Purple Ghost - Where do I airlayer?

[kimyongtai]

TLDR - My goal is to end up with two trees. One (top half) that I will plant in the ground in my front yard, and the second (bottom) I will plant in a 6" wide, 3" inch deep bonsai pot. Where do I airlayer this cutie to maximize the success of the two successive trees?

I bought this at the nursery the other day, after searching for Japanese maple with the right amount of variegation. The tree was way more expensive than I thought, but I bought it anyways hoping to maximize the usage.

• I tried trimming several branches and propagating them in a damp soil mix. Big fail. lol. I did 6, and I believe they all died within 48 hours. I'll stick it out for a week, but it doesn't look cute right now. Any tips would be helpful here. (I may be answering my own question with the next bullet point)
  
  
• I like bonsai trees (shocker) with a relatively thick trunk, exposed roots, and dramatic swooping branches. The theory is the easiest (??) method to get to this point is to airlayer/cut the tree where I marked the picture below. My concern with this is the amount of foliage the bottom half will be losing, and then the amount of roots it would be losing once transferred. This feels like two big stressful transitions for the bottom half of the tree, and while I'm confident that I can get maybe the top half to survive, it'd be a shame to lose the healthy rootstock. The current tree is about 4 feet tall. I'd want the bonsai to be approx 12 inches. I am reading that the height of the bonsai should be 6x the caliper of the base of the trunk (??).
  
  Maybe I'm skipping over an essential question here:
  
  is it better to downsize a tree to a bonsai by cutting of foliage and training the trunk and first branch(es) OR is it better to downsize a tree to a bonsai by air layering the top portion of the tree and growing a new rootball?

I have several backyard trees I've grown from seed, seedling, and grafts onto existing root stock. Fruit trees, decorative trees, wildflowers, etc. I've never tried bonsai, but has always been on the list of hobbies to dive into. Looking forward to geeking out with you all.

 

[leatherback]

I would do the reverse. Your maple is VERY likely grafted onto some green rootstock. For bonsai undesirable. For ground-growing however good. So layer the top, and use that for bonsai.

Focus on taper, movement and tight internodes to find out where to layer. Ideally, you check the tree before buying for these elements. Most trees in commercial trade make poor speciments, and shopping around for a well-suited trunk can safe you years on development.

As for your questions:

- Cutings need 100% air humidity. Use a humidity dome for rooting
- Do not repot a tree in the same year as layering. Layering drains a tree of reserves. As long as foliage remains below the layering site, good chances in keeping the rootstock alive. Next to this, most maples will throw shoots below the layering site during the process.
- I am not sure I understand your question about which way to downsize. Most important is the question which part of the trunk would make the best bonsai. And if you have the option, whether the rootbase is good enough to use or whether regrowing the roots is needed anyway.

 

[sorce]

Nice bike!

Sorce