Poignantly Pungent Pungens

[Darth Masiah]

whenever i think of silverberry, the silverhawks intro theme starts playing. (if only the show was as good as the intro )

i was thinking of digging this guy up this winter to mess with, but the roots were horrifying. i was bored, so i thought I'd experiment and see if i could airlayer elaeagnus in the fall. well, seems you can. figured as much with fall being a root growing period, and this tree having such a big head of steam.

9/5/21




12/25/21

 

[Michael P]

Good job!

 

[Crazy Diamond]

You put the wire in the bottom of the ring? I always in the top xD

 

[Darth Masiah]

You put the wire in the bottom of the ring? I always in the top xD

i like putting one at the bottom to hold the callus back from creeping up. in this case it really wasn't needed as the bottom cut was pretty far from the top. overkill's not always bad, though. i usually don't put a wire at the top. i like the roots coming out at a slightly downward angle, and putting a wire at the top will send shoots out horizontally and sometimes a little vertically like you planted it on a tile. just trying to avoid a pet peave popping up in the future.

 

[Darth Masiah]

i also got a few decent cuttings that were taken in june. potted them up in the fall in a variety of ways.

 

[berzerkules]

Dude, that silverhawks intro! Nothing like them 80's cartoon theme songs to bring back that 5 y/o watching Saturday morning cartoons feeling.

I like that colander layering too. Gonna have to try something like that when/if this winter ever ends.

 

[Darth Masiah]

Dude, that silverhawks intro! Nothing like them 80's cartoon theme songs

I like that colander layering too.

oh yeah!
i was trying the colander thinking it might slow down some of the super strong roots that like to get bigger than the rest of them and encourage more bifurcation early.

 

[Darth Masiah]

dug one to airlayer later

 

[Darth Masiah]

and another one

 

[Darth Masiah]

this airlayer had so many roots, i cut some off and treated it like a regular repot. there were so many i forgot to take some pictures. going to have to chop it back again for taper. has anybody seen silverberry thread grafted?

 

[Carol 83]

this airlayer had so many roots, i cut some off and treated it like a regular repot. there were so many i forgot to take some pictures. going to have to chop it back again for taper. has anybody seen silverberry thread grafted?

View attachment 421503View attachment 421504

Beautiful cat.

 

[Darth Masiah]

just wired up one of these 1+ yr olds again for better movement. the three i decided to keep are doing good with a few more to look through that rooted this year.



the other two

 

[Srt8madness]

Well, though the 12 foot long pencil straight runners meant I never considered these as bonsai, this thread (and a couple others) have changed my mind. Great work Darth! Those are awesome layers.

 

[Darth Masiah]

Well, though the 12 foot long pencil straight runners meant I never considered these as bonsai, this thread (and a couple others) have changed my mind. Great work Darth! Those are awesome layers.

thanks. yeah, seeing them growing wild will put you off with the long canes and all, but the foliage, flowers, and fruit look so good, i don't see why more people aren't fighting with these guys. these are the two inspirational pics I've been looking at for years, and i just added the one Mirai had for sale.

 

[Darth Masiah]

this one from post #8 really pushed out. the amount of growth at the chop surprised me. if i can airlayer it it'll be a cool little fatty

 

[DavidBoren]

Cool trees. They definitely have potential.

That stuff about the wire placement on the air layer is interesting.

 

[Darth Masiah]

it's done. let's see what happens.



the sapwood pattern looks cool. reminds me of the larger pattern for the surface area of this oak i airlayered last year.



coco/perlite

 

[Darth Masiah]

it's rooting




i had chopped the top off this one in August

 

[Darth Masiah]

dug another large cane for a future potato. the one from post #9 caught borer damage last spring and didn't make it. gotta remember to spray these yamadori coming out of the woods.

 

[Darth Masiah]

separated this airlayer. perfect 360 rooting. the shoots coming out of the chop are going to come in handy.

(10/22)