Too early to air layer?

Crazy for Crotons

Crazy for Crotons

Well-Known Member
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29/06/09
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south Tampa, Bokeelia
Aside from the Glock's paradise in the Keys, is it too early to start air layering? The next two weeks look balmy which takes us into March and warmer weather. What are the risks in doing a few air layers now?

Ray
 
I put on a few this weekend.the next few weeks look springlike in FLL(no night temps under 60)It has been a very mild winter for us in FLL other than than december cold snap.As an experiment I tried a few layers on a stoplight and a stewartii on Christmas Day right after the cold snap just to try and see how it worked out.I took the Stewartii off this weekend it it looked fine.I will leave stoplight on for another couple weeks.No doubt the warm weather over the past 6 weeks helped.It probably would have been different if the weather had been cold.
 
Ray,

I think Bullwinkle(first name?) made a good point about the recent warmer weather were having now down here and the expected same going into March. My only point would be, if your ready and willing to put a few on, maybe do some of the more common varieties and not something you can't afford to loose. I started all mine last year in mid April. I might bump it up a bit because of so many I plan on doing. I found earlier in the year vs. later in the summer worked better for me. But then again, it depends on which ones your doing, as some root alot faster than others.
Jeff
 
On another note my wife gave me these rooter pots for my holiday present.
A very thoughtful gift :) .They worked great,has anyone else tried them??
I cannot say how durable they will be over time but there is no guesswork as far as when the layer has rooted up,you just look thru the clear plastic and see.For commercial users I doubt they would make sense but for some one who does 10-15 or so at a time they work great.
 

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junglegalfla said:
Once the air layer is on, how long of a wait is it typically?
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For my very,very limited experience.My Stewartii took 6 weeks to root nicely,
Dec 25 to Feb 10,but it was winter at the time.It might be sooner in the summer,I am sure some more experienced gardeners can assist you with better info.
 
junglegalfla said:
Bull, those little rooting pots are great! Do you know where she got them from?[/QUOTE

http://www.manhattanbonsai.com/catalog1_i1075731.html?catId=56743

I think she used the link above,but many other online merchants sell them.
It is really impossible to mess up when using these.If you want to check on the roots you just look thru the plastic.I think they probably allow for a larger airlayer as I got five of the big ones that I am using for trees and 10 of the small pots (crotons) . I have layers on some big limbs that I will be removing next month.I will let you know how it worked out.
Click to expand...
 
I've got 10-15 air layers that rooted, albeit slowly, over the winter months. I started them in mid September and are now finally well rooted. I'd like to think air layers started now will root much more quickly.
 
In the warmer months, you should get roots in 30 to 40 days. This time of the year? Double that and hope for the best. I would say that even here in zone 10 we're at least 3 or 4 weeks away from it being warm enough at night to get roots. I plan on starting the mistbed the second weekend in March.
 
Has anyone else tried the rooterpots??I might try a comparison betwen a regular layer and the rooterpots this weekend.I will put both on the same plant and see what comes out looking better after a couple months.
 
Michael (Bullwinkle) - they seem a bit pricey compared to the cost of heavy duty aluminum foil. The aluminium foil technique also allows an air layer in a tighter area that would be prohibitive with the air layering pot. Just my opinion. :rolleyes:

Rickey (fawnridge) is right in my opinion, air layers starting on March 15th! :cool:
 
Finally took of the airlayers that I put on Dec 24,mixed results,the Stoplight did great
along with the Dr Frank Brown and Rudy Bachmann.The Queen of Siam not so good.Overrall tried about 10 ,with 6 good results,2 okay results and 2 faliures.One of my faliures was with a Guava tree, dont know how hard those are to layer??Also did a Brownea with fantastic results.The rooter pots worked just fine maybe a little slower than aluminum but
it is cool to watch the roots progress thru the plastic :)
 
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