With most products, for initial rooting, a cutting can be dipped straight into the liquid and potted up. Just don’t dip it straight into the container, so you avoid contaminating the whole batch if something goes wrong!

Of course the main benefit of using a rooting powder is that it increases the chances that the cutting will root successfully – helping us to avoid wasting our time and effort on taking cuttings and tending to them without ending up with successful new plants at the end of the process. However, know that the YouHadMeAtGardening.com team will never share your information with other parties in exchange for financial rewards or any other kind of benefits. Some third parties might get very limited access to your info, but only to your non-personally identifiable information and only as we described above. The most commonly available auxins are Indole-3-butyric and 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid. These are strongly diluted, usually using alcohol in liquid products and talc in powdered products, to prevent overdosing (which causes worse rooting results). Synthetic rooting compounds may also include synthetic fertilizer to promote stronger plant growth. But if you are an organic gardener then you should wish to avoid such synthetic products. However, we never tried this, so we cannot vouch for such practices. What other rooting hormones do experts recommend?Natural rooting hormone solutions are better for your health and are a way to avoid contributing to harmful systems. Of course, making a DIY rooting hormone alternative also saves you from having to shell out on external inputs for your garden. You might even be able to source the ingredients you need on your own property. Willow Water Some hard to root plants such as Rhododendron respond well to wounding, removing a thin slice of bark near the base of the stem and then dipping the wound in hormone rooting compound. Others, such as Acer palmatum, Cotinus, Lonicera, Jasminum and Sambucus, can be removed from the parent plant with a heel, pulling off the stem with a ‘tail’ of bark from the previous season’s growth. The heel is then dipped in hormone rooting compound. Preparing basal softwood cuttings Rooting hormone products, whether liquid, gel-based, or powder-based, are very easy to use. Sure, you might need to dilute your liquid rooting hormone yourself or determine the right product for your cuttings based on hormone concentration. But in the end, it all comes down to snip and dip!

Aloe vera is ideal as a rooting powder alternative because it contains glucomannans, amino acids, sterols, and vitamins. Studies show that these help many types of species develop more and stronger roots when growing cuttings or propagating via air layering. Brand name(s) Armillatox and Jeyes Fluid (Armillatox and Jeyes Fluid remain on the market as disinfectants, but they no longer are permitted to be used for pesticidal purposes) Water the plant well the day before, we want the cut stems to contain plenty of moisture. You’ll find that dry, wilting stems are unlikely to propagate. Finally, pot up the cutting in whatever medium you prefer; it’s handy to have the pot ready. Make a hole in the medium first and then carefully place the clone in there to prevent the rooting hormone from getting rubbed off the cut. Even just rooting in waterworks!

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Many plants will root just fine without a rooting hormone of any kind. Some plants, however, are more of a challenge and so will not be as easy to propagate without using one at all. So using a rooting hormone broadens the range of cuttings that most of us can get to root successfully. How To Use Rooting Hormone Weedkillers for gardeners (Adobe Acrobat pdf document outlining weedkillers available to gardeners) We use the following tools to gather personally and non-personally identifiable information from visitors and contributors: The RHS is extremely concerned about the potential unintended effects of pesticides on bees, other pollinators and the wider environment. The RHS welcomes any move that increases our knowledge and understanding of the factors that may play a role in the decline of pollinators and other wildlife. One easy option for home growers are apple trees. These can be grown in almost any UK garden. Once you have some apples, you can make your own apple cider vinegar. This is a great thing to do in any case because this has so many uses around your home and garden.