Air Layering = Instant Trees !

"Bonsai takes time" - This line is commonly used to indicate how many years a tree has to be grown before it achieves the desired trunk thickness. I hate this popular misconception and blame it on mental conditioning.

Watch playlist on YouTube

If you start from seeds, cuttings or nursery saplings, then the given advice is true. But by using the air layering technique, you can have trees almost instantly, with the desired trunk thickness & some primary branches as well.

Using Colanders For Double Air-layering On Same Trunk

While this video shows how to make several bonsai from a nursery tree, what caught my eye was the double air-layering technique & the use of air pruning containers /colanders for air-layering. 

Tribu Bonsai, Spain

Watch on YouTube

Air pruning containers like this give superior root structure and density compared to that obtained using just a plastic wrap or a regular, smooth-walled nursery pot. 

My own experience with double air layering :

Double Air Layering - Ficus Racemosa / Cluster Fig Tree

Double Air Layering - White Lead Tree

For those who feel that air pruning is no big deal & that just about any container will do, I recommend watching this YouTube playlist & upgrading your knowledge : 

How Pot Design Affects Your Plant's Growth

and also read on this blog  :

How Pot Design Affects Your Air-layered Cuttings

How Pot Design Affects Your Air-layered Cuttings

Though the initial rooting happened in a plastic pouch, the pot was quickly changed, without cutting the trunk, to a new setup comprising of 2 nursery flats, with a mesh bottom having a finer plastic mesh screen to keep the soil inside. Such a container not only air-prunes the new roots, leading to a denser root system but also provides better drainage & root aeration. This could have been done right from the beginning, instead of using a plastic pouch.

Source : bonsaitonight.com / Jonas Dupuich

Trunk still has not been cut.  It goes further below.

Air Layering Large Trunks - By Graham Potter Of UK

This is the largest air-layering I have ever seen. Amazing ! I am not a fan of the plastic wrap technique though, for 2 reasons - 1) you will get deformed roots which need correction & 2) it has poor drainage & aeration, compared to using a colander, Anderson tray or air-pruning pots.

Part 1

Part 2

Watch on YouTube - Part 1 , Part 2

Also read the story links below. I feel they use a superior technique.

How Pot Design Affects Your Air-layered Cuttings

Air Layering With A Colander

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.

Double Air Layering On Same Trunk - Ficus Racemosa / Cluster Fig Tree

Tree species : Cluster Fig Tree (Ficus Racemosa, Indian Fig Tree, Goolar Fig)
Collected on : July 29, 2015
Air-Layering started on : Jan 25, 2016


Part 1 - Growth history from a collected small sapling ! 

Double Air Layering On Same Trunk - White Lead Tree

Tree species : White Lead Tree (Leucaena Leucocephala / Su-babul)
Sprouted around : Aug 7, 2015
Dual air-layering done on : March 1, 2016


Part 1 of this article : Growth history from a tiny seed !

Amazing growth in just 8 months from a seed ! 7 feet tall from soil surface, main trunk as thick as a finger base.

March 9, 2016

Air Layering With A Colander

The colander air-prunes the new roots, leading to a denser root system & hence, faster growth. If the plant you want to air-layer is in your possession, then use a colander type of pot. Avoid using an airtight plastic wrap or containers without holes on side and bottom. 

I feel people who do so, are ignorant of a basic concept shared here. Air-tight container makes sense only if the plant is not in your possession and hence cannot be watered often.

Air Layering Examples

Source : yenlingbonsai.com

(temporarily not available)