What is a lychee air layer?
An air layer is a premature lychee tree. Air layering is how most lychee trees are propagated and most practical for planting out large areas or groves of lychee trees. Air layering is also called marcotting. A branch is selected from a parent tree and that branch is girdled, treated with rooting hormone, packed with soaking wet sphagnum moss and wrapped in aluminum foil for 8-12 weeks. New roots develop in the sphagnum and when the branch is removed you have a new premature lychee tree that can be planted in a container or in the ground. The air layer must be kept in partial sun and misted and fertigated for several weeks for the roots to become established and the tree to become stable.
