Air Layering / Air rooting

[arvin555]

I have been interested in the possibility of Air Layering Nepenthes, after all if they can be propagated by Stem cutting, why not Air layering? Plus you get (hopefully) a margin of error in which usually the cutting will either heal itself back to the main plant or root, so maybe, just maybe no deaths.

I found this link:

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8130

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/e.../airlayer.html

Hoping to try this out soon myself.

I am not too sure though if it will work with very thin vined species, Gracilis, albomarginata for example, but maybe they still will, just delicate work in doing the cut.

TTFN
Arvin

[kentosaurs]

So we only slice the outer part of the stem but now the middle 1 right?? Anyways i've heard of this method many times but have never tried it...So far cuttings do okay for me..Oh yea when you do air layering do you have only 2-4 nodes like cuttings or you can do it on any part of the stem??

If can do at any part of the stem, then its like kinda off rooting a whole stem instead of a cutting which is a part of a stem

[wijaya]

@Arvin: I did that before with N. x Miranda, and successful, as the part air layered still got the feeding from the mother plant, I was using the plastic cup tied to the stem then put 100% moss in it, and after about 6 months I got lots of roots already, so just cut off and pot up. (sorry no picture documentation) I used the air layering method for the stem that already turned woody (brown color) quite thick in diameter as per said woody stem is harder to get it to root when cut down.

Ed

[arvin555]

Ken from what I understand it is best to do it only one per vine, so you are basically just doing just 1 cutting, the only thing as Wijaya confirmed, the advantage is that you get a rooted plant for sure because the cutting is still being given nutrition by the main plant. The disadvantage is that you only get 2 plants at the end, the main one and the new one. Not the same as doing cuttings which you can do almost 1 per node if you like to gamble. I think Air layering is best done with species that are known to be hard to do cuttings on.

Wijaya, you did not try doing 2 airlayering at the same vine right? I suspect that is dangerous because it might kill the whole plant and leave you with nothing.

Good info also Wijaya that you did it on the woody part, that is very very good info, because I always wonder what to do with vines that the woody part is quickly catching up to the green part. So we an do airlayering on it so you get a "fresh" plant, you don't end up with 2 plants, but at least the new one will be fresher than the one that is becoming too woody.

TTFN
Arvin

[NepNut]

This is another viable method for those hard to root nep species or those really rare specimens that you just can't afford to take risk....

Good information, thanks Arvin.

[arvin555]

Just sharing what info I see.

I just realized, another way to look at it, is if one wants to be slightly safe, but want more cuttings, one can air layer a vine first, then when the vine is rooted, you plant the vine, wait a bit then you can do a cutting on it. Hopefully the air layered one will continue to grow healthy even if a cutting was taken form it. So hopefully you get 3 plants, the original, the air layered and the new cutting.

Still yet to try airlayering but soon.

TTFN
Arvin