AusBonsai

Linhad - Hmmm i'll see how i feel next spring as to if i try again, two years of failures has really sucked the jam out of my doughnut with this cultivar sadly. It looks like a great species for bonsai with the dense budding (hence the name "Yatsubusa" which translates from Japanese as "8 buds" referring to the dense budding habbit).

Thanks for that Red, i would upload a tonne of photos only Photobucket is now holding my library to ransom and i refuse to pay simply to host and access my own photos. I will take some individual photos and upload them so the details are a little clearer.

I'll start with the roots that JM 'Kamagata' grew at time of separation and it will explain a little better why i was impressed with how this cultivar took to air layering. I had a look a week or so ago and the roots have already reached the edges and bottom of the pot so it grew on very well after separation.

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Shishigashira single trunk air layer

Roots of Shishigashira single trunk at time of air layer separation. This was the layer that grew really strong roots very quickly. You can see my fingers holding the trunk that gives perspective of the thickness i layered at as well for reference

Shishigashira twin trunk air layer at separation. This one grew only a few roots on one side of the trunk initially but i haven't had any die off as a result of that. I was expecting that only a couple of roots supporting two good size and height trunks would struggle but seemingly not.

gnichols wrote:I tried a plum, Liquid Amber and a JM tree/s in my yard at the beginning of spring and it looks like the Liquid Amber and the JM have succeeded. I'm not sure of the JM type but will post up some pics tmrw. I just used the cheap hormone powder with a see through zip lock bag and a black bin liner outside of that. Next spring I'm going to go berserk on the JMs in the yard - is there a limit of how many you should do on 1 tree at the same time?

I also tried a callistemon in the yard but only did the layer a week ago.

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Edit. With photos. Probably hard to tell the cultivar from the photos. The leaves seem a little small for a standard Acer palm...
I don't at all profess to being an expert but this just shows how easy it is. This was my first attempt. Next time I would use more spagnum moss than this. I plan to remove it in about a week and fingers crossed it survives.

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Great job! In terms of difficulty Japanese Maple is a very easy one to start with to get the feel for it. Yours looks ready to separate with that much roots, though there's no harm in leaving it longer!

The leaf of your one there looks remarkably similar to my A. palmatum 'Arakawa', though the bark on yours looks quite smooth where arakawa has the rough bark like a Cork Oak in theory.

gnichols wrote:

gnichols wrote:I tried a plum, Liquid Amber and a JM tree/s in my yard at the beginning of spring and it looks like the Liquid Amber and the JM have succeeded. I'm not sure of the JM type but will post up some pics tmrw. I just used the cheap hormone powder with a see through zip lock bag and a black bin liner outside of that. Next spring I'm going to go berserk on the JMs in the yard - is there a limit of how many you should do on 1 tree at the same time?

I also tried a callistemon in the yard but only did the layer a week ago.

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Edit. With photos. Probably hard to tell the cultivar from the photos. The leaves seem a little small for a standard Acer palm...
I don't at all profess to being an expert but this just shows how easy it is. This was my first attempt. Next time I would use more spagnum moss than this. I plan to remove it in about a week and fingers crossed it survives.

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Great post Tim, very informative!

Have you ever done a layer on something 100mm thick? There is a maple in my mums front yard that is begging to have a branch taken off

Cheers
Matt

Thanks Matt,

Can’t say i’ve attempted a layering that big myself but I know others have on Japanese Maple with success. You’ll need a large bag and a hell of a lot of sphagnum moss! It would be best to wait until the end of spring this year before starting it IMO and it might need to be left on the tree for 2 years to get enough root growth to support such a large trunk after separation, but it would certainly be possible

A. palmatum 'shideshojo' airlayering. I pruned back the banches when i separated the layer a) because they looked ordinary and b) because they were far too long and making the tree fall sideways.

The spring colour of the leaves is a real pink-red darkening to red before turning green in summer. One of the few maples i know of that put on a colour show in Spring as well as Autumn so i was keen to try to grow more of it.

Seigens has similar colouring to the shindeshoja and smaller leaves.

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I'll keep my eye out for it thanks!

Update photo of root growth on the single trunk Shishigashira, this is about 5 weeks after the layer was separated from the tree and it has already filled the pot with strong and healthy roots. I added a small amount of controlled release fertiliser to the top of the pot a week or so back, but other than that no special treatments have been given; just keeping sphagnum slightly damp, morning sun and protected from wind.

I'm very encouraged by this and i hope that with such strong root growth i should be able to move it straight into a more normal potting mix come repotting time later this year

It is worth noting that Shishigashira is a very slow growing variety so don't start one young expecting to see an amazing tree any time shortly thereafter.

That pretty much says it all ... prolific root growth - nice and healthy looking!

Excellent results Tim. Well done!


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