Awesome thanks I guess I should have spent a little time searching before I just asked but I cut grass for a living and see a lot of cool trees around I could ask some of my Customers for a trimming maybe and start my own bonsai collection but I’m not very patient so I would wanna jump start with this technique
Layering something will definitely be faster, buying a bonsai tree will be even be faster. However you will find that patience is a must have when it comes to bonsai no matter the source. Good luck!
If you place them in a shallow recipient of 1 max 2 cm full of water you can see the roots to develop in two weeks maximum (filling the need pot extremely quick)
Always nice to see different approaches! Never saw the rope trick before for airlayerings! Im planing on buying a shishigashira too and plant it as mother tree to get some munition for airlayers, i want to have my own bonsai nursery in Switzerland, think i told you once, and my goal is to start business in less then 2 years😍 cant deal with my office life anymore hahah thx for all your great videos
I’ve not tried air layering JBP but it can be done, it can just take a long time. I hear up to 2 years. I guess you know that already. I usually grow from seedling and seedling cuttings when it comes to Pines. You can also grow from spring candles used as cuttings. This is much faster. Problem is that if you are trying to air layer a pine and it does not take it’s not going to heal over so you have either ruined that tree or you need to keep trying.
Hi Terry, thanks this is perfect timing as I have just purchased my first set of dynaballs to air layer a trident maple (for a shohin sized tree off the apex) and 2 of my JM trees which are currently in larger pots. I have two questions, I noticed you left the roots undisturbed when potting these where I have seen some content creators remove at least some of the sphagnum moss before up? lastly, if potting up in pure pumice, how does this change the way you would fertilise in that first growing season given the medium holds no real nutrients to feed the layering? Thanks as always for the great content!
Thanks Wesley for watching. I am sure that by now you must have realized that in bonsai there are several ways to achieve an objective. It’s not necessarily that one way is better or correct and the other wrong or worse. I cannot say how specifically or exactly how fertilising will change. I will fertilise them though with BonsaiBoost as I do with all my trees and as pumice actually has a pretty high CEC value it retains the fertiliser well. What do you mean by “holds no real nutrients”?
@@TerryErasmusbonsai yes I have, at times I guess that’s the issue (analysis paralysis 😂) will just need to experiment and figure out what works for me. I have a potting workshop in a couple weeks with my Bonsai club here to learn what works best in Auckland’s climate too thankfully. Thanks that makes sense, still learning forgot that pumice has a high CEC too like Akadama 😅 I guess I meant with no organic matter breaking down etc that the tree then becomes completely dependent on the fertiliser used for the exchange. Loved using bonsai boost when I was in Cape Town, haven’t found anything as good here so mostly used liquid fish emulsion/blood and bone etc. I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge as always🙏🏼
Thanks Wesley. I usually don’t use any organic in my growing medium. The concept of organic leaching nutrients into the mix I think is not really a factor due to the amount of watering we do. I prefer to fertilise what I want, when I want and in the dosage I want. Enjoy your workshop, id be interested to know how their process and media differs. You must be able to get rapeseed cake there, perhaps even Biogold, Tamahi or similar there???
@@TerryErasmusbonsai unfortunately not, just doing a quick search on google , might need to import that which isn't too bad being this side (had to do the same for the top jin paste & putty etc.) but thanks for the alternatives as now I know what to shop around for :)
Thanks Terry, great info as usual! I find with my airlayered trees it's best to stand them in an inch of water for the first growing season, this helps to keep the roots hydrated in the warmer days. :-)
Cool tip! This requires the media to wick up the water though. Are you using straight pumice too for this first season, or something with more organic?
@TerryErasmusbonsai No I use my usual bonsai mix for maples, Akadama, Pumice, Lava rock, it works well for all my maples and their airlayer off spring :-)
@@TerryErasmusbonsai I have grown bonsai for 45 years and only had good success after removing the cambium layer. I have tried every possible method. Using banana. aloe goo sphagnum moss and root hormone powder. Most that I did not remove the cambium layer only callused over. ( I have lived in the UK since 93 having left SA). Yes I did watch the video. As you know some species don't like to layer where weeping willow will root from a cut off trunk of any size. I just wanted to give people a better chance by sharing some info.
Thanks John for the comments. I got 18 out of the 20 layers I did. I am sure most would agree this is good enough. I did in fact scrape the cambium deeply on a couple, there was no difference between those i did and those I didn’t. I didn’t intend this video to be the definitive guide to air layering and yes of course you are correct, some species such as Trident maple do benefit from the cambium being removed but I was layering a Shishigashira maple and find it unnecessary.
Thank you John! For now I aim to keep at the videos, as long as people seem to enjoy them. Yes I dare say I lived in the UK many years ago for 2 years and the lack of sunshine did begin to get to me! Take care.
Is there a reason why you are not teasing the roots out radially before planting the cuttings in pot ? Won't you get deformed roots when planted like the way shown in video ? How easy or difficult is it correct them after a year in pot ?
Vinny, that’s a great question. In the beginning I find the roots a little too fragile to work without risk, have you found it to be better to correct them immediately? After another seasons growth they would have lignified better but will still be malleable enough to correct.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai ... Hi Terry, my air-layers were harvested a bit early so roots had not yet filled the medium like in your case. I simply dipped the roots in water & shook it to get rid of cocopeat, and roots were already free of substrate & in radial direction, with minimal cutting, as they had not grown too long to deform. I used plastic packets or open containters. But if i had so many roots compacted into a ball shape, i might still attempt to untangle them in water, before potting. Looking forward to your follow up video next year on this. I am curious to see the root ball's condition then.
Thank you for the feedback! I shall certainly do my best to do a follow up video in spring 2024 as it’s my intention to allow these to grow through the season till then.
Awesome thanks I guess I should have spent a little time searching before I just asked but I cut grass for a living and see a lot of cool trees around I could ask some of my Customers for a trimming maybe and start my own bonsai collection but I’m not very patient so I would wanna jump start with this technique
Layering something will definitely be faster, buying a bonsai tree will be even be faster. However you will find that patience is a must have when it comes to bonsai no matter the source. Good luck!
If you place them in a shallow recipient of 1 max 2 cm full of water you can see the roots to develop in two weeks maximum (filling the need pot extremely quick)
Thanks.
Thanks Terry. Great video.
Thanks Gerrit !
Always nice to see different approaches! Never saw the rope trick before for airlayerings! Im planing on buying a shishigashira too and plant it as mother tree to get some munition for airlayers, i want to have my own bonsai nursery in Switzerland, think i told you once, and my goal is to start business in less then 2 years😍 cant deal with my office life anymore hahah thx for all your great videos
Go for it!!!!
@@TerryErasmusbonsai i also got the crean mate you recommended and its absolutely great! Thank you so much❤❤❤
Is air layering harder on JBP? What technique have you been successful with?
I’ve not tried air layering JBP but it can be done, it can just take a long time. I hear up to 2 years. I guess you know that already. I usually grow from seedling and seedling cuttings when it comes to Pines. You can also grow from spring candles used as cuttings. This is much faster.
Problem is that if you are trying to air layer a pine and it does not take it’s not going to heal over so you have either ruined that tree or you need to keep trying.
Hi Terry, thanks this is perfect timing as I have just purchased my first set of dynaballs to air layer a trident maple (for a shohin sized tree off the apex) and 2 of my JM trees which are currently in larger pots. I have two questions, I noticed you left the roots undisturbed when potting these where I have seen some content creators remove at least some of the sphagnum moss before up? lastly, if potting up in pure pumice, how does this change the way you would fertilise in that first growing season given the medium holds no real nutrients to feed the layering?
Thanks as always for the great content!
Apologies, just found a comment answering my first question re the lignified roots 😅
Thanks Wesley for watching. I am sure that by now you must have realized that in bonsai there are several ways to achieve an objective. It’s not necessarily that one way is better or correct and the other wrong or worse.
I cannot say how specifically or exactly how fertilising will change. I will fertilise them though with BonsaiBoost as I do with all my trees and as pumice actually has a pretty high CEC value it retains the fertiliser well. What do you mean by “holds no real nutrients”?
@@TerryErasmusbonsai yes I have, at times I guess that’s the issue (analysis paralysis 😂) will just need to experiment and figure out what works for me. I have a potting workshop in a couple weeks with my Bonsai club here to learn what works best in Auckland’s climate too thankfully.
Thanks that makes sense, still learning forgot that pumice has a high CEC too like Akadama 😅 I guess I meant with no organic matter breaking down etc that the tree then becomes completely dependent on the fertiliser used for the exchange. Loved using bonsai boost when I was in Cape Town, haven’t found anything as good here so mostly used liquid fish emulsion/blood and bone etc. I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge as always🙏🏼
Thanks Wesley. I usually don’t use any organic in my growing medium. The concept of organic leaching nutrients into the mix I think is not really a factor due to the amount of watering we do. I prefer to fertilise what I want, when I want and in the dosage I want.
Enjoy your workshop, id be interested to know how their process and media differs.
You must be able to get rapeseed cake there, perhaps even Biogold, Tamahi or similar there???
@@TerryErasmusbonsai unfortunately not, just doing a quick search on google , might need to import that which isn't too bad being this side (had to do the same for the top jin paste & putty etc.) but thanks for the alternatives as now I know what to shop around for :)
Where did you get those pods from? The ones I own don’t have the clips which is a much better way than having to use zip ties.
It is a product we sell. You can find them on our website. It’s a South African made product.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai are they available in the United States?
You don’t remove cambion layer ?
Good question. After removing the bark I removed nothing more as depicted in the video.
Thanks Terry, great info as usual! I find with my airlayered trees it's best to stand them in an inch of water for the first growing season, this helps to keep the roots hydrated in the warmer days. :-)
Cool tip! This requires the media to wick up the water though. Are you using straight pumice too for this first season, or something with more organic?
@TerryErasmusbonsai No I use my usual bonsai mix for maples, Akadama, Pumice, Lava rock, it works well for all my maples and their airlayer off spring :-)
Ok. Thanks for confirming.
You need to scrape the cambium layer off after removing the bark.
John how can you say that when almost every single one rooted or did you not watch the video???
@@TerryErasmusbonsai I have grown bonsai for 45 years and only had good success after removing the cambium layer. I have tried every possible method. Using banana. aloe goo sphagnum moss and root hormone powder. Most that I did not remove the cambium layer only callused over. ( I have lived in the UK since 93 having left SA). Yes I did watch the video. As you know some species don't like to layer where weeping willow will root from a cut off trunk of any size. I just wanted to give people a better chance by sharing some info.
Thanks John for the comments. I got 18 out of the 20 layers I did. I am sure most would agree this is good enough. I did in fact scrape the cambium deeply on a couple, there was no difference between those i did and those I didn’t. I didn’t intend this video to be the definitive guide to air layering and yes of course you are correct, some species such as Trident maple do benefit from the cambium being removed but I was layering a Shishigashira maple and find it unnecessary.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Keep the vids coming. I enjoy your accent as much as some of your fantastic trees. Hehe! ....I miss SA and the weather.
Thank you John! For now I aim to keep at the videos, as long as people seem to enjoy them. Yes I dare say I lived in the UK many years ago for 2 years and the lack of sunshine did begin to get to me! Take care.
Is there a reason why you are not teasing the roots out radially before planting the cuttings in pot ?
Won't you get deformed roots when planted like the way shown in video ? How easy or difficult is it correct them after a year in pot ?
Vinny, that’s a great question.
In the beginning I find the roots a little too fragile to work without risk, have you found it to be better to correct them immediately?
After another seasons growth they would have lignified better but will still be malleable enough to correct.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai ...
Hi Terry, my air-layers were harvested a bit early so roots had not yet filled the medium like in your case. I simply dipped the roots in water & shook it to get rid of cocopeat, and roots were already free of substrate & in radial direction, with minimal cutting, as they had not grown too long to deform. I used plastic packets or open containters.
But if i had so many roots compacted into a ball shape, i might still attempt to untangle them in water, before potting.
Looking forward to your follow up video next year on this. I am curious to see the root ball's condition then.
Thank you for the feedback! I shall certainly do my best to do a follow up video in spring 2024 as it’s my intention to allow these to grow through the season till then.