The Tropical Fruit Forum

That is truly bizzare. I wonder if it could be some type of egg layed by cateripillar or other bug? Does your camera do ultra macro closeups?
Oscar

I just said that to counteract your tendency to make everything sound super complex. I don't want to scare anyone off. But really doing air layers is super simple. Even i can do it. So that proves it. HAHA
Really the most difficult part is assemblying all the materials you need to do the airlayers: I use
a) 5 gallon bucket with some 1/8 filled with water
b) some sphagnum moss soaking on bottom of bucket
c) a knife to cut and peel off cambium layer
d) aluminum foil, or plastic, or both. (Some people use here a layer of plastic and then foil over that.)
e) if you use plastic you will need some ties. You can use string or wire.
f) the will power to do it, toughest ingredient to materialize!
g) and ofcourse a willing plant victim. But don't be afraid you won't hurt them.
Oscar

Thanks for the utube video murahilin. Now i'm dying to test my bunny love carrots!    Seriously, am i going to have to get one of these gadgets just to keep up with you guys? Will i look bad if you know the brix readings of your fruits and i don't?    Should i spend the $150 for a digital refractometer or for another 25 bags of chicken manure? My plants vote for the manure! My intellectual/acquiring mind votes for the brix instrument. Who will win? Only time will tell.
Oscar

I added some comments inside of Adam's comments below:

Oscar!!

Here in south FL, (well not here I'm in Central FL) and not sure where this tree is (although almost certain South FL)...the birds think what ever is in a foil wrapper is a damn sandwich! and they have a habit of disturbing regular shiny aluminum foil!!!


Birds here don't bother foil if it's thick, that is why i use double layer. Guess it all depends on what type of birds you have? Maybe you have wood peckers over there? HAHA


 Chris Rollins, advised that you don't need aluminum foil as a cover, and you can use only plastic (best to use thicker gauge, heavier plastic than saran wrap).

I advise people to use foil because it is by far the easiest to put on, and there is no need to tie it, like with plastic. Also i don't think it's good for sun to bake through the plastic. So if you do use plastic i recommend you DO NOT use transparent plastic.

Most common mistakes for failed airlayer:

Cambium not totally removed

That is a big problem! You have to remove all the way around, otherwise the plant will bridge it and will grow back, and NOT root.


improper moisture levels of medium around girdled branch to be rooted

Super easy, just dunk the sphagnum moss in water, let soak, and then squeeze all the water out.



Improper seal (wick like effect, of improper sealed marcott, where a bit of moss is sticking out exchanging moisture with outside environment)

After you've done a few you will get the hang of it. It's kind of like learning to roll a tortilla! Does your food stick out of the tortilla still? HAHA


ants!!! invade and aerate and ruin...

Almost every airlayer here gets ants, but they DO NOT ruin them. Bummer if you have to ship out and pass ag inspection. 

improper growth timing for marcott and poor branch selection

Yes you don't want to do airlayers there during winter. Any branch bigger than  sharpie marker pen will work fine.


airlayering may not be best means for propagation (inga, annona, others...)

Well yes, but that's true for EVERY propagation method.



DON"T EVER USE BRAND NAME SARAN WRAP! IT HAS MOLD GROWTH INHIBITORS THAT CAN "F" UP YOUR MARCOTT SUCCESS RATE!

OK, that's news to me. So saran wrap is good to put it on your food but not on your precious plants? 

Dirty hands, infection

Yes, you can give your plant AIDS if you're not careful! 

Please let me know if this is missing any element?

As usual you covered most of the bases. I just wanna say airlayering is super easy. An 8 year old can do it! Just need a little practice, like 3-4 of training and you are off and running.

hope you get all of your marcotts to root! on things they said you couldn't airlayer in the book!


There are other ways of airlayering we haven't talked about. For example, mysore raspberry like to touch soil and it airlayers itself. All you need to do is put a rock on top of a growing tip and it will form roots. Try starting from cuttings and it's super difficult.
Oscar

oops, didn't really answer your question. Some trees really sensitive to chemical ferts are mangosteen and rambutan. I notice they prefer organic ferts...slow and steady kind of feeding. No big dumps of food.
Oscar

Brewsters are very tasty but tend to have large seeds. For airlayering: the higher the amount of sunlight = the higher percentage of airlayering success. Just be careful on that ladder.
Oscar

Looks real nice Gwenn. Here the rats only bother the pineapples if you let them get too ripe on the plant, i think the strong smell attracts them. If you can get the white sugarloaf that is a VERY tasty cultivar!
Oscar

Hi Adam, the area where i live Puna, is the largest papaya growing area in the USA. Yes Hawaii is part of USA believe it or not! All the papayas here have had the vom bred out of them. They are exported to mainland USA and Japan, where consumers are very picky and prefer not to eat vom. HAHAHA So all the solo types are quite tasty: sunrise, sunset, waimanalo, and kapoho.
Oscar

Hi Jay, don't know much about it because never paid much attention to this corky stuff on branches. Here we have all kinds of things growing on branches apart from corcky bark, like moss and lichens. Yes all of these can be washed off. I don't usually do it unless ants are being bothersome and living under all this stuff.
Oscar

Berto, i don't think those photos you posted are of the Bolivian achachairu from Santa Cruz. Here is what they look like. You can see they are bigger and more pointed.

Oscar

Hi Jay, i don't know what causes that corky bark on branches of the langsats. All i can tell you is that we have something very similar, maybe the same thing on almost all the rambutans. Some few rambutan cultivars are less susceptible. They still fruit OK, but it makes it very difficult to graft.
Oscar

Here you can see some Eugenia candolleana on the left and row of Garcinia prainiana on the right. (Click on image to get larger photo.) Eugenia candolleana is also a very tasty fruit. Those plants are only a couple years old. The G. prainiana is about 5+ years old.
Oscar


Close up of G. prainiana (cherapu or button mangosteen)