Bonsilot

Seedling
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Location
Central Coast, California
USDA Zone
9b
I am happy to report that all my olive tree airlayers (and several cuttings) are thriving. All are sprouting buds and have rooted.

Airlayer Separation Process (Early October):
1-2 weeks before separation, I chopped off the largest branches connected to the airlayers and covered them with cut putty. I left a few medium branches with leaves. I also made 4-5 cuttings out of bits from the chopped branches.

Two weeks later, I chopped off the airlayers together* from the main tree. I soaked the rootball/sphagnum moss in water overnight to loosen it, then spent about 1-2 hours slowly removing moss from the rootball. I then used a reciprocating saw to cut off the longer/extra branch, leaving the S-shaped branch attached to the remaining trunk of the tree. I was only able to cut halfway through the S-shaped branch and the remaining bit of the trunk.* I potted both trees up in a mix of 10 scoops Pumice/ 4 scoops of potting soil.

The longer/extra branch had root callousing around the bottom, but no roots. The S-shaped branch also had root callousing around the bottom, and one very developed root higher up on the trunk (that is primarily what you see in the pictures).

*Separation Mistake:
In retrospect, it may have been easier to remove both airlayers separately, while they were still attached to the tree trunk. The vibration of the reciprocating saw made cutting nearly impossible without something to hold the airlayers tightly. There were no convenient places to hold the airlayers, hence why I had a lot of difficulty cutting them while not attached to the tree.

Using a looser soil mix could have helped when trying to extricate the roots. It wasn't possible to remove the sphagnum moss on the tree or know where to cut without removing it. A more granular mix would have made things A LOT easier.*

Progression Update 1 (Late November):
- The S-shaped trunk had begun sprouting and the leaves had turned a darker green.
- The long/extra trunk still had no sprouts and the leaves still looked yellow-green.
- Several cuttings had sprouted and had some roots.
*During this time I mixed rooting hormone into water and watered the bases of the airlayers and the cuttings.

Progression Update 2 (Early March):
- The S-shaped trunk has sprouted everywhere and some roots were starting to form on the callousing at the base. The large root high up on the trunk is still attached.
- The long/extra trunk has one tiny sprout, and some of the remaining leaves are turning darker green.
- All my cuttings have rooted and sprouted prolifically. They are out of control!

Minor set-backs:
- I was unable to fully seperate the S-shaped airlayer from the remaining bit of trunk. Eventually, I will have to cut that off when the root system is stronger.
- The S-shaped airlayer's main root is also too high up on the trunk and will need to be removed once the lower roots become stronger.
- I also didn't cut enough off the top of the S-shaped airlayer. I will have to wait for a new leader to grow.


Hopefully, this will prove helpful for someone in the future. It is possible to airlayer a T-intersection Olive branch as I did. The greatest challenge is extracting the roots and separating the airlayers from each other. Because of this, I recommend a loose soil mix, rather than moss (even though rooting in the sphagnum moss is excellent).
 

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Bonsilot

Seedling
Messages
20
Reaction score
14
Location
Central Coast, California
USDA Zone
9b
Pictures of cuttings:
 

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Bonsilot

Seedling
Messages
20
Reaction score
14
Location
Central Coast, California
USDA Zone
9b
It's just safer to air layer. And I wasn't sure what variety of olive I had. Some root easier than others. This variety does seem very prolific, so I'm sure I could have rooted a large cutting.
 
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