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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Cutting or Air layering on Sapodilla advice
« on: December 28, 2017, 06:18:35 PM »i was talking to lynn at frankies nursery and she said they do their chico by airlayers starting in spring thru summer. If they do air layers there then id imagine it can be as successful as grafting or atleast quicker. protect em from the sun with foil for sure. Seedlings do grow quite slow so id imagine it would be worth it to find a airlayer process that works. good luckGood to know spring is time to airlayer. I just wondered after you remove the layer
of skin around the branch wouldn't there be a lot of milky crap. Do you wash off with
a hose before you wrap in sphagnum? It has to be messy?
I concur, spring time is best for Sapodilla air-layering, in fact air-layering in general. They can take up to six months, and at times longer, before being able to be removed from the parent tree. You can check month after month with little or no root growth noticeable, and then BAM!, the roots begin to emerge. There is some latex bleeding during the air layering process that gets on your hands and tools, however it's not so much that it needed washing off with a hose. Make sure plastic is wrapped tight, particularly at the top, to prevent rain from getting in. Too much moisture in the plastic wrap and the air-layer will wither and rot. Best success has been with upright pieces around 1" in diameter, although I have seen larger diameters work. You will likely have to climb to the top of the tree for the best air-layer candidates. Be careful and good luck.