Yesterday I walked forever on my quest to find a fig tree that wasn't on someone else's property. And I did, it was a huge fig tree taking up almost all the space in someone's backyard. Some branches even start growing through the wooden fence, while others grew over it.



I could tell that these branches been through hell and back seeing how beaten up the outside skin was. I take it the those wounds came from growing between the wooden planks. How could there be any good green flesh left for me to layer with? This didn't stop me, it was my prize.



Even if there seems like there is alot of good liable cambium layer there isn't, the other side looks as if a beaver chewed on it.



To my surprise there was enough to work with under the dead and dried out skin. Yaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy ;)

I made two layers out of that piece of wood coming from between the fence. I did cover the other with foil also. Two more were made on other limbs hanging above my head, I had to kneel down just to fit under the tree. All the time while doing this people were watching with amazement wondering "what is that kid doing over there!?!?!" It took me some great time to finish(2 hours)just 4 layers, what took so long might you ask? well it was right in the middle of Houston's blazing heat and because I was kneeling make it really uncomfortable.

I just hope no evil school kid comes and mess with it, i really hope that foil doesn't attract unwanted guest. How long do you think it will take, maybe 2-4 weeks right?

Could I pot it covering the dead exposed wood, I don't know if this will cause rotting when in moist soil for too long.

My guess would be 6 weeks, also if school kids see it well you know how that goes.
But not to worry because the best time then would be late winter just cut several pieces and propagate as thats a very good time with all the stored energy in the limbs ,

My guess is 3 weeks.
Amazing, fig twigs sure do find their way through cracks!

if they are removed on your next encounter with another fig tree just remove the branches and take off all the fruits and leafs. Then just store it in a fridge in a sealed bag for a week. In the final stage you can plant it in a pot.

I did this on actively growing branches and it worked all fine.

Chances are the owner might notice and they will remove it. If it is in a hidden spot good but otherwise some kids could also take "care" of your air layering.

good luck

Tom,
Gorgi is probably more accurate saying 3 weeks as he is more experienced than i.
But please keep us informed about what happens with this its a nice post.
Good Luck!

It would be impossible that the owner see this process at all. The tree is so huge on the other side that when I looked over I couldn't see past the tree at all. I hope no kid comes and mess with it, it is next to a nursery school so they have no business out on their own right? I wanted to see how many people notice me there and rarely did anyone see me. Kids this today are more worried about texting on their phone when they walk to even notice the environment around them. 

Americanfigboy,
i was thinking it this all does not work out like some kids messes it up or whatever, just knock on door and ask for some cuttings, you never know you 2 might get into a nice conversation and he even might be able to tell a little story about his tree.

Americanfigboy,  Why don't you try and talk to the people who own the fig tree,  maybe they can give you a little history of the tree, you may even get a name of a variety.  That way you won't have an unknown label attached to it.  Also, just in case they see a bag with aluminum wrapped around, they will understand you are making an air layer and not trying to do anything else.  They may even look after your airlayers from time to time to keep it safe from unwanted people bored and looking for something to destroy.  There are alot of those people running around these days.  My neighbor set out a beautiful pot of Chinese wild ginger flowers and someone walked by, likely someone at night late and just came along and tore them all out and threw them on the sidewalk. it was sad, but there are alot of people up to no good looking for something to vandalize.  Also, in the last week,  3 homes here were burned down because someone just decided to burn something. They were ruled arson.  Its ashame, some have way too much time on their hands. They should try gardening or growing figs! Ciao

I just got back from checking on my figs and let me tell you it is HOT outside today. Well because of the heat this past week I decided to walk a mile a check on them. The soil was almost dried out due to this abnormal weather, I had to respray the soil with a little more water to last the next two weeks. When I walked over there I couldn't see the air layering even with the foil so I can say they are safe.....for now.

Congrats on the air-layering! I've been at it for two years & it works really well for me.
Last year, following the books, I too cut into the bark. But preliminary indications here are that this increases the chances of rotting when the cutting is potted! --I lost a few over the winter. Looking forward to hearing about your results.

I when back to check on my air layers today just to find that two out of the four have rooted. But out of those two one was destroyed not by children but by a murder of crows that just build a nest right next to them. I was so pissed when I seen what they have done I used every bad word in the book. Roots were hanging from the damaged layering all dried up, I will try and add more soil to see if they will regrow tomorrow. I guess the foil caused them to do that because they ripped it off both of them. The other one was unharmed just having the foil torn off. The next one  showed little sign off root growth, so I thought that maybe I should just leave it there to grow some more. That imagine of those bird killing that one too ran through my mind so I made the decision to cut it off early and take it with me. What would you have done in this situation? The two that were coming from between the fence wasn't even touched at all in anyway. I don't believe the crows seen them or will notice them since they are so low to the ground. I did have to add more water to both of them due to this Houston heat of not having rain in about a month.

Is it possible that the one that I took off early could grow healthy without losing any leaves? It did have roots growing and the bark seems to be swelling as if roots are about to bust out.  I potted it up in a clear container to watch to see if those roots would grow longer before the leaves start to dry out. I am keeping it on the inside for the rest of this month and maybe next too. I'm going to cover it with a bag also if needed. This is not what I had in mind for my first air layering, but at least it has roots right. The other two that I left had those white bumps all over them but I think the lack off water slowed the rooting process on these two.

on the tree I did notice figs hanging in front of me so I decided to eat one. They were small and golden brown or golden with a red to pink flesh. It was not what I expected my first fig to taste like. Could the hot weather and the lack of rain affect the way the fruit taste? These figs were not juicy at all so I decided not to blame the tree itself but the hot weather. Some of them were just falling of and others looked like raisins. The birds didn't seem to mind this because they was still pecking holes in the figs. I hope it rain soon.

I think the crows/birds may have been attracted to the nice, shiny tin foil.  Possibly you could find an alternative to use, or cover the foil with a fabric, like from an old pillowcase.  Looking forward to updates, hopefully with pictures!

Jackster

Im going to go check on them in two more days, im trying to get my camera back online since it got sand in the lens. So thats way I didn't take pictures this time around. The camera makes a lot of noise from the sand in the gears, but i should be able to take some good pictures for you.

AmericanFigBoy,
if you eat any more figs if you can take pictures of inside the fig split in half would be nice to see.

i was meaning to do that but i ate them before i made it home. I reached into my pocket to find that i have eaten them all.

Hi AFB

Heck, if I was about 18 yrs YOUNG I would have done the same darn thing! Martin, he had them figs in his pocket for a mile hiking in Houston.

AFB.........keep us posted.

Cecil,
he had them figs for a mile in his pocket?
Heck they never would have lasted that long matter of fact i would have eaten them right at the tree!!!

I sure will but this time i will pick more and put them deep in a pocket in my backpack.

When I started growing figs I never thought that it would be this fun and that so many other people would also be involved in figs.

Besides this air-layers i have also taken many clippings form the tree to grow. Right now I have about 7 cuttings just starting to put out roots and little leafs. My room is becoming full of little fig trees.

Yeah a mile hike from his house is what he said earlier!

And yes, I would have devoured them figs right there at the tree too.;-)

Yeah it was a mile and the longest hottest mile I walked. It was supposed to rain yesterday but it didn't. I hope in the next two days it is cloudy so that it will be easier on me when walking. wearing a hat with a wet towel under it didn't help much because the water dries up be fore i get there and back.

Americanfigboy,
 a bike might make trip much easier if you have one.

I was thinking the same exact thing.  Bike, skateboard, rollerskates, anything to speed up the trip a little bit.  I know a lot of people love Houston, but man, between the heat and the floods, I do not see myself moving there. 

I when back to the tree today to check on them for the fourth time already and this time I took some pics.



I noticed that the leaves have started to turn maybe form the lack of good water from the main tree. This weather is throwing a gear in my plans but I'm going to complain about GOD's work. Is it possible that the stress of the heat can force out fmv ( if it has it) out of dormancy. Below are the leaves I pulled from the layering So that anyone could tell me if it is the heat or fmv.

 

I really hope all of this isn't for an infected tree because that would also mean the other cuttings that i received from this tree also has it.



This picture is of the layering to the left and as you can see that thee is any visible rooting taking place even after 3 - 4 weeks. The soil is moist but they just refuse to grow, so it seems. Below is the same layering but just on the other side.



I was disappointed to find this small roots after all this time but at the same time I was excited to see something growing. I figured that it was better to see some roots than to see none. Now I will never open the bag over this layering now that I have confirmed root growth.



This is the tree that I have been working with for sometime now. Now you see why I said the owner could never see me thought his/her tree as there is no way on Earth that anyone can look through that. Those birds have eaten most of the fruit when returned today.What they didn't was most likely destroyed by the heat.



That is one of the evil birds behind the EVIL commented.





These are pictures or the layering undone by the birds, all the soil was pulled out from one end leaving behind the dry out branch above. I added the pictures to ask a question about it. On the second and third pic I noticed the branch have develop these dried sappy structures. The second pic shows it on the right side on the cut area as the part running on its side. While the last picture shows it as that knotted area on the right side of the picture on the cut area.

Are those callus of some form? And if so are they the result of energy trapped unable to flow down? And if that is the case then I should able to force roots from those areas if I try to relayer that branch? I don't won't to leave that branch just sitting there on the tree without me finishing the job.

If it is not possible for me to relayer it then I could cut it off and grow it which should be no problem with developed callus on it right?

oh i forgot to mention that the other layer didn't grow a single root.

Since you've got some cuttings that are rooting nicely, I'm wondering if there is any advantage to air layering?  It seems more of a hassle, especially considering the distance this tree is from you.  I'd really love to see the air layering method work, but it seems a little more labor intensive.

Its a cool little experiment, either way, and it gets you out of the house!