Very cool James. To clarify: The white discs you are making yourself? From pots?

I have a bunch of 2, 4, and 5 gallon buckets that I used to grow trees in. I use a hole cutter on the end of the drill to punch out discs from the old buckets. A 4" hole saw produces discs just about the right size for a 0.3 gallon Air-Pot. For the larger ones... the bottom of the 2 gallon buckets is about eight inches. Two of the 0.3 gallon Air-Pots fit nicely around those. The bottom of the 5 gallon buckets is about 11 inches. This will fit in the 3.4 gallon Air-Pot. I use a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade to cut those out. On the larger ones, I like to use the bottom of the bucket. The plastic is thicker and more rigid (gives more support). The sides of the bucket are a bit more flimsy but are sufficient to support the 0.3 gallon Air-Pots. You can use anything you have around. I would recommend plastic since it is easy to work with and is not damaged by water.

One more thing to note. I do not (except for two as a test) scrape off the outer layer of the limb before air-layering. I have broken branches in the past doing this and I'm not convinced it is necessary. On the last picture posted above, you will see some bumps on the bark at the bottom of the picture to the left. I think those are the predecessors to limbs/roots (depending on the condition). I didn't map the bumps before I etioliated some limbs to see if these bumps were where the roots originated. I know the effect of the girdling process is to block the flow of photosyntate out of limb, but given that I had root formation without scraping the bark, I chose not to. If you are so inclined to produce a girdle... I find using a vegetable peeler is easier than the more traditional way described. Make a single girdle at the bottom of the cut with a knife so the bark falls away without risk of tearing, and peel to that line.

Thanks for the further clarification James. I'm going to break out the tools in February and give it a try.

Henry

James,

I remember being fascinated by your pictures and posts when you originally made them, but now I'm seriously thinking about doing it myself.

How do you keep the medium moist?

What's keeping the pot from falling apart?

You keep the medium moist with daily watering. The egg-crate shet that is rolled togther from one is held together with a chubby screw that is put into two holes that are aligned. Look at the link below and it will explain it. I have these pots any they are pretty good, but not cheap!

http://www.superoots.com/air_intro.htm

Looks like all the cones on the side are to harbor root initials. Then when you peel off the plastic, their are zillions of ready-to-go roots in all directions. I like it!

Hey Plumfan, you want to split a bundle of these? The unit price is 1/2 if you buy a full bundle of 50 but I don't need that many.

I'm thinking the 4" diameter by 6" height which is apparently 0.27 gallons and cost $42 plus shipping.

Murky,

You might want to consider a slightly larger container than the .3g. They tend to be a bit small if you leave your rooted cuttings in them for any length of time.

My Florikan rep had mentioned to me that the Air-Pots would be on sale (30% off) until the end of the year. I deal with Brian @ 318.748.7703

Plumfan, I have written a few times about my experiences with these containers. There are tother things inside the container which will cause the roots to turn back into the growing mix. Also, I have seen a few roots travel around the perimeter. These problems are reduced, but not completely eliminated. It seems like the quality of the roots are better in cooler areas where the roots don't make a dive for the bottom of the container to get away from the heat. Overall I am pleased with their performance. I will be looking for ways of shading the containers next year.

~james

Murky,

My figs are towering giants right now. I bet they are 12 or more feet tall.

If you had asked me that same question in 2003 I would have jumped at it, as these root cups look like they cannot be improved upon. But I am just not airlayering anything these days.

Back in 2003 I was using yogurt cups that I had first melted a hole in the center bottom, then cut with scissors down the side to that hole. Next I would fit it around the fig stem, and then duct tape the whole thing solid. After that I would fill the cup with some potting soil and keep it moist for a month or two. They rooted very nicely, best done in early June. The reason I even went to this extreme is because a friend from California had given me some potted figs that had severe nematode infestations, so this method was incorporated to give the clones disease free roots. Then junk the mother plants.

Any more, my figs are so branch-prolific that I just take the more limber of the lower branches and weight them down with rocks of bricks to the ground, making superb fig-babies for whoever wants them. Right now I have plenty of Desert King and Negronne, if you know anyone that needs that sort.

BJS,

I covered my airlayer with aluminum foil, shiny side to the sun. I thought they were getting too hot and too dry. Foil helped immensely.

Also, they stay moist longer if you can cover the soil on top with plastic or something, before covering with foil. They really do not need that much oxygen, so air circulation is not much of an issue as there are no roots at first.

My comments about container temperature were on the larger containers I am growing in. I normally root cuttings in the shade and cover air-layers with foil. I did not wrap anything to deflect heat since the ambient temperature is pretty cool. I did end up wrapping the air-layers in plastic to retain moisture. I was away too much to keep the growing mix moist. I will remove the wrapping once I see evidence of roots, and water on the same schedule as other containers. Also, I did go back and girdle some of the limbs which I originally had not cut.

~james

Doesn't wrapping int plastic or foil to retain moisture sorta defeat the air pruning of the roots achieved by the holes in the air pots?

I'm not even exactly sure what purpose I want to put the pots to, they just got my attention.

I don't really need to air layer figs because they can be propagated by cuttings. The Negronne that plumfan gave me is doing great. I think I decapitated it at 3 or 4 feet this summer in its first growing season and it sent up several suckers that I've left. I'm hoping for a few figs next year.

James, I was thinking the .3 gallon (4x6) because that's what you appear to have in your pictures. The things I'm most interested in layering right now are my feijoas. Anything else would just be experimentation.

I was thinking I could also use the pots for seedlings. I have a few pawpaw seeds in the fridge. I was even considering trying them for vegetable starts.

I emailed the guy in Canby because he has a price list and Canby is about 30 miles from me. Plus I'm shy on the phone. I'm guessing that shipping from Florida will be brutal.

Thanks for the contacts and information. I'll have to consider it.

Doesn't wrapping int plastic or foil to retain moisture sorta defeat the air pruning of the roots achieved by the holes in the air pots? Yes does if there were roots to prune. Once the roots form, I will remove the plastic wrap to allow for more root development. In the mean time, the plastic allows for moisture control.

I was thinking the .3 gallon (4x6) because that's what you appear to have in your pictures. The things I'm most interested in layering right now are my feijoas. The .3g containers seem to work well for limbs up to about 1.25"D. Any larger limb either needs a bigger container or two attached together. A drill and 4" hole saw works well to cut out tops and bottoms out of plastic tubs (for a single container). The bottoms that come with the containers are a bit too flimsy for this purpose. I find the bottom of 4/5gallon plastic buckets work well for this purpose.

I originally purchased from Ben Walker. However, when Florikan started carrying the Air-Pots, I ordered from them to save on shipping charges. Dealings with both were good.