Botany: air layering
Self-tutoring about plant propagation: the tutor mentions the air layering method.
The following is by my understanding.
Air layering is a vegetative method of producing a new plant from an existing one. It’s similar to cuttings, but more involved.
In the process of air layering, one does these steps:
- Select a branch from the plant or tree you want to clone.
- Remove a section of bark from said branch, all the way around. Said removal might involve one to two inches.
- Apply rooting compound to the wound (the area that’s had its bark removed).
- Now, securely wrap the wound with damp sphagnum moss.
- Cover the sphagnum moss with plastic, then with tin foil.
- Perhaps every week or two, uncover the sphagnum moss to freshly dampen it. Recover it each time.
- If all goes well, perhaps after a couple of months fresh roots will have sprouted from the wound into the sphagnum moss.
- If fresh roots have successfully sprouted, one can cut the host branch off below the wound, then plant the cutting as a new plant.
Interesting, eh?
Source:
Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.