Show us Your Airlayers
- Thread starter dbonsaiw
- Start date
leatherback
The Treedeemer
A bipolar olive I am trying to develop from a bare stump a few years ago..
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Sorry, wrong thread!
Not an airlayer!
A Blooming cherry with single pink flowers. The airlayer was started on June 15th along with my 1st pyrocantha layer, which developed roots in 4 weeks, was separated, potted, ripped out and killed by a groundhog.
This one was sitting doing nothing until the end of July, when I cut back a brunch of a mahaleb cherry, which was in my way. Apparently it was shading the airlayered branch. In a few days roots started to grow!
Separated the air today and realized how tall it was in relation to the root base.
Planted it in a bucket to provide vertical support and wired it to the rim of the bucket. We have a couple months here before cold sets in. Hopefully it takes.
This one was sitting doing nothing until the end of July, when I cut back a brunch of a mahaleb cherry, which was in my way. Apparently it was shading the airlayered branch. In a few days roots started to grow!
Separated the air today and realized how tall it was in relation to the root base.
Planted it in a bucket to provide vertical support and wired it to the rim of the bucket. We have a couple months here before cold sets in. Hopefully it takes.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
‘Seigen’ air layers nearly ready to separate, as soon as we get a break from this crazy heat.
andrewiles
Shohin
Most layers will prioritize root development immediately after separation. From what I can tell it's better to separate them as early as possible, rather than waiting for additional root development while still connected to the parent. I get better total root mass before winter that way. Here's a Beni Tsukasa less than a month after separation. Really aggressive.
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
Does a ground layer count? Coral Bark Japanese maple on stilt-like roots, no longer.
Separated.
Separated.
Sure does.
You must have an incredible amount of humidity... lol. Awesome roots!
I just bought Beni Tsukasa last week. So many great varieties out there to test!!
David P
Mame
How did you pot that up in that basket after you removed it from the mother tree. What was the immediate aftercare once you cut it off and what growing medium is best of an air layer? I have a couple Deshojo Maple air layers myself that I need to remove and pot this week.
andrewiles
Shohin
Beni Tsukasa is probably my favorite maple. Surprisingly hard to find. Not only does it have amazing spring foliage, which lasts a long time compared to many others, but it seems to grow very well on its own roots. Both air layers and SW cuttings are easy.
andrewiles
Shohin
Yeah, so the roots escaping the pond basket like that is not what you normally see. As @Dan W. astutely noted. I was experimenting this year with a few things. First, because I separated really early I wanted to support the foliage against the small root mass. So I had this layer in dappled shade and periodic mist for about a month, before moving to sun. The picture above was right before that move.
Second, these pond baskets tend to dry out very quickly from all sides and I've had trouble keeping them moist enough. Esp. since I use an automated watering system that can't water as thoroughly as hand spraying. So this year I started placing them on 1/2" high drip trays. These trays fill up with water, just enough to touch the bottom layer of pumice in the basket. This seems to work really well. The water gets continually pulled up into the entire basket, but not enough to be soggy. You'd probably get quick death if you did this with potting soil, for example. Surprisingly, even trees that don't like wet roots, like japanese and vine maples, seem very content. As growth is stopping now in the fall I'm removing the trays to ensure maximum drainage for the dormant season.
For the layers I use an 80:20 mix of perlite/peat. Usually using the transparent grow balls you can find on Amazon. That way I can see when root development is sufficient for removal. When I separate the layer I wash off all of the perlite/peat mix and place in a pond basket with pure pumice. I throw on some Osmocote for fertilizing over fall. I don't usually put them under mist but I do keep them in dappled shade for a few weeks before moving to morning sun. Then full sun as the heat of summer passes. Since they are bare rooted with minimal roots it's important to let them get a little established in the new container before harsh sun.
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
Beech air layer, separated end of june to last week
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
A separated Beech layer started in June, recently reunited with the mother tree
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
sevan
Mame
Here is a water oak I have been working on. The parent tree was an air layer from a tree in my yard in 2021. I was still very new and didn't really have a goal other than learning how to air layer.
After removing the the first layer, I saw a better potential tree at the top, so I tried to layer that off in 2022, but it bridged the cut. I tried again this year and things look good so far. I set the layer in May and removed it at the beginning of September when we finally got a break from the heat.
After removing the the first layer, I saw a better potential tree at the top, so I tried to layer that off in 2022, but it bridged the cut. I tried again this year and things look good so far. I set the layer in May and removed it at the beginning of September when we finally got a break from the heat.
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