How many roots before separating Shishigashira airlayering?

[coopster23]

I started two air layerings on a Shishigashira JM in very early June (in east Idaho at the time).

https://imgur.com/ZcWMKnT

The tree has been in Alabama since the first week of August. The smaller of the two failed; it looks like it had developed some small roots but stayed too wet and rotted. The other attempt was to separate the tree from its graft, and I'm pleased to see that as of a week or two ago, roots have become visible through the plastic bag.

https://imgur.com/FYm7iLH

The sphagnum ball is between the size of a fist and a baseball, and I see 5-6 root tips poking out of the moss. I'm getting kind of nervous about fall/winter approaching with the roots exposed. Is it too late to separate now, and if not do I have enough root for the tree to survive?

 

[Hoyonokuma]

I am no expert, by any mean, so take my opinion with an inch of salt

I did a check on my shishi groundlayer last year and decided it had developed too few roots, if compared to the foliage mass.
I also had much more soil at the cut level (3 to 4 times as much, with plenty akadama), meaning space to fill, while I also had storage capacity in my garage, hence a temperature controlled enviroment for overwintering.
So I decided to keep it on for an additional growing season, since I didn't have much risk of root rot and it could only improve its survival chances from there on.

I think that if you choose to separate it with the current rootball you should then do some serious branch reduction, too.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

I started two air layerings on a Shishigashira JM in very early June (in east Idaho at the time).

https://imgur.com/ZcWMKnT

The tree has been in Alabama since the first week of August. The smaller of the two failed; it looks like it had developed some small roots but stayed too wet and rotted. The other attempt was to separate the tree from its graft, and I'm pleased to see that as of a week or two ago, roots have become visible through the plastic bag.

https://imgur.com/FYm7iLH

The sphagnum ball is between the size of a fist and a baseball, and I see 5-6 root tips poking out of the moss. I'm getting kind of nervous about fall/winter approaching with the roots exposed. Is it too late to separate now, and if not do I have enough root for the tree to survive?

 

[Dav4]

Fall is a great time for root growth and AL is still at least 4-6 weeks away from real cold, maybe longer. I’d plan on leaving the layer on Until around Halloween, separate and provide reasonable winter protection.

 

[Agr247]

Looking Good. Any updates!!?

 

[Drcuisine]

Once the tree is dormant or if you do defoliation the root demand will will be low. If you separate and put the tree on a heat mat in cool weather you should get root development and by the time bud break happens you will probably have enough roots to keep up with the developing leaves.

I sometimes convert failed air layers to large cuttings this time of year if the foliage has dropped. I did this with two Bradford pear trees. The branch/trunk was almost 2”. I did not think they would survive. I wired them into deep pots and kept them moist through winter and in spring the trees leafed out and were full of roots.

If the tree is in Alabama you should also be safe to wait until the tree starts growing again.

Last night I opened up an air layer on a corokia cotoneaster. Not enough roots to separate but I found the non girdled branches had just as much roots as the branch where I had stripped the bark.

Good luck

 

[coopster23]

Around Halloween I decided to open up the bag holding the sphagnum to check on the roots, and unfortunately those roots that were visible through the side of the bag were black and rotted at the base. I applied new sphagnum in a clear plastic globe designed for air layering (these). I don't remember if I applied more rooting hormone or carved away any of the callus that had formed. Once temperatures got low, I moved it into the shed behind my house for the winter.

We've had about two months of warm weather and the tree is fully leafed-out, but there still aren't any roots visible from the outside. What are the odds that it bridged the cut instead of growing roots?