Will SweetGum (Liquidambar styraciflua) air layer?

BonsaiNaga13

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I have 2 SweetGum around 10 years old and around 10 feet tall. They're in an area where I couldn't dig them up and expect them to live so I'm wondering if they do airlayer successfully. They're a nice thickness already.
 

garywood

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Naga, They do. Unless there are special qualities in the piece to be air layered or you want to play with extra stock I would suggest just cutting. We all have our reasons but Sweetgum is pretty easy to come by.
 

BonsaiNaga13

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Naga, They do. Unless there are special qualities in the piece to be air layered or you want to play with extra stock I would suggest just cutting. We all have our reasons but Sweetgum is pretty easy to come by.
Good to know, thanks.
 

AlainK

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Here, Liquidambar styraciflua (that's what you mean, right?) are reputed very difficult to air-layer.

I've tried it myself (on a 2 inches wide trunk) and it didn't work, whereas I've had very good success with other species, deciduous (almost 100% on maples, Zelkova, ...) or conifers (junipers, and even a scots pine! - that died the year after... ).

But it's worth trying again: let us know of the outcome.
 

BonsaiNaga13

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I dug a bunch of this years seedlings up and pruned the tap root. If they survive I got plenty to mess with, I think I'm gonna attempted an air layer anyway next year cuz the trees are too close to the house and need to come down anyway. Maybe I could save a piece of them.
 

Shibui

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I have 2 SweetGum around 10 years old and around 10 feet tall. They're in an area where I couldn't dig them up and expect them to live
I've transplanted liquidamber with almost no roots and they have grown on quite happily. They must be in a very tight spot if you can't dig them? Even just a few stumps of roots should be enough to transplant successfully IMHO
 

BonsaiNaga13

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I've transplanted liquidamber with almost no roots and they have grown on quite happily. They must be in a very tight spot if you can't dig them? Even just a few stumps of roots should be enough to transplant successfully IMHO

They grew between a picket fence a medal fence the house and another tree that's 3 times their size so digging would be exceptionally difficult. I collected a 2 year old seedling with pretty much no roots cuz it was wedged between mulberry roots a few weeks ago and it didn't even lose any leaves growing just fine. I saw a few reddit posts about successful air layers on sweet gum so I figured now's as good a time as ever to learn
 

rockm

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I've transplanted liquidamber with almost no roots and they have grown on quite happily. They must be in a very tight spot if you can't dig them? Even just a few stumps of roots should be enough to transplant successfully IMHO
This most likely isn't the same species. The North American Sweetgum (liquidamber syraciflua) is not the same as the Asian variety (liquidamber orientalis) that is used in China and Japan. It can be a bit more finicky about timing of collection and root work.
 

the1only

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This most likely isn't the same species. The North American Sweetgum (liquidamber syraciflua) is not the same as the Asian variety (liquidamber orientalis) that is used in China and Japan. It can be a bit more finicky about timing of collection and root work.
When is the best time to do root work on Liquidamber Orientalis?
 

BonsaiNaga13

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Completed the air layer using an old pot with some bonsai soil with sphagnum moss on top
20190514_161744.jpg20190514_172048.jpg 20190514_172106.jpg
I also collected 3 clumps that are between 5 and 7 years old. I'll post pics of those later
 

cbroad

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Completed the air layer
Did you scrape off the sapwood after making the girdling cut and peeling off the bark? All of my past attempts failed until I learned this trick.

I only ask because it looks somewhat clean; maybe you're just that good though:cool:
 

BonsaiNaga13

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Did you scrape off the sapwood after making the girdling cut and peeling off the bark? All of my past attempts failed until I learned this trick.

I only ask because it looks somewhat clean; maybe you're just that good though:cool:
I missed that step. Thanks for checkin me.
 
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