Air layer leaves drying out

[Matt1463]

Hi, new member here.

I'm posting because I have a Chinese elm air layer with leaves that have suddenly started drying out.

It was air layered in mid April and has been growing strongly since then. Today I noticed the new shoots and leaves had started to dry out. I took a peek at the cut site, it has calloused but no roots yet, and no cambrium bridging.



I have put a plastic bag over it with a moist paper towel to retain the humidity.

What actions should I take to save the air layer, and what is likely to have caused the leaves to dry out so suddenly?

Thanks in advance!

Matt

 

[sorce]

Sounds like the cut was too deep. Or something happened within to make the connection fail.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Plastic bags in the sun can get pretty hot.
Might not be the best idea to use black plastic, transparent or green or blue or whatever might be better.

The initial cause is hard to find out without pictures of the cut site.

 

[rollwithak]

Hi, new member here.

I'm posting because I have a Chinese elm air layer with leaves that have suddenly started drying out.

It was air layered in mid April and has been growing strongly since then. Today I noticed the new shoots and leaves had started to dry out. I took a peek at the cut site, it has calloused but no roots yet, and no cambrium bridging.

View attachment 312154

I have put a plastic bag over it with a moist paper towel to retain the humidity.

What actions should I take to save the air layer, and what is likely to have caused the leaves to dry out so suddenly?

Thanks in advance!

Matt

Matt, where are you located and how hot is it getting there currently. If it’s very hot, I would have them in filtered light or some shade while the roots are strengthening and the tree is recovering.

 

[0soyoung]

Roots stop growing somewhere around 95F and by 115F are definitely dying.
Stick an ordinary meat thermometer probe in the pot, among the tree's roots and see how hot they actually are. Plastic over the pot will indeed prevent moisture loss, but it is also a solar adsorber. Something like a damp towel will work much better for the purpose. Again, measure the root temperatures and know rather than assume.

Keeping the tree in as much sun as possible is best for adventitious root growth, but is counter productive if the tree's roots cannot be kept at a safe temperature below 95F. Do what ever you gotta do to assure this and do the best you can for sun exposure.

btw, a layer at the ground level or below is a ground layer, girdling above ground (up in the air) is an air layer. It looks to me that you have affected a ground layer @Matt1463. Aside from the semantics/terminology the important distinction is that there is nothing feeding the tree's roots when being ground layered, so the roots are doing what they do for as long as the stored carbohydrates last - then the tree dies. In my experience, most species can live for 12 to 18 months this way.