Part 1and part two, watching these videos at 1.15 am in Wales, I’m about to bring in a tree that needs air layering into my kitchen and do it now, can’t wait until morning. Your videos are really very good as you don’t waste time with unwanted bulls..t talk, very easy to follow demonstrations. Thank you so much and looking forward to more lessons.
The way you explain the reasoning behind your decisions helps me a lot. Although I'm nowhere near the 'air layering level', I've learned a lot from these videos.
I really enjoy your videos, for reasons ranging from reminding me of my family in your town/county, and your whole approach to bonsai. I don't have a ton of spare money, so your approach fits my value system well.
Dos vídeos de la nueva serie muy interesantes. Enhorabuena. Saludos desde España. Hace tiempo que le sigo con subtítulos en español y disfruto sus vídeos. Sigue así.
It works great for mixing, sifting, and others. The silverware section can be a bit of a pain, but there are landscape tubs at Lowe's for a few bucks that are same size but without it.
@@AppalachianBonsai cool. ill check out our local lowes as soon as the season breaks.. its been unseasonably warm here in the catskills. a few years in a row too
its been a while since Ive watched your latest video...and Im amazed on how the roots cooperate beautifully on that air layer...cant wait to see more results of these series... keep it up.... ☺
You do an excellent job of carefully displaying your craft combined with clearly explaining your reasoning. I learn a lot from your videos. You mentioned going back to school in another video. Is it to get a teaching license/Master's in Ed.? That would make a lot of sense, if so. Thanks for the great videos.
Hey Hey!! Loads of thanks @tyfude! I am going back for my Masters in Architecture and Design. The end goal is to teach, and I'm so grateful that these videos have been helpful. Cheers!
The lower portion of the tree isn't very interesting, so I'm not using it after this - way too much work for the end results. But! the upper section had some really nice movement and character. I wanted to keep that. So, that's why I performed this method of separating the tree from the base. Thank you for the support!
I started an air layer on an awesome gingko tree of mine in early May. I inspected it yesterday July 14, and saw root nubs forming! The largest one is only about and inch long. I'm thinking the air layer won't have enough roots until fall, at which point I'm thinking I'll just leave it on through winter in my shed where it will stay above freezing. Does that sound like a sound strategy?
Congrats on the new roots!! If your gingko can survive your winters, I'd recommend just keeping it outside in a protected area. I've never had great success with keeping my bonsai in the garage. I know people who do it, and I know people who have layered trees this way, it's just not my preferred method. This maple air-layer survived a sustained single digit deep freeze on two separate occasions. My gingko went through the same ordeal (not a layering project), so I think you should be okay.
Appalachian Bonsai thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned where I am... Not far from you, I'm sure. Suburbs of Richmond, VA. I remember those two very cold snaps we got last year! I'll keep that air layer in place over the winter! Cheers.
I don't use peat moss anymore because it can be difficult to regulate the watering. It takes a while to get the water to soak fully into the dry moss, and then it stays wet. Lord help you if it dries out too much, because you have to start all over again. I just forget about it (check out my soil video on water retention). For the stem cut, I don't do anything. The tree knows how to quarantine off the area better than we can, as long as it has the strength. This is a hardy species and can take it.
Hello, I would like your opinion, I made a air layer in a pine tree native to my area, it is working, but it has little root. Do you think I should put it in the pot now at the end of that month, or wait for next spring? I am afraid to leave for next spring, and the harsh winter from where I live, will kill the roots because this air layer is in nature.
If the tree is native to you area, it has a higher chance of surviving your winter. If there is a very small root, it's still a root. I'd advise leaving until next spring, especially right now, when roots are really growing before they go into dormancy. Pines are tricky to layer, but not definitely not impossible. I wish you the best of luck!
Best air layer video I've seen. Thanks very much for sharing. One question, how are you tying down the tree into the pot? Are you just going over the top of the new fine roots? Are you worried about that damaging the roots as the grow bigger?
That's my name. Don't wear it out! Haha! I use the standard wood bits by Dremel, and you can use the router bits, too. Just watch your thumb! I like the cut off wheel and wire brush. I find that carving up instead of carving down helps prevent the wood from peeling where you don't want it.
Hi. Do you use the technique of reducing the foliage mass after pruning roots on junipers or other conifers that don't have needles (unlike, for example, on pines)?
I reduce some, but not much. The foliage helps feed the roots, and the roots feed the foliage. So, when I prune roots, I don't prune heavily on the foliage. When heavy prune the foliage, I prefer to leave the roots alone. I find that each side helps heal the other. I hope that makes sense. It's different for deciduous, like this maple. You can often prune both roots and foliage heavily (like many of my videos), as long as you do it at the right time.
When you use the dremel tool to clean up the bigger cuts are you carving out the center to make it a concave cut? And then hoping as the callous rolls over you get a more smooth surface?
in our area people says that when ever we expose the roots of a plant in air and sun light other than in march,April and august or rainy season ,plants go dry or dead,is it true?
I have been thinking about air layering from a wild tree to begin my collection. Some many trees are just hacked down from land developers ... (it's not really development, seeing places were I once looked at nature that are now mini malls) ... I wish I knew before hand so something of them can survive.
Exciting outcome! I've got some air layers going. 3 successes this year already. I'm borrowing your technique of a container added after the sphagnum moss develops small roots. I have a cedar elm in ground with an air layer. Do you know if it would last through the winter or would I run into freeze issues? I'm in central Texas.
I tried air layering this one in the ground twice. Neither worked. If you look at the first video in the series, you'll see the scar where I had tried. I like this better, as it seemed I had more control, and I was able to check on the roots without having to dig it up.
It looks like it, but just wanted to clarify - after you cut the air-layered top from the original base at 4:18, did you make a second cut on the new trunk, under the roots, to bring its bottom up closer to where those new roots are coming out of the trunk? Anything tricky about getting up in there and cutting away that part?
Thanks so much for your reply! I have a Japanese maple I am looking to air layer for bonsai, which will be my first time trying air layering. I am just getting into bonsai and your videos have been really helpful. I especially appreciate your methodic approach, especially in your soil videos.
@@PersistentNitrogen Best of luck!! My first two attempts failed and I became disheartened. but I paid really close attention this time around. Info from Harry Harrington and Graham Potter really helped. Graham Potter's Air-layering I & II vids are another great resource if you haven't watched!
Good question! If there had been any living part, like a limb, below the cut line, it would have continued to grow. However, since the cut went all the way around, a season's worth of sunlight & nutrition went into the new roots and not the old. They didn't have enough energy to produce new roots, and therefore died. It wasn't conducive to bonsai, which is why I layered it. The tree lives on in the new cutting.
Hi I like so much your videos ! Sr Appalachian I live in Brasil and I had a question ! My conditions here are so different from your clima but I had a burgerianum and I can use sand construction to transpotin mine?? Tks for your classes hugs !
Any balanced use of nutrients should help with the overall health of the tree, including the roots. I just try to be careful of burning them when the tree is in a weakened state like this.
I will as soon as I can. It's not for lack of trying, that's for sure. I'm currently working on two I hope to have by end of January, and there are at least two big ones to film in March (edit will take longer). I am trying to finish out a Master's degree, so my focus during the semesters are there. But now that I'm on break...!
That depends on a few things. If there were other branches below my cut that weren't air layered, then the roots would still be receiving nutrition and growing stronger & would stay healthy. When the entire top is removed like I did, the roots don't gain as much (only some light & nutrients make it through the bark, which is still pretty cool!). This weakens the roots and they have a lower chance of thriving. This one didn't survive, and that's okay with me. It wasn't suitable for bonsai, which is why I layered it, and the tree lives on in a new form.
Am I missing something? I thought airlayering was to create another new tree from an older tree branch or higher up the trunk? What was your reason for doing the airlayer so low that you have the same tree but with new younger roots? I'm new to bonsai so I'm just curious.
The area where I layered had a severe reverse taper. The main roots were actually a foot lower in the pot, because I had tried to layer using the ground method and failed twice. Hope that makes sense.
Hello, sir. I am Zul. I am from the Indonesian island of Lombok. I like watching your videos. I get many ideas on how to make bonsai. thank you And my question is. soil type media is that sir?
Hello! My sister-in-law is from Makassar. I was just there three years ago! I'm so glad you like the videos. The soil media should be in the video description. But the basics are fired clay (like brick chips, potter chips, or LECA), coarse sand, and tree bark. organic material only makes up about 1/3 of the mix. Everything is sifted to ~ 2-6mm. I hope that helps. Halo! Adik ipar saya dari Makassar. Saya baru saja di sana tiga tahun lalu! Saya senang Anda suka videonya. Media tanah harus dalam deskripsi video. Tetapi dasar-dasarnya adalah tanah lempung (seperti keripik bata, keripik tembikar, atau LECA), pasir kasar, dan kulit pohon. bahan organik hanya membuat sekitar 1/3 dari campuran. Semuanya diayak menjadi ~ 2-6mm. Saya harap itu membantu.
Hola, me gusto el resultado final, se logro el cometido, y le diste una buena poda. pero eh visto varios errores, por ejemplo en el primer video apretaste mucho el nylon, en este video, ataste el arbol con alambre y sin embargo el arbol quedo suelto, eso tampoco es bueno. saludos de aargentina, buen trabajo.
You're mostly right. Air layering allows you to remove good parts of a tree for other purposes, like bonsai. If you want to save the bottom half, you can, but it isn't necessary. There was a bad reverse taper on this and the bottom part had poor qualities to it. What you can't see is that the roots of the parent tree are almost a foot deep in the pot. I had tried for years to get it to layer better, but it never worked.
