Hey guys. Decided now was a good time to layer my Gk Yellow, but just realized my kit - including my rooting hormone - is at the 'other site' where I just layered that Italian Purple. These layers have to succeed, as they're all spoken for. Can any members tell me if I'm running any risks doing these layers without a rooting compound?

i never use root hormone for air layer nor cuttings. fig roots fine without it.

Pete, Do you usually cut a layer of bark off during your air layering or do they root fine without it?  I'm going to start doing some air layering this summer and was wondering if it really mattered or not. 

@Pete - Had a feeling that was the case. I vaguely recall reading something along those lines on this forum before. OK, sans rooter it is then.

Thanks for the advice.

I never had an air layer fail, and I have never used rooting compound on any of them.

Suzi

Thx Suzi. That pretty much appears to be the consensus on this forum. It's all the encouragement I need to proceed. My Gk Yellow layers are just too 'precious' to risk to chance.

Here in yard used potting mix have not scraped bark kept mix damp and it works well.
If there precious to you and for piece of mind then do what you have always done and get your hormone
back to other place and use it.

That also occurred to me Martin - after all, a couple of days is not gonna make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. But these layers are small by my usual standards - only 2 yrs growth, and I also recall successfully doing small layers without rooter in the distant past.

Taken with the above advice, I'm fairly confident this will work. But as I'm running behind schedule, I might only do 2 now, and the other 2 later with the rooter. At least then I can be assured of 2 out of 4. If the worst happens, I will have to 'sacrifice' branches from the top of the tree.

i do scrape and score around where i want the roots.