Air Layering On A Big Cluster Fig Tree On Site

Tree species : Cluster Fig Tree (Ficus Racemosa, Indian Fig Tree, Goolar Fig)
Air-layering started on : May 28, 2016
Collected on : June 19, 2016 for
For : Mini bonsai

This is my 3rd attempt at air-layering and the first on a tree, on location. The last 2 were done on potted trees already in my possession. With this method, my success rate so far is 100%, 6 out of 6, without any rooting hormone. I stopped using them long back.

What is so different this time ?

I was very skeptical about getting success this time for the following reasons :

- it is outdoors, exposed to the elements and I can't take care of it
- the moist cocopeat might dry out before the roots develop
- in case it did not dry out, moist cocopeat in an almost sealed plastic sheet seemed like an invitation to mold infestation

Luckily, both my air-layers on this tree worked out fine.

Beautiful brownish green
trunk and fig clusters.
Edible after processing.

A month before starting air-layering, I had selected 2 branches since it had good ramification at the tip and pruned them. Now it had grown some additional branches. You can see the cuts on the image below, on right.

If this tree was in my garden, I would have kept the branch upright, pruned several times and even wired this branch tip, while still attached to the tree. Only when it starts resembling a small tree would I start air-layering. Ramification is more difficult & time consuming (many months) than developing roots (1 month). Having the water & nutritional needs being automatically taken care of by the tree is a HUGE bonus ! Don't be a in a hurry to pot it, if possible.

So I peeled away a ring of the bark & scraped the revealed surface with a knife to ensure that rooting occurs, instead of healing.

It was then covered in moist (not wet) cocopeat, sealed with a plastic packet, with both ends taped and covered with an opaque sheet to shield the tender roots. Once a week, I used to inject water into it, since we had some hot dry days. In hindsight, I should have made few tiny drainage holes at the bottom of the bulge, since the branch is horizontal.

June 19 - 22 days later, air-layer no. 1 is ready. No.2 wasn't.

I cut the leaves to 1/3rd the original size but you can actually throw it away completely, as I did on air layer no.2. They fall away pretty soon. So, no point in keeping them. The roots are more on one side, bcos they were on the bottom, on the horizontal branch. Lesson - avoid horizontal branches for air-layering, unless you want a raft style bonsai.

I was in a hurry to harvest them bcos I didn't want to lose them, for reasons beyond my control. On a tree at home, I would have left it alone for a month, in a colander pot, on the branch and got excellent roots.

July 5, 2016 - new leaves emerge on air-layer no.1

The partially rooted cutting is planted into coarse filtered sand and the base touches another container with sand, to suck out any extra water. It is misted as often as possible and kept covered with a plastic bottle. Make sure the bottle cap is removed, else mold growth is a possibility.

The holes on the sides of the top container are for root aeration & air-pruning of roots. The bottom container was a similar extra piece lying around, so I used it but the bottom one doesn't need any holes. It should however be wider than the top container, so water can evaporate off. Once roots develop, I prefer a container of water below the top pot. It encourages roots to come out and dip into water.

Air layer no. 2 should also have been ready but wasn't, due to my mistake. Most of the cocopeat had bunched up on the lower half and I saw only root buds, not roots. So, I repacked it properly and a month later it was also collected.

Air Layer 2: