Air Layering Japanese maple

[エドガー]

I personally can’t see how an air layer (where indicated in picture 1, for example) gets you any closer to the trees in the other pictures. Those other pictures happen to be my targets (and they are what comes to mind for most people, i imagine, when they think maple bonsai). A 3” diameter air layer in this case is about 2” too thick to begin with

I never said the 4' long air-layer would have a 3" diameter and/or from a humongous garden tree. I meant a potted young'ish J maple in development that is growing quite tall (but still relatively thin - maybe 1-1.5" thick and ready for its' first trunk-chop... or maybe even thinner at 0.5-1" and just wanting to air-layer or an earlier chop).

I have a few skinny saplings 3-4' tall already with only 0.5" trunk, for example. I doubt they will be 3" thick when they reach 6' tall.

My desire is to just propagate as much as I can from what would otherwise be trashed after chopped/cut.. an air-layer would root a lot easier/faster than cuttings, and would also already start off much bigger at 0.5-1.5" vs. a toothpick sized cutting).
Speaking of which...I'm actually attempting around 40 cuttings of various J maples and other plants (about 5 weeks in so far).. seems much more difficult than Junipers for me. Most have dropped leaves, browning and my success rate is starting to look super low. I got 11/20 success with San Jose... and so far, I think I'm 6-14/40'ish J maples cuttings are not brown yet.

But, I see your point..esp for that huge garden tree branch, lol.

 

[jmw_bonsai]

I'm a horticulture/bonsai n00b and have only done two juniper (both successful) air-layers before and recently.. but, I have a question...

Let's say I have a 4' long leader/apex/branch on my J maple I would like to air-layer off (just 1)... can I air-layer that single 4' long branch into two separate 2' long air-layers at the same time? (ie: giving me 2 separate new plants).

Just wanting to know what's possible, and also maybe propagate as much as I can.

Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks.

As mentioned yes you can take two layers on the same branch. But each air layer is a balance between taking the cambium off without disrupting upwards water flow. So you are basically increasing the odds of making too deep a cut on the first one towards the roots and thus stopping water flow for both of them.

So yes you can but you increase the odds on failure somewhat. I prefer to take only one with a direct path to the roots. That way if I fail on that one, I can try the lower portion the next year.

 

[b3bowen]

I forgot to take a picture of the roots but this is Acontifolium. Roots were relatively weak, but had stopped extending, so I decided to remove the layer, pot, and I’m keeping in a good cool place until more roots can develop on its own feet.

 

[b3bowen]

As for my failures so far this year. Fireglow, shaina, inaba shidare (not the one i posted above that im leaving on rootstock) and an acer circinatum.

Koto no ito It is a plus or minus. I have a few small roots circling, but They have stopped extending and I don’t see any new roots forming. I may just remove the moss from the top of the bottle that is containing the moss, re-wound The base where there are not roots and put more rooting hormone.

Im a little suprised about the fireglow since it is vigorous. Has anyone had any luck with other red leaf varieties like emperor 1 etc, other than bloodgood. I know evergreen garden works has some other varieties from Cuttings so I’m sure they are possible.

 

[エドガー]

I've had a lot of failures as well. I did 6-8 cuttings each of - katsura maple, kiyo hime, shishigashira, red dragon, hino crimson azalea, nanking cherry.

I'm 6-8 weeks in so far (depending on which), and only a very few are still green and only 1-2 has tiny new fresh growth:
2-3 shishigarshira still have green leaves but no new growth (I already know these are almost impossible to grow from cuttings).
All katsura and kiyohime have dropped their leaves by now and no new growth, except 1 kiyohime that still has green leaves and I think maybe new tiny growth. The rest, no original leaves anymore, but I noticed many of them still have green stems.
All red dragon are dried up stems and no leaves, but 1 seems to have red leaves still (I heard these don't grow from cuttings either).
All my azaleas have dried up and died. They were very green and seemed promising the first 4 weeks... but after that, they dried up.
3-4 nanking have green leaves still, and 1 definitely has new bright green fresh growth finally, just this week. Yay!!

So.... 1/40 success rate so far. Lol

I had much better luck with San Jose juniper cuttings, before this attempt with all these deciduous softwood cuttings. I got 11/20 success rate with the San Jose.

 

[leatherback]

Seigen works for me.

 

[Pitoon]

The heat here is out of control and air layers were drying up, I had to cut and plant 7 more yesterday.

 

[namnhi]

Should I be concerned if after 4 weeks and still see no roots on a plain green JM?

 

[0soyoung]

Should I be concerned if after 4 weeks and still see no roots on a plain green JM?

Possibly.
Open the bag, gently part the sphagnum (so as to maybe not break nascent roots) and see what's happening.
I suspect that you will find a bridge across the girdle that you'll need to scrape/cut away.
Once done, button it back up - plenty of time yet in this season.

 

[namnhi]

Possibly.
Open the bag, gently part the sphagnum (so as to maybe not break nascent roots) and see what's happening.
I suspect that you will find a bridge across the girdle that you'll need to scrape/cut away.
Once done, button it back up - plenty of time yet in this season.

Thanks Osoyoung.
I did about 8 layers in one morning. I scape the cambium pretty good. None of them show root so I guess I wait for another week or so before taking a sneak peak. Thanks.

 

[leatherback]

4 weeks would be very fast for a layer to set roots..

 

[0soyoung]

Thanks Osoyoung.
I did about 8 layers in one morning. I scape the cambium pretty good. None of them show root so I guess I wait for another week or so before taking a sneak peak. Thanks.

I used to race to get air layers done too.
Now I cut the girdles, sometimes dust with rooting hormone (just to give tough to root ones a kick start), and walk away to come back another day to bundle them up. The residual cambium initials on the wood desiccate, meanwhile, so bridging is a whole lot less likely. A day (24 hours) is enough, though I usually come back two or three days later; a week (like girdles one week end, bundling the next) would be okay too, if you have a work schedule to contend with.

 

[b3bowen]

I'm curious about your experiences behind this. I have an aka shigatatsu sawa that I had difficulty layering and just want to 'compare notes'.

As an update, two of my maples, Higaseyama and shigitatsu sawa I expected to have difficulty layering so I Cut my girdle a few millimeters below the graft on rootstock , so the graft would blend in with the root flare. Higaseyama produced plenty of roots above the graft my shigitatsu sawa only produced roots from the root stock. Again, I expect that this does not bode well for airlayering shigitatsu sawa And getting it on its own roots. Any luck with yours this year?

 

[Deleted member 21616]

two of my maples, Higaseyama and shigitatsu sawa I expected to have difficulty layering

for what its worth, my aka shigitatsu sawa is surprisingly vigorous, but produced neither air layers nor cuttings for me

as an aside, don't mind its current location! it will need to be moved next spring because it will be a bigger wider tree than i initially imagined. i have not pruned it at all (besides the odd cuttings and insignificant layer)

 

[Jcmmaple]

Took 5 airlayers today, now the start of a new journey for these guys. That’s why I love straight green Japanese maples, they root so easy.

 

[MACH5]

This past weekend I checked on my higasayama maple layer. Good news is there are roots forming but quite small. Not even close to the edge of the bag. I anticipate it will be another couple of moths before it's ready. That will put me into October. I think I may just make it before winter. My fingers still crossed but I am getting tired.

My Sharps' pygmy layer needs another couple of weeks and I will be able to finally separate it which will put it over the three and half month mark. S L O W

 

[Pitoon]

4 weeks would be very fast for a layer to set roots..

I've had green JM push out roots as early as 3 weeks and others that just won't root at all. All is depending on each specific tree.

This past weekend I checked on my higasayama maple layer. Good news is there are roots forming but quite small. Not even close to the edge of the bag. I anticipate it will be another couple of moths before it's ready. That will put me into October. I think I may just make it before winter. My fingers still crossed but I am getting tired.

My Sharps' pygmy layer needs another couple of weeks and I will be able to finally separate it which will put it over the three and half month mark. S L O W

Is the tree in the ground or in a pot? It would be a shame to put in all that time for it to root to just loose in over the winter.

 

[MACH5]

Is the tree in the ground or in a pot? It would be a shame to put in all that time for it to root to just loose in over the winter.

It's a landscape tree and layer is up high. I will separate it no matter what first week of October. It will be well protected over winter but my concern is to have enough roots to support the tree by the time I cut it off. It's a about a 2" twin trunk layer.

 

[Paulpash]

It's a landscape tree and layer is up high. I will separate it no matter what first week of October. It will be well protected over winter but my concern is to have enough roots to support the tree by the time I cut it off. It's a about a 2" twin trunk layer.

Is there a logistical reason for separation in October? It would be a shame to have to start over if there is too little root for it to live. I've left air layers over winter to - 9C and they have been OK but appreciate your winters could be far harsher.

 

[Pitoon]

It's a landscape tree and layer is up high. I will separate it no matter what first week of October. It will be well protected over winter but my concern is to have enough roots to support the tree by the time I cut it off. It's a about a 2" twin trunk layer.

You're not that far from me, JM at my location would already be in the process of going into dormancy. If you have roots, but the leaves are getting ready to fall or are already off I would think if you can keep the air layer above 50 degrees there's a chance the roots can still grow before hitting winter full on.