Airlayering

I'm new to airlayering. I have a few questions.

Is this the fastest way to get a fruit bearing tree from my friends mandarin tree? How soon after airlayering can you get fruit?

Can you airlayer from a branch that has been cut and stuck into a rooting medium?

thanks

Mary, welcome to the forum.

You can do the air-layering at your friend's place right on the tree.

Then when the branch develops roots the branch would be cut just under where the roots developed.

Here are some threads that will help you or others:

https://permies.com/t/84300/Good-method-air-layering

https://permies.com/t/137221/Air-Layering-Water

https://permies.com/t/160377/easy-air-layering-Pots-store

https://permies.com/t/39410/Air-Layering-grafting

Mary said, "Can you airlayer from a branch that has been cut and stuck into a rooting medium?

This sounds more like rooting a cutting than air-layering.

Please let us know how this works for you.

They won't allow it. They don't understand airlayering and are afraid it will damage their tree which is over 30yrrs old. They have agreed to allow me to take all the branches when they trim it. I'm obsessed with this tree since tasting the fruit. I know I can grow roots from cuttings but I've read the tree can bear fruit faster if airlayered. Is this true? I was thinking if they give me a cutting large enough I could put it in dirt and airlayer at the same same time as propagating.  Have you ever heard of this being successful? Maybe i'm dreaming thinking that could work. : ) I have already grown 4 trees from the seeds of this tree they are about 8 inches tall so far.

I think the advantage to air-layering is that the mature tree's vascular system is feeding the tissue at the cut while the roots grow instead of depending solely on energy stored in the cut branch. So I wouldn't expect there to be any advantage to doing what you're suggesting and probably it would be cutting off some of the branch's supply of energy with no benefit. But I'm also no expert -- I've only read about the subject.

Mary yu wrote:They won't allow it. They don't understand airlayering and are afraid it will damage their tree which is over 30yrrs old. They have agreed to allow me to take all the branches when they trim it. I'm obsessed with this tree since tasting the fruit. I know I can grow roots from cuttings but I've read the tree can bear fruit faster if airlayered. Is this true? I was thinking if they give me a cutting large enough I could put it in dirt and airlayer at the same same time as propagating.  Have you ever heard of this being successful? Maybe i'm dreaming thinking that could work. : ) I have already grown 4 trees from the seeds of this tree they are about 8 inches tall so far.

Is there something that is special to you about this particular tree?  If there is maybe you could purchase a tree to use as a rootstock and then graft on the scions from your friends tree?   I'm no expert, and have no citrus experience, but with practice you can learn to graft.    It's pretty fun and amazing to see your grafts take and grow.  I believe that grafting on to more mature rootstock will get you fruit faster.

air-layering  by putting a cutting in the soil seems somewhat redundant, plus air-layering (at least in Pennsylvania) takes at least three or more months.  I don't think that your cuttings would have that kind of energy reserves stored to last that long.  Might be better just getting them to root without the extra step of air-layering if that's possible.

agreed, there isn’t enough energy in a branch to air-layer it while trying to get the cutting to root. especially since my reference books suggest that softwood cuttings is the way to go for citrus.

thanks for all the advice, the oranges are delicious and i've never taste any as good as these. When you say purchase a tree to use as root stock to graft onto what type of tree? how old and how big should it be? The oranges on this tree, have a peel you can get off all at once. I think it may be a tangerine? Its very sweet. It was planted over 30yrs ago. Oh and i'm in Lafayette Louisiana

Mary yu wrote:thanks for all the advice, the oranges are delicious and i've never taste any as good as these. When you say purchase a tree to use as root stock to graft onto what type of tree? how old and how big should it be? The oranges on this tree, have a peel you can get off all at once. I think it may be a tangerine? Its very sweet. It was planted over 30yrs ago. Oh and i'm in Lafayette Louisiana

You're certainly welcome.  Take all of my advice with a grain of salt because I've only just started having real grafting success this year and I don't have much experience.  I've also only grafted apples, but I think that I can get you pointed in the right direction.   I'm sure that many people on this forum can (and have) given you much better advice, but I'll tell you what I know according to apples.

Your rootstock  will have to be the same type of tree. Apples trees for apples, peach trees for peaches etc.  I think that quinces might be an exception but not the rule.  None of those will apply to you in your case.   I don't know, but possibly other citrus like limes and lemon trees might work for you as well?  Seems like they would, but I don't know.

I think (my opinion) that the older the tree the better, because you have a lot more to work with and you can make a lot of mistakes and not kill the tree.
I don't think (my opinion again.) that a tree can be too old to graft unless it is close to dying.
I do know that you should be planting rootstock 15 years ago.  .  I wish that I would have known that then.
Any rootstock is better than no rootstock.   If oranges ever grow wild or can be dug up somehow on your property, or a friends that would be awesome.
I don't know if there are dwarfing rootstocks for oranges (probably are) but with those the graft that you will graft will take on the dwarfing characteristics of the rootstock and will grow smaller and produce fruit faster than a natural rootstock just randomly grown from a seed.
There's a time window which is almost over for most types of grafting for me.  Also scions (for apples and everything else around here) have to be collected when they are dormant.  Not sure if oranges go dormant, so you may have a different grafting technique that gets around this.

Everything that I know about grafting  has pretty much come from  from the people on this forum and youtube.  You're in the right place.  

Good luck and have lots of fun!

thanks so much, i'm off to buy a citrus tree. I'll post pictures once I get all my ingredients.

Mary yu wrote:thanks so much, i'm off to buy a citrus tree. I'll post pictures once I get all my ingredients.

Hey Mary,

found you a pretty good link on grafting citrus:

https://fruitmentor.com/grafting-citrus-trees-best-time

There's an e-book mentioned.....the link doesn't work, but I did find it on scribd by googling the title + the term .pdf



Tim

Oh wow, thanks Tim. All the root stock i'm find for sale online is small trees.

Mary yu wrote:Oh wow, thanks Tim. All the root stock i'm find for sale online is small trees.

You're welcome.  

Any chance that your local garden stores or Farm, Hardware stores might have citrus trees there?  

Green houses, Garden centers, Lowes,  Homedepot,  Tractor supply, Rural King,  Ace?  

The trees sold around here locally  (Apples, pears, etc)  are usually large and would be a lot cheaper than buying a potted plant online.  I don't know if bare-root would be shipped this late in the season.  Maybe?   Trees usually go on sale here when planting season is almost over, but you might not have that option down there.


Just some suggestions.

Good luck!