to leave air layers on the mother tree over winter. I do it similar way, dividing layered trees depending on the time of season to let them enough time for root growth. I like seeing as much roots as possible before the AL is cut. But they can be happy with few roots if they have enough time...
Sth more - last year I started using the same medium for AL which then they will be planted in. It means pure DE for the most plants and pure kanuma for e.g. azaleas. It works. And the division of a new plant is very "peaceful"... I would compare it to slippotting. I use PE bottles for AL, leave the top open, cover them with alu-foil. They are checked on every day basis and watered as needed with the trees.

 

[Eric Group]

I've never had to leave air layers on the mother tree over winter. I do it similar way, dividing layered trees depending on the time of season to let them enough time for root growth. I like seeing as much roots as possible before the AL is cut. But they can be happy with few roots if they have enough time...
Sth more - last year I started using the same medium for AL which then they will be planted in. It means pure DE for the most plants and pure kanuma for e.g. azaleas. It works. And the division of a new plant is very "peaceful"... I would compare it to slippotting. I use PE bottles for AL, leave the top open, cover them with alu-foil. They are checked on every day basis and watered as needed with the trees.

PE bottles? I think ur goin OB with da Abrv.

 

[LanceMac10]

Maybe next year:
View attachment 94418 View attachment 94419
No repotting this year, but I did pick up this lovely Japanese mid century production pot that might be good for this tree in the future.

Very nice container. Pleasing coloration. Should look nice paired with spring growth.......in 5 or 6 years......
Cheers, my friend....Slainte

 

[petegreg]

Correction, PET bottles, cleare plastic sure. Or plastic pots.

 

[ColinFraser]

So it's been almost exactly one year since I started the air layer - time flies! It's having its first spring as its own tree.
The leaves are beginning to emerge, and I cleaned it up a bit, removing a few branches from the most congested areas:

 

[ColinFraser]

Leafed out again. Sorry about the crappy night shot.


The wind broke a few of the longest shoots, but otherwise it's vigorous and doing well in a more protected spot.

 

[ColinFraser]

We've continued to have pretty intense wind here lately, and with the extension growth on this getting long, more shoots were being snapped off.


Time for a haircut.



I took it back to first pairs mostly.

I'm definitely liking this tilt - It helps with the slingshot feel, and I think it will allow me to use the secondary trunk to do the visual job of a first branch (after shortening it quite a bit). Time will tell if the base/roots will cooperate with that vision.

 

[coh]

Nice and vigorous for a 1-year layer. I have two Japanese maple air layers from last year, so far so good (they're alive) but not as far along as this one. Of course, a big part of that is climate...

 

[Steve Kudela]

For layers I let the first flush of growth come out and harden off. When it's in growth mode , it's expending energy.When the first flush hardens off, the tree goes into energy gathering mode. For my way of thinking, do your layer then, the cut stops energy from going to the roots. It gathers at the cut, swells, and produces callous tissue, the new roots come from there. I know that layering is also successfully done before budbreak, but this method seems to work best in my application. As someone said earlier, really scrape the cambium fairly deep.

 

[j evans]

Lookin good. Quite a nice tree for only about a year (for your in your location, the rest of us it would be two years). Congratulations on getting a part of your family history to carry on with you.

 

[ColinFraser]

Hey look, a big pile of roots

 

[ColinFraser]

. . . and into a pot.

 

[0soyoung]

. . . and into a pot.

Why is your pot askew? With all the roots your explant has, I do not understand why you didn't take a second to plant it in the best orientation - in fact, go fix it, ASAP .

... just kindly 'nudging' .

 

[ColinFraser]

Why is your pot askew? With all the roots your explant has, I do not understand why you didn't take a second to plant it in the best orientation - in fact, go fix it, ASAP .

... just kindly 'nudging' .

Haha, it seems to be a theme with me.
This had a lot of roots, but they're all quite small/thin still - I just got it into the pot in a way that was secure and didn't put too much pressure anywhere in particular. I'm considering a revisit, since it hasn't been very long . . .

 

[just.wing.it]

Wow Colin, ......so nice....
I tried 3 air layers last year, none worked.
Seeing this thread from the beginning, gives me renewed confidence...
I'm gonna try again!
Great job man.
Keep up the good work!

 

[MACH5]

Good work Colin! I also like the new angle. The two things that strike me most at the moment is the heavier, lowest branch on the left with a bent downwards angle almost perfectly at 90 degrees. I don't think this will get better with time although you may already have some idea how to address it? The other thing is the slight reverse taper. Is there another angle that corrects this or maybe this is just the photo?

Wow Colin, ......so nice....
I tried 3 air layers last year, none worked.

just.wing.it, you may already know this, but the vast majority of failed air-layers is because the gap was either not wide enough or deep enough. What type of maple are you layering? Some Japanese maple varieties are very difficult to make layers of.