last year I successfully managed to grow roots from my (probably) air layered acer..
this means that the flowers/leaves of the tree are pretty, but the roots that it grows may be weak, so they cut them off and attach it to another variety of acer with stronger roots.
this gives you a strong tree with pretty leaves.
so since my tree is too large now to dig up and move somewhere else, I wanted to do something always have a part of it with me.
First I tried taking cuttings. That is, snipping little twigs off the tree, and putting them in seed trays or pots with compost. This didnt work. Then I tried soaking them with willow twigs in water because theyre apparently a natural rooting hormone.
Then I tried store bought rooting powder.
But they would NEVER grow roots from cut twigs.
Along with this, I did try air layering, which is where you slice the bark off a branch at the right place, and smother it in soil and let the tree naturally try to grow roots where it would originally grow buds of leaves etc.
I must have let it dry out originally as the bark just healed and now the tree has a couple of dried scars there instead.
What finally got it to work may have been luck, or making sure it had enough moisture this time. As when I randomly looked at it in summer, I saw the plastic bottle wrapped around the soilhas roots throughout it. I couldnt tell if it was some type of mold or fungus or weed. but it seemed well attached to branch.
Anyways it was a success. It survived winter. the branches havent dried out and become brittle. it has new growth this spring.
I’ve tried 2 more so far. so we’ll see how effective it is in a few months.
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