Always nice when an air layer is successful. These little devices have worked with moderate success for me on stems of pencil thickness. This is Sumi-nagashi.
Wrapping the air-layer with transparent plastic sheet works well. You can add some black plastic sheet like a dustbin liner so the new roots don't burn under the sun, and chek under it to see if the roots are developping well. What medium did you use ? 100% sphagnum moss ? Did you use (chemical) hormones, or "willow water" or other organic hormones ? I have one that I will sever in the next few days, I'll keep you posted. Air-layering can work well on thicker branches, I've done it on branches as big as 1 inch (2.54 cm), and I'm pretty sure even larger ones can be successfully air-layered. And welcome to the forum Ken, and congrats for posting your first new thread - thanks to Derek's advice ;-)
@AlainK Thanks for your input and the welcome. I'll try some bigger air layers next year with polythene. I used just sphagnum and believe it or not just pure honey. I don't know if it has any rooting encouragement but it reduces chance of infection before rooting takes place. Has worked well for a few years now. Best.
Never tried it myself, but I'm sure it played at least some part. Honey has some kind of magic. Honey, esp. thyme honey, is used to heal wounds after operations, it is said to "do miracles".
This is my giant air layer project. Started June 2019. Had a few roots August 2020. Hope to be able to remove fall 2021 Not a maple, but making room for one. LOL
@kbguess good morning Keith, that is serious air layering. I have seen this on Herons Bonsai and it worked. Please update the thread when you go to the next stage. I think so many will be fascinated to see how this one turns out. 'I will '.
Regarding Honey, an acquaintance of mine (vet) of many years ago used Manuka honey on wounds on animals. She swore by it and it never failed her. It was used on a nasty cut to my horses leg and it reduced the healing time greatly. I did read up on a scientific study at the time, that concluded that there was No benefits from it's use. But it did work, so one of those mysteries again!!!
@Acerholic Big pharma sponsored scientific studies will always decry something it cannot profit from. Honey def. has antibacterial and antiviral properties. As for rooting all I can say is it works as well as when I have used rooting hormones. As a student I used to root hardwood Acer palm. cuttings in February with diluted IBA as rooting hormone but will now be trying them with honey just as an experiment.
@Ken Hamilton I think you have hit the nail on the head Ken. 'Profit'. I will look forward to seeing your experiment with honey with eager anticipation. If it works, then it will be an experiment tried by many I'm sure. Anything new is quite exciting. Do keep the forum updated.
Hello, honey actually works well in cuttings, the one I use is cane honey. When making the mixture of rooting hormones, in which I use IBA, NAA, IAA and B1 (I buy these products with great purity) and a teaspoon of cane honey, and with that I make my rooting agent. Another way to use cane honey is in irrigation water one tablespoon for every 5 liters of water, when a plant has a problem.
Acerholic@ When someone needs it, I will comment on how to make the personalized rooting gel, or explain how to do it, any other commercial rooting agent, for example clonex, gro-root. woods rooting compound, rhizopon, dip'n grow etc. (lol reverse engineering)
@zfrittz Hi, just had a random idea that would be interesting to try. Maple syrup has recently been shown to be beneficial when used with antibiotics. Since it is a substance from the same species :it may serve to feed sugars to the cutting or layer and protect while new callus and roots were forming. On my experiment list for next year.!
Hi D., honey works well. My brother always use it when he is airlayering his fruits trees i.e. grapefruit, tangerine, lemon... but he said watch out for ants.
@Atapi Good evening S, that is interesting again and it seems it is more widely used than I thought. I did think the same about ants, could be a problem. @Ken Hamilton earlier talked about trying Maple syrup. All natures wonders !!!! I think we will be watching this thread closely over the next couple of years.
Another success. Acer cappadocicum 'Aureum' air layers very happily and a great way to get a choice plant.
@Acerholic One of the easiest to air layer with prolific root growth. Never had success with some jm cvs. like 'Ichi gyogi' despite many attempts.
@Ken Hamilton, that is interesting Ken, tbh I really don't know why more of this wonderful tree is not grown. The Autumn yellow is spectacular. And now you have two !!!!
Airlayering is one of my most used form of propagation. I've never used honey but have read that it work. I use hormex, dip n grow, clonex liquid, and rootech gel for my rooting hormone. I took pics of one back in July and removed a few the other day.
