Introduction :
I am back to business with good intention . YES and ALWAYS ...

Well...i don't know about all this stuff...but,regarding the title:yes,you can root a big/huge cutting,my biggest one was 2.7inches diam.

Thank you, mnedelcu

My next question : Can you air layer a cutting ?

Some of you might already saw some of my pictures before, but please tell me what do you think that air laying a cutting is possible or impossible

The "science" behind air-layering is that you are using the power of photosynthesis to produce new roots. Since a cutting does not have leaves, there is no photosynthesis, so no air-layer. All you are doing is rooting a cutting in the middle rather than at the bottom end.

Jon and Paul are correct by definition of "air layering" , the key word in the definition is a "branch" of a plant(tree) and a cutting is not a part of any definition, but I know what you are trying to explain, pretty darn neat.

Thank you cyberfarmer, pitangadiego and waynea for your input . 

My third question :
Can a huge (or a small size with 4,5,6 nods)  cutting be rooted and air layered at the same time ? 


Huge : trunk about 2 - 3" diameter, 5' or more in height  

It has been suggested that a huge limb or trunk can be buried sideways creating roots (and budding) at multiple nodes. It could then be chopped up into into multiple plants.  I would guess the same thing could be accomplished by wrapping multiple nodes with medium (like an airlayer). As others pointed out, the term "airlayer" is usually reserved for rooting a section (branch, etc) of while the section is still attached to the host tree. 

If you do have a large cutting (which from experience does take a lot longer to root. I have a Sal's Gene that is about 1" in diameter that did root successfully but it took months) with lots of nodes, there might be another option also: Take a bud off the bottom of the cutting and graft it onto another fig tree you have via chip budding. For any cutting that I deem 'important', something that I really want to have, I will take one or two buds off (depending on the number of nodes on the original cutting) and chip bud it onto one of my mature trees. That way if the rooting fails or takes forever to root, I have a backup of that cultivar growing on a mature tree. I have become very proficient at chip budding and my take rate is very high. The downside is that you turned a mature fig into a frankenfig, but I don't mind.

How to root a cutting successfully---> I have demonstrated the art of bag rooting in this forum , so I do know the meaning of CUTTING
Regarding air laying , I think I also know the art and meaning of AIR LAYING

Some citrus air layers












Ask questions first and answer later is my style when I start a new topic



Rooting and air laying a cutting at the same time sounds weird to people, because it is  something new , not written in any book before . But nothing is impossible .

Definitely not to brag but to share with people interesting things that just happened . Things that i could not believe my own eyes !

mai
if you like to share info to help others learn, please do.
i have learned many things in this forum myself.
please dont turn it in to a puzzle and answer in caps if you dont like the answer people gave you.
the answer to your question has benn given.
you can not airlayer a cutting. 
you can only root it in a second place after you have started rooting in another part of it.
but that is still rooting. it is not airlayering

recomer20 and starch,
I appreciate your input

smatthew and andreas,
This is figs 4 fun, so I am having fun with my fig stories . When I am going to give away my humble ideas , people should give me air to breathe and time to organize my thoughts . When I am digging my phone to upload pictures to photobucket , I started the topic because I am so excited with new discovery     

I am slow . Give me time . Be patient .
Of course I appreciate all the answers and maybe I am wrong to call a rooting ball  (in the middle of a cutting) an air layer  hehehe , because I could not find any other better word  . I agree that my vocabulary in English is limited but at least I manage to express my ideas in a way that people can figure out what I am talking about . If you are in my shoes with Vietnamese , I bet that you will have same problem .   
 
Nowhere I could find roots when I played with a huge branch.
Is it true that a branch with no roots, no leaves ---> a cutting ? 
Is a branch freshly cut down (in dormant state) be considered as a live branch or a dead one ?
1) If it is considered as a live one (cutting with some vital sign), then a person who performs an air laying process at a particular area of that branch ----> what is the appropriate word for that part ?
 An air layer process ---> not just cover a particular part of the trunk with some medium . An air layer process is more than that    
2) Else, no way to do anything except for trying to root the bottom end with misery ...   


I ask myself, should I quit playing ???

This is one of the branches with several ... tin foil balls .  They were done 30 minutes after the branch was buried in 5 G pot for rooting

 


Les bonbons de figue (French) ----> The fig candies (English) ---> Keo Sung (Vietnamese)





the bottom end in a pot




One of several air layers




A few days ago, through the window, I saw that the trunk of this branch was sprouting 




I walked into the atrium where all the rooting cuttings were located
Below the tin foil ball, another leaf bud




I opened the tin foil ball. Amazing ! This must be a joke ! I could not believe my eyes .  




Close up



A HUGE cutting roots at the bottom end and the air layer also roots in winter time !
This is not a joke, this is reality ...


Thank you for watching

I would just call that rooting a cutting in two places at the same time. ...unless the "air layer" was made after the cutting was already rooted. Then I would go ahead and call it an air layer, but then I wouldn't call the host a cutting anymore since by the time it has roots and leaves it is already a small tree. Either you rooted a cutting in two places at once, or you started an air layer on a very small tree. Semantics ;)

Hi lolita1234,

A branch cut from a tree is a cutting and no longer a tree. So you are rooting a cutting - call it semantics .
Now, are you sure that you have roots in the pot ?
A branch that big can behave like several branches/cuttings.
Because they are still linked together, you may get roots everywhere but in the pot (see* below). But the bottom part will be fed by the other roots.

Sometimes when throwing trimming/cuttings to the ground or when burying part of an attached branch, I get roots in the middle of the cutting and at the former top, but not at the former bottom.

Now the problem you have is that if you want to separate those cuttings, you'll have to saw them and that will shake the tree ... and may brake the roots. you'll be creating a serious wound too on both of the "new trees".
In such a case, IMO, it is best to cut them to smaller cuttings and root each one individually.

That experience is fun. Let us know what is the future for it in the topic of separating them into individual trees.

(*) Old wood is harder to root. I once had a tree that I could take cuttings of, but quickly (before it got bulldozed ). But it was left with the scaffold branches only (other people, or the former owner had taken all rootable branches) and the ones I took did not make it...

Goodness, the arrogance.  What was the question for, if you've already got an answer?  Why not just say that you wanted to share a new technique?

So, how long did this process take? Specifically the pot roots of the big cutting?  What are the ambient conditions in the room?  Is this a known variety that roots easily?

Observe another pot (there are 5 total)




Open the foil

bamafig,
It is an unknown variety so far . The previous owner of the tree said it was a Celeste, but by the description of the fruit from her son, it does not sound a Celeste to me . I will find out when the fruits come out from the cuttings (hopefully) this coming summer .

Regarding your other questions, I am still in discovering phases .....  and I am not in a position to tell people what to do yet until I study more about the case and when I am 100% sure about what/how I got the ... amazed results, I will

can you please, now that you are taking new pictures stop calling it an airlayer. you are confusing people that dont know what an airlayer is, and others that will be reading this topic in the future.
other than that. You have done a great job. i hope you get 2 plants and taste the fruit from it this season. best of luck.