AusBonsai

I have been reading up on air layering, and have found plenty of info on the technique but not the timing. I have a lovely established 10 year old japanese maple that has some nicely extra curved branches as a result of backing up to a cherry, and it needs a good prune back this year so I figured that some of the pruning could be done through air layering...

Is it best left as an autumn job, or a spring job as well? Logic suggests either, so long as its not summer heat or winter dormant, but would be good to confirm. It is budding up at the moment, and probably won't pop for another 3 weeks or so, but wondered if I can get them underway in october so the roots can be well established before the heat of summer.

Also, how greedy can/should I be within the bounds of maintaining shape of course. Does this process put a lot of stress on mature trees?

I have set aside some good stretches of garden bed for field growing now...

Thanks

Jake

I believe early Summer is the best time, ring barking, should take in six to eight weeks.

I usually perform any airlayers here late spring when most the frosts have gone , howeveer i have done chinese cork bark elms in september before and just protect them if a frosty night is in store . I just seperated a shohin layered corky elm on the weekend and repotted . did i take a pic of the layer repotted -NO ill get pics this weekend. layer about 100mm tall

I have been thinking of asking the similar question GreenThumb.
The overall consensus seems to be to do Maple layers at bud swell. That makes perfect sense because that is when there is root movement and the tree has the best chance of survival. What worries me is that Maples are notorious for bleeding at that early stage. I'm wondering how that influences the tree, as losing stored energy, while asking of it to produce layer roots, cant be good for it...?

fredman wrote:I have been thinking of asking the similar question GreenThumb.
The overall consensus seems to be to do Maple layers at bud swell. That makes perfect sense because that is when there is root movement and the tree has the best chance of survival. What worries me is that Maples are notorious for bleeding at that early stage. I'm wondering how that influences the tree, as losing stored energy, while asking of it to produce layer roots, cant be good for it...?

Thanks for the responses. Fredman, this is what I read in Peter Adams Bonsai with Japanese Maples this evening, he says the best season is in early spring before the buds open, but I was worried about bleeding as well going too early. Although if it is early enough, then the sap may not be running hard yet? The tree is close to 4m tall at the top and easily as wide in diameter, so I am thinking it is tough enough to put in a bit of extra work - I could give it some extra seasol and nitrogen feeds to give it a hand...

The other detail that seems to be missing from the reading is how long you should wait for roots to establish before pruning these off, I was thinking a month from ringbarking?

The other detail that seems to be missing from the reading is how long you should wait for roots to establish before pruning these off, I was thinking a month from ringbarking?

The reason this is usually missing is that the answer is - It depends.
Sometimes roots will take 4 or 5 weeks, sometimes it will take 4 or 5 months.

Lots of factors will influence how long roots will take. Basically wait until there are roots.... If you use clear plastic you can see the roots through the plastic. If you use dark plastic just gently peel the plastic back so you can see if there are roots around the edge of the sphagnum ball. If you decide to use a pot to hold the layer you can wait until roots show from the drain holes or gently probe in the mix to see what has grown.

I've always layered in mid-late spring. By this stage the tree has fully powered up and growing at full pace. It should allow the tree it send all of its energy down through the cambium, hit the ringbark and induce strong rooting. I usually leave the layer until the next winter when I separate and pot up as a sphagnum ball full of roots. Maples are extremely easy to layer, there is no reason why you shouldn't be successful.

Adam

Hi Jake,
The best time to layer your Maple is when the buds are just starting to burst. I always use clear plastic to encapsulate the sphagnum moss and cover the layer with aluminium foil. This helps to keep the roots cooler. To check the roots, just remove the foil, check the roots and replace the foil if the layer is not ready to remove. There is no reason why you shouldn't get very good roots.
Regards Ray

Thanks everyone, Most appreciated. Ray, really appreciate the photos. Great growth in a month. Going with 'at bud burst' for the majority. It sounds like it is not an exact science, so long as you get it done early to mid spring. In the interests of curiosity, I will do an extra layering in mid October so we can compare the progression.

GreenThumb

Airlayers do not put a lot of stress in a tree, especially if they are done early in the season. It allows the tree enough time to store nutrients in its roots before winter. But you will not be layering every branch, so you are likely not to have a problem anyway.

The results which Ray gets is not by chance. His technique is very good and his results are VERY impressive. Get his ebooks, it is worthwhile. Your air-layer results will be significantly improved. The quicker you get the layers off the tree, the quicker they get into the growing season and as such are strong for the winter cold. If you do the layers too late in the season with slow results, you are only giving the layer three months at best to prep for winter.

PM Ray and find out about his books. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Cheers

gerald randall wrote:GreenThumb

Airlayers do not put a lot of stress in a tree, especially if they are done early in the season. It allows the tree enough time to store nutrients in its roots before winter. But you will not be layering every branch, so you are likely not to have a problem anyway.

The results which Ray gets is not by chance. His technique is very good and his results are VERY impressive. Get his ebooks, it is worthwhile. Your air-layer results will be significantly improved. The quicker you get the layers off the tree, the quicker they get into the growing season and as such are strong for the winter cold. If you do the layers too late in the season with slow results, you are only giving the layer three months at best to prep for winter.

PM Ray and find out about his books. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Cheers

Thanks for the advice Gerald. Will do.

WoW that is impressive roots on the Trident Ray. Do you always remove all the sphagnum moss after separation?
Have you ever had a problem with "bleeding" or is that an over rated 'problem'? What worries me is if I do 4 layers on one tree, and it "bleeds" on every layer then that is a lot of lost energy for the tree..... Doesn't that have any effect on the tree?

fredman wrote:WoW that is impressive roots on the Trident Ray. Do you always remove all the sphagnum moss after separation? I remove all the moss off deciduous trees. When I layered Black Pines the roots were so entwined with the moss that they were planted leaving the moss. The roots will spread out into the pot. The moss will eventually disappear with repoting.
Have you ever had a problem with "bleeding" or is that an over rated 'problem'? What worries me is if I do 4 layers on one tree, and it "bleeds" on every layer then that is a lot of lost energy for the tree..... Doesn't that have any effect on the tree?

Hi fredman,
I have never experienced this problem. I have had the opportunity to layer many species now and this has never been a problem. I have done multiple layers on trees. I did 15 layers on a special maple tree and only lost one layer. That same tree had 10 more layers applied to it the next year and they are all looking very healthy. You can do multiple layers on the same trunk as long as you abide by some basic rules. Hope this helps.
Regards Ray

Thanks Ray. That certainly helps a lot

Ray M wrote: The best time to layer your Maple is when the buds are just starting to burst...

+1, I've tried summer and as above in Canberra, but the results speak for themselves.