Air layering

[Lazy Gardener]

You all have me chomping at the bit to do some air layering. I have enough projects to keep me busy here until late fall, without taking on more! Will wait until spring, Lord willing.

I have a little seedling that I'm growing on in a pot. Can't figure out whether it's apple or pear. So, when it gets to grafting stage, I'll probably cleft graft apple + pear!

I also have a Turkey Fig. Bought the bare root several years ago, and have been growing it in a pot b/c our winters are not conducive to keeping it alive if it's soil planted. I'd love to try air layering that. Could layer the top. That would accomplish 3 goals: Fun project. Prune the parent plant back to a less top heavy/more pot friendly size. Give me a new plant that would then need to be babied... or given away.

Then, I have an apple tree that is suckering from nursery root stock. Some layers of that would provide more nursery root stock plants to graft!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I still haven't popped the pods open to check officially, but the ones on the lilac look ok, no wilting. The jasmine pods also look ok, but I think the whole plant is stressed from the heat. The guava appears to have wilted and possibly died, the parent plant is happy and has new leaves, so I think I just failed at doing the air layering. The first avocado (with two pods) looks like both air layers failed, the branches are wilted and black looking; parent plant looks fine. The second avocado has new leaves on both the untouched stalk/trunk and the air layered one, although the air layered one is growing much slower/smaller.

I bought some more nursery pots this weekend so I'm hoping I can get the pods opened and the air layered plants into their own containers this week but I was hoping it would be a little cooler first. This 100 degree week has been brutal.

Picture update from this morning, avocado is still doing good. I haven't opened the pod again yet. I will probably give it another week or two. I'm still watering the top of the pod each time I water the plant.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Picture update from this morning, avocado is still doing good. I haven't opened the pod again yet. I will probably give it another week or two. I'm still watering the top of the pod each time I water the plant.
View attachment 16366

So, the regular trunk is approximately 2' taller than the air layered one.

I opened the pod and it's got two bitty roots on one side. It doesn't appear to have any of the outer layer of bark connected from the upper to lower portion, and it has been growing new leaves, so I'm assuming it's safe to separate this to a different pot?

 

[R2elk]

You think like I do. Why just let it wither away, see it will produce roots first if so the you're a leg up 👍

Don't know if you noticed or not but potted and bare root apricots have been going for crazy money this year. I haven't seen any sales on them either. Maybe sales on potted come October or November, but right now crazy money.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

Nope, haven't noticed. I have more than enough apricot trees. Most I got through the County Conservation District. Last year was the first year I got any fruit from them. This year there was not a single blossom.

When I do buy trees, they are bare root ordered online. The idiots responsible for the zone ratings have us listed in a zone that is warmer than we are. The local vendors carry trees for that warmer zone and they will not survive here.

All the prices have been skyrocketing the past two years.

 

[CrealCritter]

Got my large closing balls in today. Can't wait to try them out.

Small on the left, large on the right

 

[CrealCritter]

Red Delicious apple tree in awful shape. I air layered 3 good branches. It bore apples last year, they wernt small but not large either but they were delicious.

Then I cut out all the dead. I counted 68 rings on the base of the big dead branch. so I guess that makes this tree about 70 years old, if it were pruned low year one or two. I'm gonna say it was planted around 1950. There's not much left, but hopefully enough to air-layer again next year.

This year It flowered early and we got a late freeze, so it does have any fruit. I would have cut the left branch lower but you can see I have a air-layer from a trunk sucker started that I want to see if it takes root.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[CrealCritter]

I may try air layering my apple trees, and my elderberry. The apple trees are infected with tree borers. I may try fishing in the holes for the grubs, as well as squirting some Neem or similar product in the holes. But... I don't hold much hope for saving the trees. One tree has about 5 holes that are each about 1/3" diameter, the other tree has 3 holes. The elderberry has never thrived in it's location. Just kind of "hanging on". A fair amount of die back each year. I do believe they are fairly easy to root. I could always order some trees from a nursery, but I relish the challenge of starting my own.

Shrink wrap also works if you don't want to buy the root balls.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[CrealCritter]

Here's a air-layer off the downed peach that i'm pretty sure will make it since it's a new branch. Air-layering seems to work best on newer tender branches.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Do you think plastic Easter eggs would work?

Can you air layer a lilac? I have one right up against my house and it needs to be moved but I'm afraid it will die when it's dug up. I'd like to try to save at least part of it.

 

[CrealCritter]

I saved the worst for last. How this Golden Delicious tree is still alive is another complete mystery to me. My wife said "It's because God wants it be alive, so you can take some air-layers off of it". Did I mention just how much I love my wife? I think I have multiple times : 😂.

Anyways, you can see why this is a rare tree. It requires the utmost care when pruning. You can just go a whack a big ole branch off anywhere. It'll need to be cut all the way back to the trunk so the cut will heal. Else as you can clearly see, it will rot quicker than you can say, jack be little.

When I was a child, I remember my mom core-ing golden delicious apples and baking them in the oven. I remember one baked Golden Delicious Apple was never enough.

It's an expensive... Now you can buy 2 golden delicious apple cuttings (for grafting) for $15.00 plus $6.00 shipping off eBay. Or you can buy a 4 to 5 foot sapling for $99.95 plus shipping. What once was very common, is now absolutely crazy expensive...

1x golden delicious apple + 1x Red Starkrimson delicious Apple cuttings | eBay

CUTTINGS MAY BE BOTH EASILY PLANTED AND GRAFTED. CUTTINGS DO NOT HAVE ROOTS WRAPPED IN THE PLASTIC FOLIO AND THE EDGES ARE WAXED IN ORDER TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION.

www.ebay.com

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/products/yellowdelicious?variant=13940771356724&msclkid=1b8e297cd8ec1c96ad7b49e633407af0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaignMT)+-+Shopping+-+Edible&utm_term=4580634171077911&utm_content=edibles

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸