Air-layering
Posted: August 15th, 2011, 10:49 am
My first attempt to air-layer any plant was a success and I wanted to share it with you all. The plant I opted for was a variegated Gardenia (thank you Umar!!), here is the whole plant which appears to be a bit chlorotic but the new growth from base is very promising, you can observe the area on the stem covered by a simple plastic sheet (click to enlarge):
Close-up to show the roots forming, the plant was air-layered 4 weeks back:
This part is cut just beneath the layer & the plastic sheet is opened to show the healthy developing roots:
Now this part is potted up as usual and kept in shade for 4-5 days for the roots to establish in new potting medium and start absorbing nutrient on their own:
How to do that..!!
Things you will require:
1) Safety Razor (they are sterilized which inhibit infection by fungi and other pathogens)
2) Soft thin insulated wires (I preferred them on thread because they hold their place easily & rubber insulation will eliminate corrosion)
3) Any small plastic sheet piece around 4" x 4"
4) Good potting mix (I purchased a mix for seed starting which was a combination of Peat, Coir and Leaf compost)
5) Rooting Hormone (optional)
Procedure:
Select a semi-woody or woody branch and peel off the bark to show its cambium:
(Pix from internet)
(Pix of my plant, you can observe that I have chose the area between two inter-nodes as the nodes and inter-nodes are the places where the concentration of plant hormones are maximum by nature and there hormones are produced just beneath the first layer of the bark, so if it was peeled then some of the natural hormones would have been lost)
Apply rooting hormone (its optional, healthy plants produce enough of their own hormones, but as my plant is chlorotic I used the powder to minimize the failure chances)
Wrap and tie the plastic sheet piece with wire, so that it forms a sort of pouch:
Fill in the potting mix which should be moist but not soggy and tie the other end as well:
Now all you have to do is to wait and after approx. a month your plant will produce roots. Monsoon is the best season to do that.
Good luck..!!
Close-up to show the roots forming, the plant was air-layered 4 weeks back:
This part is cut just beneath the layer & the plastic sheet is opened to show the healthy developing roots:
Now this part is potted up as usual and kept in shade for 4-5 days for the roots to establish in new potting medium and start absorbing nutrient on their own:
How to do that..!!
Things you will require:
1) Safety Razor (they are sterilized which inhibit infection by fungi and other pathogens)
2) Soft thin insulated wires (I preferred them on thread because they hold their place easily & rubber insulation will eliminate corrosion)
3) Any small plastic sheet piece around 4" x 4"
4) Good potting mix (I purchased a mix for seed starting which was a combination of Peat, Coir and Leaf compost)
5) Rooting Hormone (optional)
Procedure:
Select a semi-woody or woody branch and peel off the bark to show its cambium:
(Pix from internet)
(Pix of my plant, you can observe that I have chose the area between two inter-nodes as the nodes and inter-nodes are the places where the concentration of plant hormones are maximum by nature and there hormones are produced just beneath the first layer of the bark, so if it was peeled then some of the natural hormones would have been lost)
Apply rooting hormone (its optional, healthy plants produce enough of their own hormones, but as my plant is chlorotic I used the powder to minimize the failure chances)
Wrap and tie the plastic sheet piece with wire, so that it forms a sort of pouch:
Fill in the potting mix which should be moist but not soggy and tie the other end as well:
Now all you have to do is to wait and after approx. a month your plant will produce roots. Monsoon is the best season to do that.
Good luck..!!
