Most gardeners trust on two provenvegetative ( asexual ) propagationmethods to produce unexampled plants : cuttingsanddivisions . Both coming demand discerp stems , leaves , or roots from the “ parent ” flora and then lean the discerp parts as they educate young root systems of their own . These methods are n’t complicated , but they do take some practice to master and occasional failures are to be expected .
A third vegetal extension method acting , layering , is not as familiar to place nurseryman , yet it has subsist in nature for likely as long as industrial plant species have inhabit the terra firma . Like cuttings and divisions , layering produces new plants with characteristics identical to those of the parent plant . Unlike cutting and air division , this method acting create a new plantwhile it is still attached to the parent works . A “ stratum ” is the name given to a rooted flora after it is detach from the parent plant . Until it is detached , the level benefits from being append with nutrients and moisture while it develops an independent etymon system . As a result , this propagation method more often than not has a higher success rate than works started from carving or part .
LAYERING AS A VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION METHOD
Layering is best suited for propagating shrub , vines , woody herbaceous plant , and even some tree that have flexible stem located small to the land . It ’s a good alternative to halt cuttings for some flora species that are unmanageable to circulate . Layering is also a good method for propagating native species that are n’t pronto usable for cut-rate sale through commercial-grade sources . It is not unremarkably suitable for propagate herbaceous perennials or annual .
While plants may be layer any fourth dimension of year , abeyant stem are intimately rooted in previous winter to early leap just before new increment starts . This allows the stratum to rise a ripe root structure over the summer and plenty of time to get established after it is sort from the parent and transplanted elsewhere .
HOW MOTHER NATURE DOES IT
Many plant species evolved to replicate themselves naturally through offsets , stolons or runners , and suckers , all of which are specialized plant structures . Because these structures leave in novel plants while they still attached to the parent plant , they are considered to be a form of layering .
first – Sideshoots or branches that grow from buds at the infrastructure or main fore of a plant . After they have develop their own root systems , offsets ( which are often calledpups ) can be propagated by simply cutting them off from the plant parent and planting them . Agave and yucca are example of landscape painting industrial plant that can be spread from offsets . Some houseplant , such as Formosan money plant ( Pilea peperomioides ) and aloe , may also be disperse from offsets .
Stolons ( Runners)–Stems that emerge from the crown of a plant life and develop horizontally above the dirt airfoil . New flora can form from nodes along the stem . If the nodes get along in contact with soil , they educate roots and top outgrowth resulting in a new plant . Strawberry plant , many priming covers , grasses , and some Mary Jane replicate themselves using stolons .
Suckers – Stems that develop from root tissues below ground or from stem tissue at the base of a plant . On the one hand , plants that all-day sucker can be a pain in the neck , especially if the suckers leave the flora to spread beyond the space allocate for it in the landscape painting . On the other hand , root suckers as a propagation method allows gardeners to duplicatedesired plantsrepeatedly without significant variation from the parent plant . Examples of native shrubs that patsy include Virginia sweetspire ( Itea virginica ) , sweet pepperbush ( Clethra ) , spicebush ( Lindera benzoin ) , and witch alder tree ( Fothergilla ) .
METHODS FOR LAYERING PLANTS
Many plant species do a remarkable problem of propagating themselves through the specialized plant structures just described . They are the inspiration for a mixed bag of layer techniques now used by professional plant propagators and domicile gardeners . For simple drafting of these techniques , see the link to the Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook ( page 222 ) under Sources below .
Before starting a layering project , take a few instant to resolve which of the five canonical method acting described below is ripe for the plant being layer .
proficiency 1 – Tip Layering – This is a particularly loose way to propagate vining plants such as majestic and black raspberries and blackberries . The proficiency involves rooting the tip of the current season ’s growth where the nifty absorption of rooting endocrine is site . To tiptoe layer a plant :
Technique 2 – Simple Layering – This method works well for plant with pliable low - growing outgrowth such as abelia , azalea , Turkish boxwood , dogwood , forsythia , Virginia sweetspire and rhododendron .
Layered red branchlet dogwood root word tip . Photo Credit : Pat Chadwick
Technique 3 – Compound Layering ( also call serpentine layering ) – This is a mutant of simple layering . Instead of creating just one new flora from a stem , compound layering allows you to produce multiple flora by alternately covering and exposing sections along the length of the stem . It ’s a especially good method to use for vine such as clematis and wisteria .
Technique 4 – Mound Layering – This method is a good way to get lots of new plants from one parent plant . It work best for sleeping plant life that are heavily stemmed with close fork . Candidates for cumulus layering let in lavender , wormwood , spirea , efflorescence Cydonia oblonga , and cotoneaster .
proficiency 5 – Air Layering – This method acting of layering is much more involved than the premature four . Instead of root new plants in soil , air layering is used to create a fresh plant on the stem or subdivision of a plant , hence the name . Air layering is appropriate for hardy shrubs with stems or branch that can not be turn down to the ground such as azalea , camellia , magnolia , and holly . For best event , choose a stem from theprevious time of year ’s growththat is pencil sizing or slightly larger diam . Or , if after in summer , opt a ripe shoot from thecurrent season ’s growth . To publicise bed a woody works such as a bush or Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree :
While the emphasis of this article is principally on landscape plant , air layering is commonly used for propagating houseplants with thick stems such as condom plant ( Ficus elastica ) or slow cane ( Dieffenbachia ) . For more info on the proficiency , see University of Missouri Extension ’s issue onHome Propagation of Houseplants .
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO make A NEW PLANT BY LAYERING ?
If there is a downside to layer , it ’s that the process ask forbearance . Some plant species , such as vining plants , may root within a few weeks . Other metal money , such as some woody shrubs and Tree , may need as much as a twelvemonth to root .
For a stem rooted in previous wintertime or early spring , give it a gentle tug in the autumn to see if it is settle down . If it resist being tugged , then the roots are adequately developed , and the plant can be assort from the parent and transplanted elsewhere . If the roots are not adequately rout , then cover the soil back around the roots and go forth the plant in place until the following spring before checking again .
letters patent Pentateuch REGARDING PLANT PROPAGATION
Before attempting to propagate a plant , suss out first to see if it is currently under an combat-ready patent or has a letters patent pending . If it is under patent protection , then it is illegal for home gardeners to propagate the industrial plant either by seed or by vegetative method or to share it with others or sell it . Once a plant patent practical app is filed with the U.S. Patent Office , the patent is valid for 20 years . But if it is in the public domain , the plant can be lawfully propagated and share . This proceeds pertains more to new diversity and cultivars than to unpatented honest-to-god , heirloom varieties .
SUMMARY
Layering is a quick and easy – some might say effortless – way to propagate Modern plant at no cost . No special tools or gardening skills are command . In fact , the plant does most of the actual work . Of the five layering techniques described , simple layering and tip layering are the easiest . However , it is important to match the proficiency to the forcible characteristics of the plant being propagated .
FEATURED photograph : superimposed red branchlet dogwood stem . Photo Credit : Pat Chadwick
SOURCES
Plant Parenting(Halleck , Leslie F. , 2019 )
Plant Propagation , American Horticultural Society , 1999
Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook , Chapter 8,Plant Propagation , Sir Frederick Handley Page 222 .
Plant Propagation by Layering , NC State Extension Publications ( ncsu.edu )
How to Propagate Shrubs by Layering , Iowa State University denotation
Propagation by Cuttings , Layering and Division , Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication 426 - 002
