Subject: Re: Air layering

From: [email-masked] (Craig Mathew)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 95 07:33:18 PST

Hello all,
  Kay, that was an *excellent* description of the air-layering process!  
Thanks for sharing that...
  As a testimonial to the technique, I have done it very successfully on 
rubber plants.  I started out with one, rather tall, rubber plant my mother 
had given me and now I have 2 shorter (more pleasing in appearance) plants 
plus another one that's being air-layered.  Pretty soon my foyer, living 
room, and dining room will be filled with these lovely plants by using this 
method!
  I also found that after I air-layered my rubber plant the remaining piece 
(the bottom piece that was the "original") started branching out nicely 
because the growing tip had been interrupted from its usual straight-up 
direction.
  Probably the only addition I would make to the procedure outlined in Kay's 
message below is that after sticking the toothpicks into the slits I would 
probably cut them off bluntly near the stem so that the sphagnum ball would 
fit around it more easily and so the picks won't puncture the plastic wrap 
that goes 'round that whole area.
  Also, I read somewhere that the *only* watering that should be done during 
this whole period is to the sphagnum ball, NOT the mother plant.  This was 
supposed to encourage the root growth for the division by causing the plant 
to grow roots where the only water source is located...does anyone have 
comments on this step in the procedure?
  For my dieffenbachia I found that just whacking off a piece of the stem 
and sticking it in soil would result in a nice, new plant.  In fact, I had 
an old stalk that I was given by a colleague and I chopped it into several 
4" pieces, stuck them in dirt in separate pots, and now I have numerous 
lovely plants around the house.  But...obviously that's not the air-layering 
method.
  Now for my question:  What kinds of plants should be divided with 
air-layering, what kinds can be chopped up, etc.?  Can you suggest a good, 
basic-level book (for neophytes such as myself) that will clearly describe 
the processes and which is used for different plants?

Thanks much,
Joan

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 31 Mar 95 00:00:07 -0600

Subject: Re: Air layering
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>
From: [email-masked] (Craig Mathew)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 95 07:33:18 PST

//snip//
> that goes 'round that whole area.

Oh, I sorta like to leave the picks hanging out moderately, to 
give the sphagnum ball something to "grab onto" while I try to
reach the plastic wrap and the twistems that I conveniently
left at least 5 ft away...  ;-)

But you're right; the point of wrapping the ball in plastic is
to keep in the water... and punctures don't help.

> comments on this step in the procedure?

That would be difficult to justify when you're airlayering a plant
that takes several months to initiate roots.  It does seem to
improve things somewhat to keep the plant on the dryish side
of normal in many cases.

//snip//
> the processes and which is used for different plants?

Just about any plant that has an elongated stem and is capable of
forming adventitious roots can be air-layered.  It's often easier
to make a plain old cutting, and that works most of the time., esp.
if you have a high humidity environment to keep the cuttings in till
they root.  Semi-succulent plants like common geraniums (Pelargonium)
or rubber plant (Ficus elastica) or Dieffenbachia or Dracaena often
come well from cuttings with little fuss and bother.

My experience is, however, that most people will put up with a 
bare-legged, spindly plant that is bending over from touching the 
ceiling before they'll try a conventional cutting.  When I show
them how to air layer, and tell them they won't loose the whole
top of the plant if this flops, they're usually willing to try.
And maybe the time after that, we can try a regular cutting.

As to basic propagation techniques, well, there are a lot of
books on the market.  I've got a couple of ancient texts that
are long out of print sitting on my shelf... but they're enough 
for me.  I've heard good things about Alan Toogood's _Plant
Propagation Made Easy_, but I've not seen a copy myself (Timber
Press, 1994, ISBN 0 88192 279 X, 300 pages).  Supposedly it
covers about 1500 species, including tender, hardy and commonly
grown indoor species.

One that intrigues me (yes, I just got the new Timber Press catalog)
is Peter Thompson's _Creative Propagation: A Grower's Guide_ (ISBN
0 88192 251 X, published in 1992.  I think I'm hooked just from 
the quote from the book that is in the catalog:  "It's a pretty
good bet that all who pick up this book will, sooner or later, be
infuriated by something they read in it; some description will 
produce a snort of derision or the conviction that the author must
be an idiot.  Propagation affects most of us like that."

Sounds like my kind of book! 8-)

Kay Klier  [email-masked]