This way it is possible to root every cutting. Its called Abmoosen ( because the pot will be stuffed with peat moss). I cannot find the equal word in the english language. The moss allows air to circulate, it fastens the rooting process.The cutting will not rot or lost any other way, as he is still connected with the mother plant.
Monika, I sugggested air layering to Eric last year!! I was wondering if it would work with brugs. We use it at the green house for difficult to root plants, especially tropicals.
It works excellent with Brugmansias. But just as well with other plants (tropicals etc.)
Monika- will this work with sanguineas as well?
Yes it does!
Monika is a great teacher isn't she?
Yahoo!! Thanks Monika ~~
I have used air layering on my versicolor peaches and find it works well but can get roots on them quicker by keeping in water and planting them when the white nobes appear. I will have to give this a try thanks much Monika.
Pete
I have a few that for every 1 I root I kill 3. This is good.
Monika,
How wet do you keep the peat moss?
Peat moss is capable to hold only a certain amount of water. I wrap alu (from the kitchen) around the pot to keep the moisture in. You have to check the grade of moisture every other day and add water if needed. The danger of overwatering is not given.
Why do you call this air layering?
that's a great question, Monika, and i have no clue, but that is what it is called here. hoping some else can answer.
Air layering,i.e. up in the air on the stem as opposed to soil layering where you pull a piece of stem or vine down to the soil and weight it down against the soil. that's all I can think of. I've heard it called "air layering" for years.
Yes, thats the exact method I use as well Monika. Wrapping in aluminum foil...but I don't use a pot. I just use the aluminum foil and the peat moss. I have also found that if one keeps the cutting completly covered in a loose but moist well aerated soil at 40-50 degree's this allows the cut end to callous over without rotting. One doesn't get many roots to form this way very fast though, but the cutting stays alive and after the callous has formed there is less chance rotting if one uncovers the cutting a bit and the rooting begins a bit faster. I do however use the potted method when grafting rooted cuttings or seedlings to top branches of mature trees as I find it increases ones chances of success when grafting and also allows one to graft faster growing green growth which might otherwise turn to mush before the graft took. I have also devised a method where I simply place pure peat in the bottom of the pot and leave a few inches of pure or almost pure perlite where the cut end of the cutting will lay. An inch of space between the top and the bottom of the cut and plenty of peat on top. Water well and one has a naturally very humid perlite middle layer that does not induce rotting while the top and bottom layers work to either wick water up or conversely....ahh, I do ramble....
Eric, glad you reminded me!! I couldn't remember how you did that, now I will try. I used to root African Violets in pure perlite, and sometimes used vermiculite.
Here it is, air layering
Monika - I see you just cut a notch in the stem but on the ABADS site it looks like they remove a ring around the entire stem. Is one way better than the other? Seems like cutting a ring would cut off the life flow to the stem. Isn't that how trees die?
Poppysue,
I would think that if you cut all the way around the trunk that it would affect the remainer of the plant that is growing. I'm going to use the notch method on Liz's sang x sang and others I only have one plant of. I don't want to be left without any backup for these.
Poppy,
You can cut a notch, but with brugs you don't even need a notch. They will air layer without cutting on them at all.
Okay. The ones I want to do aren't paticularly hard to root. I just want them to have a nice strait trunk. BTW Eric... my first Dr.D opened tonight :]
Picture Sue,gotta have a picture!
Wheres the picture Poppysue? I want to see my baby. Purty please?
Eric, Do you mean that you can just wrap the dampened peat around the stem and it will form roots? Are leaf nodes needed or will it just form the white nubbies like when you put it in water?
It will form white nubbies just as if you had put in water. You don't need leaf nodes etc except where you want sprouts to form.
I'll post one tomorrow. It was still white tonite.
I can deal with a white one.
Poppysue, You have to go out tonight and smell it. It's heavenly.
Fragrance is definitly one trait I would die for in a hybrid. I have a white suaveolens hybrid of mine that I have kept simply because it is so fragrant.
Eric, I have one of your white hybrids which should open soon. The bud isn't very large so I'm thinking it might be a small flower. Can't wait for it to open.
