Re: Air Layering

Melody, AHS's "Plant Propagation" lists five methods for propagating Cornus varieties--softwood cuttings, hardwood cuttings, division, seeds, and grafting. It says "The best way to increase dogwoods... is to root hardwood cuttings [see p. 98] in a sheltered site." Got no idea what a sheltered site is. The whole entry is about three paragraphs but with references like the one above about what a hardwood cutting is. Maybe your library has a copy of the book; if not, shame on them and let me know; I'll try to figure it out for you. The whole process sounds fairly simple to me, just buried in cross-references.


On Thursday, June 24, 2004, at 04:24 AM, Melody wrote:

Yeah: I have two very lovely variegated dogwood shrubs that I would love to have more of...how does one best propagate them?


Melody, IA (Z 5/4)

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."
--Albert Einstein

 --- On Tue 06/22, Libby Valentine < L_Valentine@adelphia.net > wrote:
From: Libby Valentine [mailto: L_Valentine@adelphia.net]
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:35:06 -0400
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Air Layering

Anybody care to do the 2 minute summary for those of us who are not
plant<br>propagators? (yet!)<br><br>Thanks!<br><br>Libby<br>MD zone
6<br><br>----- Original Message ----- <br>From: "Donna"
<justme@prairieinet.net><br>To: <gardenchat@hort.net><br>Sent: Monday,
June 21, 2004 10:13 PM<br>Subject: RE: [CHAT] Air Layering<br><br><br>>
Well Jim... now that is interesting!<br>><br>> You are saying that even
after time in the ground, something that was<br>> 'air layered' will
never get a tap root? How in the world can they<br>> survive for any
length of time without one?<br>><br>> I have to admit I know nothing
about air layering other than a 1/2 hour<br>> special that included some
highlights among other things. Not enough<br>> info to really understand
the process or how it worked.<br>><br>> I am majorly confused here. ...
nothing new:)<br>><br>> Donna<br>> Hum... must of us got here.... like
some of us didn't? LOL!<br>><br>> > I've done some air layering, Jesse,
but not a lot. It is the way most<br>> > litchis, macadamia nuts, and
rubber plants [Ficus elastica], and, I'm<br>> > sure, many other plants
are usually propagated. The Royal Horticulture<br>> > Society's
propagation book [AHS published it as "Plant Propagation"]<br>> > has
very good instructions in how to air layer stuff.<br>> ><br>> > The one
disadvantage to air layering [verses propagation by seed or by<br>> >
grafting scion wood onto a seedling] is that the air layered clones<br>>
will not produce tap roots. Most of the commercial litchi orchards 
in<br>> > south Florida were simply blown away by hurricane Andrew
because the<br>> > trees had no tap roots.<br>> ><br>> > I think the
general rule is that any plant that can be propagated by<br>> >
cuttings, can also be air layered, but there are other plants--the<br>>
afore-mentioned macadamias and rubber plants--that do not [or 
only<br>> > rarely] respond as cuttings. Cuttings have the same
no-tap-root<br>> problem<br>> > that air layers have but generally they
are easier to propagate and<br>> > requ

ire a whole lot less time to do so. I usually try cuttings first;<br>> >
then air layering; then seedling and grafting [provided, of course,
I<br>> > have seedlings and access to scion wood].<br>> ><br>> >
Sometimes I do just seedlings. "Just seedlings" is always a crap<br>>
shoot,<br>> > but sometimes it's fun to see what sexual reproduction has
cooked up<br>> > for you. I mean, hey, that's how most of us got
here!<br>><br>>
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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
Zone 10
27.0 N, 82.4 W

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