Musings - Air layering

[GreenGrowTheRushes]

As the change in seasons shuts down any effort to be outside, save for cold weather play, this leaves me with a great deal of time to think. Way too much. Lots of online reading, lots of Heron's and Notion Bonsai videos

Regardless, I have time to think about next spring and what I want to do, experiments I want to try. One of those things is air layering.

I understand the process and will be ready come spring, but one question I have is: Can you place multiple air layers on the same branch, at the same time? Example, if I have a 10-foot-long branch, can I space out the air layers, say 3 feet apart on that same branch?.

Honest question.

Thanks in Advance

 

[stewarjm192]

As the change in seasons shuts down any effort to be outside, save for cold weather play, this leaves me with a great deal of time to think. Way too much. Lots of online reading, lots of Heron's and Notion Bonsai videos

Regardless, I have time to think about next spring and what I want to do, experiments I want to try. One of those things is air layering.

I understand the process and will be ready come spring, but one question I have is: Can you place multiple air layers on the same branch, at the same time? Example, if I have a 10-foot-long branch, can I space out the air layers, say 3 feet apart on that same branch?.

Honest question.

Thanks in Advance

the rule of thumb is one per shoot...so if your tree has three branches coming off the main trunk, you can put an air layer on each branch, but only one on the main trunk if that makes sense

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I like this question.
@stewarjm192, so, if an air layer is successful on the end of a branch, how long do you have to wait after it is removed before you can attempt another one further in on the same branch? Is it better to wait until the next growing season?

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I had a similar question several years ago and the general consensus seemed to be while you can put multiple airlayers on the same tree they should be limited to one per branch. And if you do too many you run the risk of killing the tree since you would limit how much energy could be supplied to the roots. Now of course you do need to define what you mean by multiples per branch. If the branch forks and you place an air layer on each of the forks then that should work but probably not good to have them in sequence on a branch.

 

[littletreefarmer]

I think this question also depends on what tree species you are considering performing the air layers on. Some species air layer more readily and recover more quickly than others. Nothing is a given. I successfully put 2 air layers in sequence on a "large" (1 inch) shinpaku branch this year, and both have been separated and seem to be thriving well so far.

My rule of thumb is: If the branch is important (has been wired in a desirable way to be a future standalone tree) I will give it that respect and not experiment with it, but if it is just a branch I want removed the experimentation could be more valuable than the stock.

 

[stewarjm192]

I like this question.
@stewarjm192, so, if an air layer is successful on the end of a branch, how long do you have to wait after it is removed before you can attempt another one further in on the same branch? Is it better to wait until the next growing season?

you wont have enough time to grow roots if you attempt a second round of airlayers in one grow season, unless your species is very "root-positive" very healthy and vigerous, and you have a very temperate climate

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

If you cut away a ring of bark: one per branch.
If you don't cut a ring of bark, like junipers; they root without any cutting most of the times: you can do multiple.
If you girdle: one per branch.

I assume it's fine to do more in one season, as long as the first is taken off and the parts behind it have plenty of foliage. If the parts behind the first layer are bare, I would get those up to strength first.

 

[AshleyMammal]

I’ve successfully done this on a young European hornbeam. It was a long straight stick, used two air layers at the same time, to create a long straight trunk, a long straight middle, and a long straight top. It works great (on young, european hornbeam), as long as there’s plenty of leaves/shoots between layers

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Each layer needs to be viewed as its own section. Each layer needs leaves above the layer to send hormones back to initiate root production at the layer itself. As long as you foliar mass to support the root production, you can do as many as you want.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

This should give you an idea of how far to go. For more on this see this thread from a few years ago.

Post in thread 'Air Layering Japanese maple'

Feb 20, 2019

As long as we are on this subject I was wondering how many air layers is it safe to place on one tree? My neighbor has a maple he wants gone and I have voluntered to dig it out but first I want to air layer the good branches. It seems to be in good health and is about 6-7’ tall. It probably is your standard landscape variety red leafed japanese maple. So how many unlayered limbs is it safe to air layer without killing the rest of the tree in the process? Half, 2/3, 3/4?

• WNC Bonsai

 

[eplov90]

I am pretty sure @leatherback experimented with how many airlayers you could put on one tree, and one single trunk/branch, in one of his videos last year.

Found it here:

 

[GreenGrowTheRushes]

I am pretty sure @leatherback experimented with how many airlayers you could put on one tree, and one single trunk/branch, in one of his videos last year.

Found it here:

Thanks, gonna check it out.

 

[AshleyMammal]

I found a picture taken of my European hornbeam at the beginning of spring when I started these two layers. Messy and poor technique but both layers were successful and I’ve got three trees to grown on from just one cheap bit of material

 

[Coppersdad]

My confession; years ago in my ignorance, I attempted to air layer three sections of the trunk of a certain tree simultaneously.

Here is the story... Once upon a time, while nosing around the "sad plant" section of a certain retail nursery, I discovered a 14 ft Cryptomeria japonica that was in bad shape. The nebari on this tree was definitely worth the risk of a few dollars. It was priced at $30 and I bought it for $20 along with another tree.
The time of year was right and having more chutz·pah than knowledge, I immediately attempted THREE air layers on the main trunk. Yep, I girdled the main, straight trunk in three places in my ignorant attempt to make four trees from one.

It worked.

Each of the air layers produced roots. Each of the three root balls was viable. Each of my four tree sections survived the following winter. They continue to survive now, a number of years later. The three air layers are now in a certain composition. The best piece, the base with this great nebari will now be autografted in an attempt to add some more branches.
I'm thinking, with my current knowledge, I will never try such an audacious thing again. Certainly, one section at a time would work. I've had a number of air layers fail since then. Still don't understand how that one worked.

 

[SeanS]

Thread 'The science of air-layering'

Apr 2, 2017

Because of the number of questions regarding air-layering on the site, I have attempted to pull together an overview of the science behind air-layering which will directly lead to a list of "best practices" and "frequently asked questions". I am going to try to keep the science really simple (because it gets extremely complicated very quickly) while at the same time ensure that everything I write is scientifically grounded.

Introduction
Air-layering as a way of propagating bonsai material that has some unique advantages. First, the material being layered is a genetic clone...

• Bonsai Nut
• Replies: 231
• Forum: Grafting, layering & propagating

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