Air Layering Peach Tree

Q. I am interested in air layering my peach tree. What time of year would it be best to do air layering? Also, would it be bad to try during the hot summer?

Air layering...sometimes called marcottage...is used mostly on plants that are difficult to propagate from cuttings. Here I would put this in the interior shade of the tree and not in full sun.

A. Air layering, also called marcottage, is a way of growing roots on a stem while it is still attached to the mother plant. Air layering is used frequently when plants are difficult to propagate from stem cuttings. The best time to air layer plants is the same time as planting them; spring and fall months.

This video on air layering is pretty good.
But I would use black plastic and not aluminum foil in the desert. And remember to sanitize your knife!

            You can also propagate peach and nectarine from stem cuttings. The size that works best is pencil diameter and taken during the winter months after leaf drop. These “hardwood” cuttings grow roots best if a rooting hormone is applied soon after the cutting is made and “stuck” into a propagation medium.

This is an apricot rootstock (bottom) grafted on to a Blenheim apricot. The rootstock imparts some very important characteristics on to the apricot that is lost if grown from cuttings.

            When propagating peach and nectarine either by air layering or stem cuttings, the important advantage of a grafted rootstock is lost. The rootstock on peach and other stone fruits can play an important role. It can control the tree’s eventual size, how soon it starts to bear fruit, resistance to some diseases, and even affects the fruit flavor.