Greetings All,
I'm a new member here. I'll look around for an introductions page and post a proper intro next.
The back story:
Last summer (2016) I decided I should prune some of the shoots/branches from my potted dogwood. (Cornus Rubra I believe) It's at least 12 years old. May be closer to 15.
Then I started wondering about propagation and found the Air Layer technique.
I think I tried the first time sometime in late June or maybe even early July of 2016. I cut, peeled bark and scraped enough I thought. Late August of 2016 I inspected and found that the wound had bridged. So I called a local nursery and spoke to their resident air layer pro. He told me to bundle it back up and with luck it would survive the winter. I did and it did. I live in far northeastern California where snow and cold are a certainty each winter.
So, late spring...closer to early June 2017 I cut again, scraped again, and bundled it back up again. 2016 I used no rooting hormone. 2017, following the advice of the propagation expert I used fresh aloe vera gel as a natural root formation accelerator.
Now late Sept 2017, I unbundled it again hoping for roots and this is what I've found. (Pic 101)
Close inspection shows that it has not bridged but closer inspection shows what I believe is a very fine strand of an inner layer still intact which may have allowed some transfer of auxin. (I may have some names or terms mixed up. If so, please forgive and educate.)
And some foilage pictures show that the branch remained health and active as it produced what I call flower buds or bracts for next year. In fact, the buds/bracts on the layer branch formed and grew larger than the non layer branches of the same tree.
Now the question. I've got it bundled back up. What do you think, any chance of this thing forming roots in spring of 2018? I plan on cleaning it back up, scraping diligently, and applying genuine root hormone again in 2018.
Please weigh in with your thoughts.
I'm a new member here. I'll look around for an introductions page and post a proper intro next.
The back story:
Last summer (2016) I decided I should prune some of the shoots/branches from my potted dogwood. (Cornus Rubra I believe) It's at least 12 years old. May be closer to 15.
Then I started wondering about propagation and found the Air Layer technique.
I think I tried the first time sometime in late June or maybe even early July of 2016. I cut, peeled bark and scraped enough I thought. Late August of 2016 I inspected and found that the wound had bridged. So I called a local nursery and spoke to their resident air layer pro. He told me to bundle it back up and with luck it would survive the winter. I did and it did. I live in far northeastern California where snow and cold are a certainty each winter.
So, late spring...closer to early June 2017 I cut again, scraped again, and bundled it back up again. 2016 I used no rooting hormone. 2017, following the advice of the propagation expert I used fresh aloe vera gel as a natural root formation accelerator.
Now late Sept 2017, I unbundled it again hoping for roots and this is what I've found. (Pic 101)
Close inspection shows that it has not bridged but closer inspection shows what I believe is a very fine strand of an inner layer still intact which may have allowed some transfer of auxin. (I may have some names or terms mixed up. If so, please forgive and educate.)
And some foilage pictures show that the branch remained health and active as it produced what I call flower buds or bracts for next year. In fact, the buds/bracts on the layer branch formed and grew larger than the non layer branches of the same tree.
Now the question. I've got it bundled back up. What do you think, any chance of this thing forming roots in spring of 2018? I plan on cleaning it back up, scraping diligently, and applying genuine root hormone again in 2018.
Please weigh in with your thoughts.