January 8, 2026

air layering experiment ✂️🌱🍊

quite a few weeks ago i experimented with some air latering with different trees around my offgrif fruit farm.

today i’m showing the successful aftermath of air layering my tangelo tree🍊. this branch has been living its double life for weeks—still attached to the mother tree, but secretly growing its own roots up in the air.

here’s exactly what i did 👇
i started by choosing a healthy branch and using a clean razor blade to remove a ring of bark all the way around the branch. this step is important because it interrupts the flow of sugars moving downward, forcing the plant to push energy into root production instead. after that, i dusted the exposed area with rooting hormone powder to encourage faster, stronger root growth.

next came the moss. i used damp peat moss and packed it around the cut area, making sure it stayed snug and evenly moist. then i wrapped everything up—sometimes i use a plastic baggie and tinfoil, and sometimes i use those air layering pods that are half black and half clear. the black side blocks light (roots like darkness), and the clear side lets you peek in and check progress without disturbing anything.

fast forward to today 🌱
i went back to the tree, peeled off the bag and tinfoil, and was greeted by a bunch of black sugar ants 🐜🐜 (they LOVE the moisture and plant sugars) and the best part… a beautiful, healthy root ball. once the roots were established, i cut the branch below the roots, officially separating it from the mother tree, and potted it up into a 3 gallon pot where it can now live its own independent life.😍

have you ever air layered a plant🌱?

#treehousechicks #airlayer #success #farming #cloning

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