Bravo, bravo!! A job well done! And thank you so much for sharing every detail to help guide us into producing this wonderful fragrant plant.

Kasie

Great idea, Kandhi!
I've taken cuttings from Grand Duke and rooted them in water however it took two years for the cuttings to really start growing.
Air-layering would be a much faster way to give plants away to friends. :)

-Robert

thank you for the instructions! I may try it with my arabian nights, can I use anything else instead of sphagnum moss
maybe??

Congratulations Kandhi.

Thanks for sharing this and with pictures too.

one question - Do you open at anytime to check for moisture level or once is enough.

Thanks.Lakshmi.

Thanks everyone on your comments. I think starting new plants by cuttings take longer to grow big. Thought of giving air-layering a shot and it worked.

fenius, you can try this for arabian nights too. The key here is the sphagnum fresh moss use because Sphagnum moss is naturally sterile and I heard that it suppresses diseases naturally and helps root faster. I am not sure what other matter can be used in its place.

Lakshmi, I did not open any other time in past 3 months to check for root formation. It always looked moist with some moisture in it,if it dries out then you may want open one end to spary some water and close the tie back. Since it is clear wrap any root growth will be definitely visible. I am trying this method of michelia skinneriana plant on a big stem. I will let you know on it's success soon.

Thanks Kandhi.
I have a big Grand duke. I will try to air layer it, as my friend has been asking for a plant

Thanks Kandhi.I will try it.

Thanks! I'll post if I succeed

Thanks for sharing your airlayering method.
How lucky you are that you can grow/ get such a big sambac grand duke var. supreme in the US.
I can't get any supreme here in Germany, so I have tried to root 4 cuttings I got from ebay about one month ago. It took 12 days to arrive Germany. Two are dying, the others are still green. I hope they will root for me.
If mine is as big as yours some day I will try airlayering.
Cross your fingers for me. Thanks.

epioxi, Good luck with rooting the cuttings, it should work for you. If the cuttings are still green, there is hope. Rooting is slow and initial growth takes time but once after that this plant grows very fast unlike regular grandduke.

Kandhi hope you have time for another question-

Do you cut between the nodes or at the node?
When I take cuttings , I do it just below the nodes, but airlayering?

Thanks.

dl99, Node section is where roots start so I would go 1 inch above and 1 inch below to peel outer green layer of the semi hardwood stem. The whole peeled section has to be dusted with rooting hormone and wet moss has to be wrapped all around it. Plastic wrap has to be tied with tiebacks on both ends so that no exposure to air to dry out the moss.

Thanks, that is very helpful.
Lakshmi.

kandhi, Your wish has brought me luck this week. Last week I noticed that my third and fourth cuttings were going to wither and they were about to die. Plaintively I tore them out of the pot one after another. The third was definitely desiccated, but on the fourth cutting are some white roots and one white shot about 1/2 inch. I immediately put it back in the pot and today I have seen tiny green leaves coming out.
After two and a half months of waiting and hoping I can breathe a sigh of relief:)

Hello Everyone,
Sorry I have been very quiet this year. I had some overgrown stems from winter so I decided to try my hand on Air layering technique and I am thrilled with the results. I left it for 3 months from Late April to mid July since I didn't want to disturb the root development. I put the plant out in the sun in late May. So I covered with foil .Thanks Kandhi for being my inspiration.

This post was edited by dl99 on Thu, Sep 26, 13 at 14:05