Has anyone had success with airlayering or ground layering or applying tourniquet on English oak?

[keri-wms]

I found them pretty quick to layer, about 1” though and still with smooth bark. Ring if bark removed, hormone powder and moss in a bag. I’m trying to use perlite in layers as I’ve found woodlice and weevil grubs in the moss layers recently and I don’t expect they’ll feel at home in bits of glass....

 

[Woocash]

So heres the proof Oaks can be air layered!!View attachment 317109View attachment 317111View attachment 317112View attachment 317113

I missed this earlier. This is really encouraging. Did you leave the pot open and continue to water it or did you seal the whole thing and just water the old roots?

I ask because oaks are a species I’ve struggled to find collectible specimens of, but I’ve found lots of great branches around the place and layers may be a good way forward, but regular watering would be a bit of a problem.

 

[Woocash]

I found them pretty quick to layer, about 1” though and still with smooth bark. Ring if bark removed, hormone powder and moss in a bag. I’m trying to use perlite in layers as I’ve found woodlice and weevil grubs in the moss layers recently and I don’t expect they’ll feel at home in bits of glass....

I like this idea though...

 

[AJL]

I left the top of the pot slightly open, wrapped with clingfilm and watered occasionally.
The only problem was that slugs got in and I think they ate a lot of roots during winter otherwise I think it would have rooted out quicker, so maybe i should have sealed it better!

 

[keri-wms]

On a similar theme, this is an optomistic English Oak cutting in pure perlite, in a humid greenhouse....! Worth a stab..?!

 

[AJL]

View attachment 318421
View attachment 318422

On a similar theme, this is an optomistic English Oak cutting in pure perlite, in a humid greenhouse....! Worth a stab..?!

Good Luck and let us know if it takes! When I was a student we trialled hundreds of softwood Oak cuttings on a mist bench with bottom heat, and from memory I think @1% were successful in producing roots.

 

[keri-wms]

Good Luck and let us know if it takes! When I was a student we trialled hundreds of softwood Oak cuttings on a mist bench with bottom heat, and from memory I think @1% were successful in producing roots.

I had pretty high rates using 2-3 year hardwood leader cuttings from 7-10 year old neglected oak “seedlings” a while back, very small sample though.

 

[Trenthany]

I had pretty high rates using 2-3 year hardwood leader cuttings from 7-10 year old neglected oak “seedlings” a while back, very small sample though.

Very nice! What was your technique, media, etc.?

 

[keri-wms]

Very nice! What was your technique, media, etc.?

I can’t remember, sorry. Might have been taken when dormant...

 

[keri-wms]

Sadly the giant Oak cuttings didn’t make it - the biggest “I wonder...” one really tried though! Note the callous:

 

[leatherback]

Sadly the giant Oak cuttings didn’t make i

 

[keri-wms]

View attachment 344622

Lol - scratch test = brown!

 

[leatherback]

Lol - scratch test = brown!

I do not believe in scratching bark.
But you have the plant there. You can see whether branches are wrinkled etc. The callus does not look dead, and the area near your hand neither..

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I do not believe in scratching bark.
But you have the plant there. You can see whether branches are wrinkled etc. The callus does not look dead, and the area near your hand neither..

I think that the entire internal wood structure is decaying. For transport to take place one would need a more or less closed system, since the top and the bottom are open ended, I don't expect water to move upwards in any sense other than capillary action. It's like a drinking straw: if you don't seal the top, the water will just drop out of the bottom.
Some trees can bypass this by producing good node structures that act as a membrane or sponge, some can't.

 

[Graft]

So heres the proof Oaks can be air layered!!View attachment 317109View attachment 317111View attachment 317112View attachment 317113

Nice job, I think I am going to try and do the same with an oak I plan on using for the native tree comp.

 

[Trenthany]

Same.

Nice job, I think I am going to try and do the same with an oak I plan on using for the native tree comp.

I pulled one off and am starting another.