Small Root Over Rock Nishikigawa

thumblessprimate1

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This was an airlayer that was much taller. Shortened Spring last year, because it had some areas that looked like it had a bad disease. Part of the top near the chop was carved out because it had some dark color in it.

Healing well and looks like it's growing moderately strong. Branches are growing 2-3 inches and still extending.

The roots weren't growing all around, so I decided to go for a root over rock maple. Hope it works out for the best.

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Yes, it's on its own roots. I'm told by a grower that they root well from cuttings too. I have more that I'll ground layer this year. Bark is great. Fall color is great too. Leaf shape is sharp. A lot of good characteristics.
 

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Sorry, no. I placed a screw on the trunk to help the wire hold down the maple to the rock.

I'll check back in a year or two to see how roots are doing. Perhaps do some adjustments. Finally would just give it another 5 years to stick to rock as root thicken.

Not from experience, but a guess from how I've seen Japansee maple roots grow.
 

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I changed pot in the late winter in anticipation of my move. Didn't take pics, sorry. I adjusted roots and bound them again to the rock.

Wired a branch today to possibly become a leader.
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The tree today. I actually removed it from the rock last year and flipped the tree 180°.
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I checked out the roots and I've waited a couple years already, and it won't pop roots everywhere I wanted yet. I'm not going to wait anymore as you shall see. By the way, I did thin out the mass of roots before replanting.
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I got this airlayer. Guess what comes next. It's something I had been thinking about while I was waiting for roots, and to figure out the trees future form.
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Johnnyd

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This will be very interesting. Twin trunk? Not many rough bark twin trunk ROR maples. 😎
 

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Let's do some magic.
I analyzed my airlayer and the tree; I think I could use two rooted pieces more efficiently instead of one.
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Created a hole and then a peg out of one piece. I use small bit and increase to bigger bit for cleaner hole.
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Used pins for the other portion of the airlayer. The pin was too short so I added or substituted pin with a needle.
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Magic.
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Curious to see if the grafts take.
Me too. I'm pretty sure the pegged one will. The other may need more work. It's in position, but I'm not certain its tight enough. I expect both to form calluses and more roots. The callus should help the pegged one fuse, and on the other it could give me more tissue to apply a screw if needed.
 

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Update! 😆
@markyscott s pine thread reminded me of some old tacks I used to use similar to what he is using. In this case I think they're better than the green pins I initially applied.

I replaced nails with a screw (one to one side was enough) because I didnt want to hammer the trunk. My trees are smaller than Scott's. For my cushion I just used a piece of clear tubing cut to fit in the gap of the white plastic. Drilled a hole into trunk and turned the screw slowly in to tighten the pressure just enough.

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