Air-Layering Made Easy

Anybody can do it! All it takes is a little bit of special plastic film like Polyethylene or aluminum foil, a sharp knife, some moist sphagnum moss and a little rooting powder. With these materials any gardener can propagate new shrubs and trees without using a hotbed.

You may be surprised at the ease with which woody plants can be propagated.

Polyethylene film allows the transfer of gases through it but not water vapor. As a result (providing the film is tied securely) the moist sphagnum moss will remain moist for months, or even a year. Since it is transparent but keeps the contents in good condition for a great length of time.

The steps in air-layering are simple:

In late spring select a shoot of last year’s wood, or in June or early July a shoot of the current year’s wood about the size of a lead pencil or larger. A longitudinal cut is made carefully and cleanly for a distance of 3 to 3 1/2 inches down the middle of the stem without seriously breaking the twig. (It must remain attached to the tree or shrub until roots have formed.) The cut surfaces are dusted with a rooting hormone powder. A handful of wet sphagnum moss is squeezed to remove excess water, but it should still be moist. Some moss is then packed between the cut surfaces so these will not grow together and the rest is packed in a ball completely around the twig so that the whole area in which the cut is made is completely surrounded with moist moss. Then a piece of Polyethylene film or aluminum foil, possibly 10 x 10 inches, is tightly wrapped around the moss to hold it securely in place. It is tied top and bottom, (twisted in the case of foil being used) the top end being turned down to shed water and not funnel it into the inside of the wrapping. On some plants the ball of moss may be a rather heavy burden on the supporting stem so that it may have to be staked or tied to some support.

The best time to cut the rooted twig from the plant, is when the leaves have dropped and the plant is in a dormant condition. Because of their tender nature, it might be well to pot, such rooted twigs and keep them in a protected place over the first winter. Certainly by the following spring, after all danger of frost is over, they can be set in good soil in a protected place where the ground will not be allowed to dry out.

Plants which are tropical like Anthuriums, Ficus and Dieffenbachia can root in as little 3 – 4 weeks.

This is all there is to the process. Experienced plant propagators who use air-layering become enthusiastic about it and try it on many things heretofore considered difficult to root. It affords an easy and effective means by which the home gardener can propagate his own favorite trees and shrubs.

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Rooting Cuttings In Sphagnum Moss
• What is Sphagnum? What is Peat?
• How to Propagate Your Plants
• Hanging Basket Watering Color and Care