What I have done with maples and elms, is split a plastic 6 inch pot in half with shears, Tie it around the air layer including the moss,removing whatever is holding the moss, leaving room for bonsai soil. Then I put the soil into the pot and make sure all air spaces are filled, water like a bonsai and during the winter remove this from the lower roots. I have had good luck with the roots moving into the soil and avoid losing the plant. Penny

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

Tonytran, the execution of the air layering is perfect. But from my point of serious sight better instead of making an air layering, to graft on the most appropriate rootstock (depending on terrain), if it is a land with very moist soils, it is best to use Diospyros virginiana, and for the driest land Diospyros Lotus is better . In your case with air layering, what you get will be a variety with a rootstock Diospyros kaki ( and no one knows how it will behave in different types of terrain) , although usually performs well. There is a boy from San Diego, who has problems with his kakis grafted in Diospyros Lotus (usually this rootstock has problems in humid lands, as this rootstock has a very shallow root system, only deepens in the land , about 40-50 centimeters ) while the Diospyros virginiana has a very deep root system (this rootstock is more resistant to soil moisture and provide to the grafted variety increased resistance to fungal diseases), next February , I will send some seeds of this rootstock. The difference between the two rootstock is like night and day. It seems that the rootstock Diospyros virginiana, is not widely used in the United States is this true? Best regards Jose

Glenn, I did not use any plastic wrap with this air layer at all, but I did cover the sides of the black plastic pot with foil to reflect sunlight and keep the black pot from absorbing all that heat (this tree was in 7 hrs./day of sun beginning late morning. I did not cover the opening of the pot at all, but the limb I used was at about a 30-35 degree angle (from the ground). The limb was also growing so that the opening of the pot was facing Northeast. Therefore, the opening of the pot got very little direct sunlight because in this part of my yard the sun doesn't break free of trees until around 11:00 AM. Again, one of the most interesting things coming from this experiment was observing how much faster this air layer developed than the one with moss, plastic wrap and foil - on the same tree. Just yesterday I saw the first white root has reached the plastic wrap (through the moss) on the other air layer. One other bit of information I don't think I mentioned in the original post was about this LSU Gold tree. I bought this tree in late March of this year at a home and garden show here in Jackson. A nursery from the gulf coast had come to the show and had a couple of these LSU Gold trees. Based on prior pruning this year would be the 4th full year for this tree. However, when I re-potted it (from a 5 gal.) it appeared to have lived its entire life heretofore in this pot, and it was very root-bound. Since it already had leaves and breba figs on it I simply re-potted it as it was and figured I would prune the roots when it is dormant. New growth at the distal buds this year has only been about 1 1/2" on this tree. Anyway, this info is probably meaningless, but as a beginner I thought I'd pass it on in case it might be important to someone. Henry