I’m trying to air layer a Marianna shoot that took off from below the graft on an apricot I grafted. I went to remove the bark and it was still sticking quite a bit, even though the tree has finished blooming and is leafing out, and we have had good rains lately.
I can get the bark off, with a certain amount of effort, but I wonder if I need to wait until it comes off more easily; right now it would be a challenge to bud with the bark like it is, but it might be doable.
Thanks!
If the bark isn’t slipping, chip bud rather than T-bud.
No, I only mentioned budding to explain how the bark was behaving. What I’m trying to do is air layer the shoot.
I have air layered a little bit and I would say don’t worry if the bark is slipping or not. Just make the cuts the way you desire and let it do it’s thing. Are you going to use a pet bottle or bury it a little in the ground?
I’m planning to use a 1 quart yoghurt container.
Do you just go ahead and pry-scrape the sticky bark away? I don’t see why that wouldn’t work, but I have not done this before and want to get it right.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I’ve only done grapes and maracuya, but the pet bottles work well. Cut your branch the way you want and use hormone if you want. I think the growth will come from where the uncut bark meets the cambium, not the exposed cambium strip itself. Thread the branch through the small end of the bottle and also cut an opening large enough for the branch to exit in the large end of the bottle. Also the large end has to have a big enough opening for your medium. Put some holes for string in the large end, so you can tie it stable to some other branches. Fill it with the medium and keep it watered, so it doesn’t dry out afterward. You can also use duct tape and wrap with aluminum foil as needed or desired. If and when it works you will be able to see the roots in the clear bottle. After all this, snip and nurture the new plant. I did some redcurrants last year by burying the branches in soil. This is the easy way. If the branch you want to layer is close enough to the ground, set a little bench under it, drill two holes in a plastic pot thread the branch through, fill with soil, and let it do it’s thing. When I was grafting apples a month ago I took the rootstock cuttings, stuck them in the ground and they have all rooted and are growing.
Thanks for the detailed description. I decided to pull the trigger yesterday and went ahead with the project, much as you described but using a opaque yoghurt container. I had the feeling that it went pretty well.
The shoot was too branched out to slide a container over it; instead I cut the container open, fit it around the thing, and then taped it up and filled it. Finally wrapped it with Glad Cling wrap. We can hope!
Mark Air layering is a good technique, I’m sure it doesn’t work with all species, but does with most. Be sure you don’t let your medium dry out.
Mark,
How did it turn out. I did the same with Marianna. These were started in mid summer. I should have done it earlier. But they rooted and looked like this in October. Also I have just stuck Marianna cuttings in flower pots in the fall, no hormone, and got fifty percent take in the spring.
It’s hard to see the roots but it should be ready to cut in the spring.
That’s beautiful! Mine is still on the tree. The first attempt went pretty well for what it was - a first attempt - but I didn’t score deeply enough into the wood and I didn’t keep it watered well enough, and the bark tried to grow back. I got a small amount of decent rooting started, though. I ended up taking it all apart, scraping the wood better, applying more rooting hormone, rewrapping, and will dive into it one way of another this spring.
