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Japanese maple air layer – a check up

May 10, 2013 by Jonas Dupuich

Last May I started an air layer on an old Japanese maple (see “Air layering a Japanese maple“). Curious if there was any root growth, I opened up the bag in February. There was callus, but no new roots.

February 2013

Japanese maple

Callus

Good callus, no roots

To stimulate the production of new roots, I opened up the callus and applied root hormone. I then replaced the moss and waited for spring.

Opening the callus

After removing a strip of callus

All wrapped up

Wrapped up

The maple leafed out as it always does, but a few weeks ago I noticed that the leaves above the layer line began to turn pale. This is a good sign as discoloration is common when new roots start to develop.

Japanese maple

Pale foliage at the apex

To satisfy my curiosity, I opened up the bag and looked inside. A few new roots were just getting started.

New roots

New roots!

I replaced the moss again and closed up the bag. I’ll watch the bag carefully this summer to make sure it doesn’t dry out and will see about adding soil around the moss if it starts to dry out too quickly. I’ll peek inside again this fall.

✕

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Air Layer, Japanese maple

Previous Post: « Hinoki air layer
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mac says

    May 10, 2013 at 7:01 am

    Good luck Jonas. I did a similar procedure with a Trident Maple last year and was able to cut the layer off early this spring, when leaf out came it acted quite normally. Only problem I saw when I potted it was that the roots had developed on one side of the tree and not on the other. I am hoping that it is correcting that by it’s self right now. Next spring I’ll find out and if it is still one sided I’ll try to cut the callus as you did to see if I can induce it to root all round.

  2. Ryan Nichols says

    May 10, 2013 at 8:13 am

    Great post Jonas! I learned something new today! Do you know why the leaves turn pale? My best guess would be a shift in nitrogen and energy allocation. Nitrogen being the most likely nutrient requirement since its one of the most mobile ions in the plant and its essential in protein synthesis along with many other important processes that necessary for cellular development.

  3. Jonas Dupuich says

    May 11, 2013 at 7:56 am

    Good question Ryan – I was hoping _you’d_ have the answer! My guess has always been that disrupting the phloem decreases the circulation upstream which prevents the affected area from getting adequate nutrients, but I don’t have insight into which nutrients – or whatever else may be causing this – are deficient enough to cause yellowing. It would be interesting to figure this one out – thanks for bringing it up.

  4. Scott Roxburgh says

    May 14, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    Another great post Jonas.

    Has the scar on the base of that Maple healed any this year?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      May 15, 2013 at 12:00 am

      Thanks Scott – as for the maple, yes, it appears to be healing nicely, but has a long way to go yet. I’d have to really let it run for a couple of years to close it up faster – maybe I’ll do this in a year or two depending on how the layer and grafting go.

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