Homemade Rooting Solution

Discussion in 'The Green Patch' started by Motomom34, Feb 18, 2016.


  1. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    I know that many monkeys purchase rooting solution or rooting hormones. I am frugal and found that it is really easy to make your own. Instead of running to the store to purchase a product that will be used for one purpose only, I decided to learn to make my own. Rooting solution increases your success rate when it comes to cloning or getting a clipping to take root. I was surprised to learn that honey will help a clipping produce roots.

    Natural Rooting Hormones

    Another popular DIY rooting solution is willow tea. Please note best time to make willow tea is in the Spring. Willow trees also the prime ingredient in aspirin. I prep aspirin so I have the products already on hand to make my own rooting solution using the willow tea type solution.

    Natural Rooting Hormones

    Homemade Rooting Compound for Plants
     
    arleigh, marlas1too, Garand69 and 3 others like this.
  2. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    I have had good luck rooting tomatoes and usually only buy one plant of each type I wish to have and clone as many as I wish to plant. It may only work on the specific ones I grow,and I couldn't tell you about rooting in general. I let the stem that grows in the "crotch" of the tomato and that would grow into another stem get to be about 6 in long and develop a couple of leaves. I cut that off and plant at once in a small pot of grow mix. Sterile mixture of peat moss and perilite, and keep it moist with the feeding solution you make with a liquid fertilizer which is made from both fish and seaweed. From planting the cutting to a 12 to 18 in high plant with a decent root ball is couple or three weeks, about the same time as it usually takes to germinate and develop the false leaves on a seed. The gentleman I buy my plants from knows what I will do and allows the plant to develop the "suckers" instead of pruning them. I keep the growing plants limited to one stem and support them on strings and trim the bottom leaves and allow only 3 or 4 fruit to develop in each cluster. I keep cloning the plants from existing plants and replace plants that develop problems, blight etc, and while it may not give the most pounds of tomato, it gives you the most big tomato and you usually cycle through several varieties during the season. I like Early Girl and a couple other early tomatoes or the beginning o the season, but when the big later varieties develop, I prune them and force them to maximize fruit and get rid of them, since they cost nothing but time, it doesn't seem as bad as getting rid of $5 plants. The same with blight, if they aren't resistant, they are burned early.
    My take on rooting and my experience is with tomato only. I tried rooting powder and couldn't see any real difference in the tomato that were dipped in it and those that were not. That said, I really would like to try a cloning machine with grow lights and may buy one and try it. Just haven't felt like spending a couple hundred dollars and being electric dependent.
     
  3. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    Bright sunny day, 19 Feb, 10 AM, outside temp in New Hampshire 24 degrees, temp at 7 feet above ground in center of unheated greenhouse, double covered with air inflation, skin 5 years old with some leaks, 78 degrees. With no heat used, outside temps down to 17 below this winter, have kale, spinich, some herbs, onions, carrots, some greens still being useable and eaten. Kale to tough to eat as green, but makes a very good herb and in soups. A lot of stuff was eaten, so I don't really know what would of wintered over. A lot of herbs etc will winter over here with a little mulch in the greenhouse, that would freeze out outside. With heat storage, could probably plant some greens now without supplemental heat Do not buy a greenhouse under any conditions. They are addictive and will change your life if you get involved with growing things. In New Hampshire you can get a free hoop house from the state dept of ag if you meet their requirements and keep good records and sell some things in a farmers market.
    I am close enough to Rimol Greenhouses to pick up mine and a 20 by 48 Eastpoint is priced in the 3,000 plus range without heating, fans, doors and is about $4,000 when you do that use plastic end walls, build the doors and erect it yourself and no shipping. My view is even without a crop, what is a warm, bright 20 by 24, plants etc on other end for winter, great unheated work space worth in the winter. I have wood heat and with that I can have it in the 70s even when it is 0 out as a work space. My wife will not let me put in a couch or a portapotty for some reason or another. Sorry about hijacking the thread.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2016
  4. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Since I don't have a willow tree and my aspirin was coated I decided to try honey. It is working nicely on my sage. I put honey in the water and the sage is now starting to blossom. The honey is certainly feeding the plant.
    DSCN1431.JPG

    I also have some dill in honey water. This is not going so well, it is growing a fuzz on the stems.
    DSCN1434.JPG

    I have also read that egg shells have nutrients and such, so I have been throwing all my egg shells in water and I will try to root some plants in that.
    DSCN1435.JPG
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  5. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Let the dill go for a while, that fuzz might be roots trying to get a start. I've had that when propagating some idiot proof house plants.
     
    chelloveck, Ganado and Motomom34 like this.
  6. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    O.O it said 'licking' the end of the stem was good because saliva has antibacterial properties. 1st time I ever heard that 0.0
     
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  7. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    I saw that and if you would like to try that and report back it would be great. I always heard the mouth was dirty, thus I thought dirty bacteria but stranger things.....
     
    Ganado likes this.
  8. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    uhhh .... welll.... I think imma pass on that @Motomom34 lol I like to taste plants but plant licking isn't in my job description =)
     
    kellory, saltbush and Motomom34 like this.
  9. saltbush

    saltbush Monkey

    I often buy white willow bark online, just for those few times I feel so sick I'm afraid to take a regular OTC aspirin, and for that, I'll buy the capsules too, for if I'm that uncomfortable I want quick and easy. I've found one of those will do nicely to help root my herb cuttings too, and I just save the empty capsule for another use. Because I'm in the high desert, where almost everything dries out even faster than I expect, I water it in with chamomile tea, that has the reputation of holding water next to little roots and seedlings better than plain water will, while discouraging the dreaded molds and mildew if I've overdone it. My biggest problem getting anything to root properly this time of year is our temperature differential. If I don't set my cuttings next to a hot pad or hot water bottle and tuck them in like babies, the cold will kill them during the night, regardless of how warm it might have got during the day.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  10. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    One of my cuttings had mold. The root part looked fine but the plant grew a white powdery mold. That was a cutting that I had in honey.
     
  11. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    This is some stuff I've got to try, thanks all.
     
  12. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

    X2 Ganado and I never knew that either.

    "The enzymes lysozyme and peroxidase, defensins, cystatins and an antibody, IgA, are all antibacterial. Thrombospondin and some other components are antiviral. A protease inhibitor, secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, is present in saliva and is both antibacterial and antiviral, and a promoter of wound healing."
    Wound licking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    However, I did learn at the ER, that a dog's salvia contains a lot of bad bacteria for humans in it.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  13. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    @Tikka that article said you could cry over wounds as well ;) actually it said tears were a better set of antibodies. AND it said communal licking of wounds was even better!!! 0.0 :eek:

    sorry @Motomom34 didn't mean to hijack the thread from rooting, its just fascinating what you find!
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  14. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

    @Ganado
    I'll stick to flushing the wounds and antibiotics, thanks.
    I always believed dog's mouths were clean and they aren't. My left hand has quite a few scars from dog bites.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  15. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    I don't think I'd be licking the stems of hemlock as part of the propagation process. :eek:
     
    Ganado likes this.
  16. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    Don't know why this thread died, but I have heard of putting seed into your mouth before planting. I'm guessing you would do this with larger seeds, not bunching onion or radish seed, the thought being that the enzymes promote sprouting. I would conclude that the same would apply to starting cuttings. Good things to consider as winter approaches and we start thinking about spring starts.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  17. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Interesting stuff here . My grandma used to put aspirin , usually bayer , in her plant watering bucket,,sometimes she'd just drop one in the pot. Not sure if this would help in the rooting process or not. I'll have to try the honey idea.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
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