JM Air Layer - Wrong?

DamianTrimboli

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I'm in the south emisphere - Buenos Aires exactly. I've done an air layer in a JM on December 29th.
Now i'm noticing that the newest leaves are turning brown, but the hardened off ones are still ok. Has the air layer gone bad? Is there anything i can do to save it? is it normal?

I've done air layers before on Chinese Elm, they always went very well. what can I do? Thank you so much for all your help!
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0soyoung

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It looks just like 'normal' wind burn that frequently happens in the course of a season --> provide a little more protection from hot afternoon breezes.

When the layer craps out leaves just above the girdle quickly wither (curl up and turn brown) and this progresses upward to the tip in a matter of a few days until the entire layered stem has nothing but curled up, completely brown leaves that stay attached to the tree. When this happens, you will also see that the bark immediately below the girdle is dark brown to black in color, is soft and easily slides off the stem.
 

MACH5

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It is also too soon to know if your layer failed and killed the upper portion. Rare that you'd kill the upper portion by layering a maple unless there is gross negligence. Far more common is for an air layer to fail by not producing any roots due to improper technique. For next time I would have cut at least an extra third of the bark to esure that the gap is wide enough to discourage the tree from bridging. In failed air layers, the vast majority of the cases this is what happens.
 

Paulpash

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The only thing I'd add to the valuable comments of the others is that often you will see the foliage above the layer undergo a color change similar to a 'false Autumn', ie you sometimes see reds and yellows in the leaf that weren't there before. This is perfectly normal.
 

0soyoung

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The only thing I'd add to the valuable comments of the others is that often you will see the foliage above the layer undergo a color change similar to a 'false Autumn', ie you sometimes see reds and yellows in the leaf that weren't there before. This is perfectly normal.
This is because of the accumulation of high auxin levels just above the girdle. These occur naturally in this circumstance but can be exaggerated by applying IBA in higher concentrations immediately after the girdle is cut.
 

Paulpash

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Tbh I am happy when I see this as well as shoots popping from below the girdle. It tells me good things are usually happening in the bag!
 

0soyoung

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Tbh I am happy when I see this as well as shoots popping from below the girdle. It tells me good things are usually happening in the bag!
It tells you that the girdle isn't bridged. Otherwise, it has nothing at all to do with what is happening in the bag. When the girdle was cut and residual cambium was scraped away, the PAT stream was disrupted. The circumstances below the girdle are exactly the same as occurs when the branch has been pruned (at the same point).
 

DamianTrimboli

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Update on this:

I opened the air-layer, no roots. The tree is still alive, but now is autum.
What should I do know? I'm planning to make the girdle again in spring, but how do I need to keep the current girdle? should I close the bag again? Leave it opened and protect it with cup paste?

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namnhi

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Am thinking your medium is too wet. I would just leave it alone until Spring and try again. I would remove the bag.
 
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