this thread is a bit of a sister thread to my honey as rooting hormone, after deciding to go with a rooting hormone gel because i didnt want to risk losing this one.
so to start with i will show you the tree and my plan.
the pics above are of how the juniper is now, it has been in its pot after a restyle for 3 months now or so, and has been very healthy, the other pics are of where the airlayer was planned for and a virt of what i want it to look like
to the actual process- i gathered all my stuff i needed amongst that was the rooting hormone gel, the coke bottle, sphagnum moss, black plastic (garbage bag top), electrical tape and a craft knife/scapel.
next stage involves choosing where i want the roots to come from and then ring barking the trunk, i have done this nearly double the thickness of the trunk this will make sure it doesnt try and heal. also being this time of year with everything flowing up and down the trunk the bark comes of really easy, it basically came off in one piece with out leaving anything on the actual wood and then the rooting hormone gel was applied.
i used a 600ml coke bottle as a base for the layer as i found using plastic was rather awkward, the coke was quite refreshing in this heat too
i also used the electrical tape around the bottle to hold it on, with the bottle i cut a hole in the bottom to get around the trunk and i put a split up the side of the bottle to make it able to wrap the bottle around the tree.
then using sphagnum moss i chopped it up reasonably coarse and filled the bottle up making sure it had plenty of moss in there to hold moisture.
the coke bottle allows great drainage as any excess water in there will pool in the "feet" of the bottle and all ya have to do is poke, cut push a hole into each "foot".
then all i have done is use the black plastic and electrical tape to wrap and cover the bottle to create darkness so the new roots will be happy
i also popped a few holes in the black plastic on top to allow it to breathe and i also put a few around the bottle too.
from here i mixed up a little bit of the rooting hormone gel with some water to give it a bit of an extra kick for its first watering, i will do this maybe once a week to once a fornight the rest of the time will be plain rain water from my tank.
i expect this to push some new roots within the next 6-8 weeks, i am hoping to be able to take it from the parent within 3 months or so and be confident that the new root system will be able to support the tree.
no foliage was taken off when doing this because that is what is going to feed the tree to produce the new root sysem
i hope this has been helpful to those that havent or dont know how to air layer and maybe given some people ideas for there next attempt at it.
i will update this thread as soon as i have some form of news to tells ya all, as for now its a matter of waiting, keeping the sphagnum moist and getting the results that i want a little down the track
if any one has any questions about how i have done something if i have missed anything, just ask and i will try and fill you in the best i can
jamie
taking the top half of trees of since 2005! 
im really looking forward to how the top up of hormone gel goes. This idea of a top up had always crossed my mind also, but didnt want to take the chance. 
