I have searched here, but I couldn’t really find it. Is air pruning a good way to propagate tree seedlings? Either from seed or cutting. I saw one video where a person did that method with a tomato.
Will air pruning make my propagation better at transplant time?
I think you’re referring to air layering? If so, it’s a relatively high-success way of doing things, and pretty easy. The downside is it’s not as efficient as grafting or rooting cuttings (ie you can’t get as many new plants in a given amount of time) so it’s not really used commercially. It works for some things but not others. Generally, if a plant is known to root easily, it’s a good candidate for air layering.
I’m working on that right now! I started this thread:
When I grow up I want to be like this guy:
Long story short; it holds the promise of superior root system and extremely high density for first year saplings. For what I have seen trees that have tap root tendencies benefit the most as it encourages a lot more side growth. Just to see what happens I’m also doing a bunch of haskaps, which have a more mat-like root pattern.
If by air pruning you mean something like growing in grow bags I would say so. I used to try to grow peppers in a 14 inch pot. By end of summer I had to water them daily even inside because once the root system gets into a ball it absorbs any moisture right away. I still have some trees growing in regular pots due to the fact I grow bags would make a mess inside and air pots are crazy expensive. For the outside plants and I switched over to grow bags though.
No, Air Pruning. I hadn’t really heard of it myself.
I saw him. But, I thought I’d get more than one person’s experience on it.
What about seedlings for transplanting fruit trees? Ever try that?
My apologies, I misunderstood your question. I think of air pruning as a method of growing, not a propagation method. I do think air pruning leads to easier transplants and less pot binding. I prefer to grow tree seedlings in pots that will at least air prune the taproot, and it results in nice fibrous roots.
Evidently for some plants it does. Mostly it’s done by a more expensive pot that you plant in that can (air) root prune.
Only a few commercial growers have much experience actually using these RootMaker or similar grow containers.
I bought a small dogwood in one and planted it for a neighbor…and kept the pot, but have not re-used it yet. The root mass seemed to have fewer big roots and more fibrous roots than typical potted tree.
Why is fibrous better?
I’ll let somebody else have a stab at that.
Generally it’s better, but for some purposes it is not.
You get good growth in good soil the more fibrous roots you have.
But, if you’re planting a standard tree out in the field, a taproot may be desirable.
I was wondering because all the bareroot trees I got had a good size taproot. I didn’t see super fibrous or anything. I mean it had some additional roots, but mostly the taproot. That’s why I was like, why didn’t the trees I got have the fancy roots, if it’s really that good.
I transplanted a bunch of chokecherries last year, tiny saplings. Those tend to send a single tap root straight down with very little lateral branching. Regularly you end up chopping a chunk of that tap root while replanting which weakens the sapling, becomes a vector for infection, and retards development. If instead it had a more fibrous root system all of the above is avoided. If it was on a pot you also avoid the shock of dealing with a root bound plant
I have wondered why root bound is bad. They still have a ton of roots.
Because it kills trees, often two years down the road. I pulled a dead blueberry bush that after three years of being planted and not growing, it still had the roots in the shape of the original pot. They were so tightly wound that they never branched out. Also roots that encircle the plant and keep growing can end up strangling the plant.
Trees that have a taproot and not much else tend to need a lot more babying than something with lots of fibrous roots. Bare-rooted trees tend to have very few medium and smaller diameter roots, so that’s a lot of why they can be slow the first year without adequate watering. Now, the big thick roots grow the fine feeder roots pretty quickly, but fibrous rooted plants have many more places from which to grow those feeder roots and just seem to plug in better and faster in my experience.
When trees/shrubs are pot bound, it can prevent the roots from growing out into the surrounding soil, or they can eventually strangle the tree. You can overcome this by teasing apart circling, tangled roots or making cuts down the sides of the rootball, so it’s not a death sentence. But, you usually lose some root mass in the process, expose the roots to air for longer than necessary, and cause some damage that can potentially be an opening for disease. If you get a plant that was grown in a pot just long enough, you don’t have to fuss with it much, and you lose little to no root mass. Air pruning pots, in addition to encouraging a more highly branched root system, also greatly extends the window where you don’t have to worry about a pot-bound condition…
beforeIdie, what exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Fruit trees do not have taproots. Conifers and nut trees do.
It depends on the tree. Persimmons, paw paws, and bet pear rootstocks have such a strong taproot tendency that they almost won’t put out side roots unless I grow them in air pruning pots. Cloned rootstocks don’t usually have any. Most seedling rootstocks are somewhere in between. Apricot seedlings, for example, have a strong taproot but branch pretty well on their own.
True of clonal dwarfing rootstocks on apples. But, Antonovka and most seedling apples do have a taproot…certainly some do, if not most.