Hi there
I have a nursery stock cedrus thats about 6ft tall. Instead of truck chopping is there any hope of air layering it?
Has anyone had any first or second hand experience of successfully or unsuccessfully air layering cedrus?
Thanks!
I just redid an airlayer that I started in either 2020 or 2021. I think it was in 2020 using a mix of fine Akadama and pumice as the rooting media in an open top bag (I decided I did not like that approach after some maples did not take). In 2021 I replaced that with sphagnum moss in the open top bag. I think it was too wet last year to root (I got a fair bit of callus) and then fell down a bit and dried a bunch this spring so the top has some die back.
Today I recut the bottom of the callus just above the heavy aluminum girdling wire. I used fresh sphagnum in the same bag, but wrapped the bag securely with some slightly stretching grafting tape (about like kitchen plastic wrap as a tape) so it is fairly well sealed. I then covered it with aluminum foil as I had done in previous years to make it darker.
Here is a picture after I cut bottom edge of the callus that shows I had some flaring and callus. Hopefully the third time will be a charm. I will put it in the cold greenhouse for the winter if the top is still alive this fall and plan to check for roots in the spring.
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Thanks a lot for your detailed response, Marty! I hope the air layer works out next spring!