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Index : Plant Care
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- 36. Salvage Leggy House Plants with Air-layering - Top
- Some house plants have a natural tendency to become tall and leggy over time. This is particularly true of dumb cane, croton, rubber plant, and dracaena. In fact any houseplant that has a main central stem can, overtime, loose most or all of it's lower leaves. But there is a way to rehabilitate these plants. It's called air-layering.
Air-layering is a process by which roots are stimulated to grow from a part of the stem. In the case of house plants who have no lower leaves, its a way to make a new plant. By rooting the stem just below the existing upper leaves, the leafy top can be cut off with the new roots and planted. You then have a new plant full of leaves from top to bottom!
Air-layering is effective on woody-stemmed plants that are very difficult to root from a cuttings alone. Because the plant is still partially attached to it's roots during the layering process, water and nutrients continue to be provided to the leaves.
The first step in the process is to gather your materials. You'll need a small bag of spaghnum peat moss, a sharp knife, a wooden tooth pick, and some plastic wrap or aluminum foil. You'll also need a package of rooting hormone to stimulate the roots to grow. Rooting hormone powder, such as Rootone can be purchased at most places garden supplies are sold.
Choose a location on the stem 3 or 4 inches below the lower leaves. You can also use the air-layering method to reduce the height of a plant. Just decide how tall you want your plant to be, and at that point on the stem remove the leaves several inches above and below.
Next, you are going to wound the stem by cutting through the outer bark and through the cambium layer. The cambium is a thin layer just below the bark that is responsible for transporting water and nutrients up from the roots and manufactured food in the form of carbohydrates to the roots.
There are two cutting methods. In the first method a strip or ring of bark is removed all the way around the stem. The strip should be one-half to one inch wide. Use a sharp knife make a cut through the bark in a circle all the way around the stem. Next, make another cut around the stem, one-half to one inch below the first cut. Apply enough pressure to push the knife through the bark, but not enough to cut through the entire stem. You will feel the knife cutting through the bark. Next, peel back the bark from the stem using the point of the knife.
The second method frequently used for air-layering is to make an upward slanting cut half-way through the stem. The cut should angled so that the length of the cut is about one inch long. Use a sharp knife and constant pressure when making this cut. Don't use too much force or you will cut through the entire stem. Push a toothpick in the cut stem to keep it cracked open.
On the wound that has been created by removing the ring of bark or cutting halfway through the stem, dust the wound with rooting hormone. It's easiest to apply the hormone powder using a small artist's brush.
Now it's time to cover the wound with moist spaghnum moss. The moss will provide a moist environment for the new roots to grow into. Soak the spaghnum moss in water for several hours. Ring out the excessive water and pack the moist moss around the wounded stem section. Use enough moss to form a football-shaped pack extending two or three inches above and below the wound.
Hold the moss in place by wrapping it with a plastic food wrap or aluminum foil. Seal the bottom and top with a twist tie, rubber band or water-proofing tape to keep moisture from escaping. If the plant is in full sun, use aluminum foil to reflect the sun light and keep the spaghnum from heating up too much.
It will take a month or two for new roots to form in the spaghnum moss. When they do, cut the stem off just below the new roots. Pot the rooted plant in it's own container and enjoy your new, compact plant!
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Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on November 5, 2000
- Updated: April 19, 2001
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