air layer the whole trunk = easy collection?

18 years ago

Hello,

My neighbor has a hack berry that is 6" diameter at the ground w/ a tap root, it grows about 15" high as it reverse tapers into a 12" diameter "club" of branches. This ball has amazing potential. Is it possible to airlayer all the way around the huge club? THis way it could be collected easily as well? There are no other branches bellow the point where I will air layer, Is that a problem? What the maximum diameter that you can air layer? Do you recommend not prunning any of the growth while it is layering, but then once the severing has been done, you should reduce leaf volume?

thanks

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Comments (4)

lucy
18 years ago
Hi, you're already thinking like a surgeon? That sounds like an amazing find - will your neighbor let you do it - because with no branching below the layer, that tree could well be toast afterward. Presuming you have permission, and that he understands the tree may well be firewood afterward, and presuming you realize it could take mos. to have enough roots on the thing to be viable before cutting, you do also realize that it could be extremely heavy to deal with (15' up) afterward? Were you going to use a chainsaw or something? Well, presuming everything has a positive answer, I guess anything's possible, but I'd be very sure that you know where you're going to put it immediately afterward, and that you can take good care of it. Please write back whenever and let me know what happens. Have you done layering before? What will you wrap it with, and how often (and how) will you check for moisture underneath the wrapping, etc.?
castorcrap
Original Author
18 years ago
Hello,
The growth is 15" not 15'from the ground. And the reason why it exists is because she has been cutting it back trying to kill it for years. So I figure I might as well take my wack at it as well, and possibly get a good bonsai stock. I will pack it with wet coarse spagnum moss. It seems to stay wet forever. I will wrap it with saran wrap first then alluminum foil, with shiny side out. This will keep it darker and cool, and I can pull it off, and still have a clear wrap actually holding the moss, so I can look for roots. How do you know when you have enough roots?
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"..If the hackberry is deciduous then you should start the air layer at the end of winter, right before it wakes up" I don't know where you got this info from, but it is not a very good idea. And will most likely not work at all. 1) If you air layer before there is foliage, there is nothing to provide the sucrose to develop roots. 2) If you "leave thin strips", the wound will just heal over, and not develop roots. "...this way it will still have some of the cambian layer to supply the upper portion," The cambium does not supply the leaves with anything. The cambium is the pathway for sucrose made by photosynthesis in the leaves, to travel to the roots. The inner core is the pathway up from the roots that supplies water and nutrients to the leaves. When we sever the cambium, water and nutrients can still reach the leaves who, who in turn send the sucrose developed (energy) back to the roots for storage (down through the cambium). Once this energy reaches the severed section of cambium, it has nowhere to go and collects there. This initiates the formation of roots at that spot. If the cambium is not entirely severed, there is still a pathway for energy to travel to the roots. And the tree will begin to heal the severed section while still functioning normally. It is a one way loop -
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I was just talking to a budding bonsai artist on the phone today, and she mentioned exactly the same thing. "I pick up a plant, rotate it this way & that, inspecting it carefully from all sides, then put it down because I don't know what to do, even though I know something needs to be done." What I told her is that knowing what to do doesn't come easy to many bonsai artists. Most of us acquire a sense of what the tree wants to be only after observing others transform trees in workshops, demos, and magazines, and after discussing our own trees' potential with other artists, especially those more experienced - or being present when these evaluations are made regarding the trees of others. It's likely you'll get some back-budding on the old trunk. If you do, you'll end up with a 2fer1. I agree with the mile of straight/boring hwy analogy, but if you bring the tree back to good vitality, a low chop will produce the back-budding you need to start building a tree on the existing roots, or you could opt to layer off the bottom section of the trunk again - depending on what the roots look like at repot time. For me, bonsai is the ultimate horticultural challenge. There is no limit to how far you can go in your search for proficiency and perfection of the artistry, and part of its reward is the bond you necessarily form with plants. Keep playing with and exploring ways to manipulate plants in ways that improve their ability to reach their potential - both in terms of health and appearance. I think you'll find, if you haven't already, that the ability to manipulate plant material adds an extra layer of opportunity to extract an added measure of satisfaction from the whole growing experience - even if it's not bonsai related. Al
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botanical_bill
18 years ago
This sounds very cool. Im kind of new to this. Is it possible to take picutures of the process and put them online? Id be very interested to see the process.
You shouldnt have to check for moisture in the ball, just check for roots. Since your cutting into the trunk, the tree will keep the moss moist.
lucy
18 years ago
Hi, a few straggly roots won't do (I mean, they might, but I wouldn't take the chance). A reasonable bunch, at least 2" long seems about right, but... I'd leave it even longer if I could stand it (and there was still plenty of summer left to establish it in a pot), plus seeing any new growth in the foliage is a good sign, There are no rules, so much as what seems to make sense (feels right) a lot of the time - and you'll know what I mean after e.g. 15 yrs of seeing 'colds' all day vs the one that turns out to be SARS.

air layer the whole trunk = easy collection?

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lucy

castorcrap
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air layer the whole trunk = easy collection?

Comments (4)

lucy

castorcrapOriginal Author

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lucy

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castorcrap
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