A rooting hormone is the combination of the stimulate plant cutting and the growth hormone of the plant, such that it causes the formation of new nodes from the stem node. It is available in different forms like gel, liquid or powder. They are are also sometimes referred to as the auxin hormones.
The rooting hormone mainly focuses on the growth of the plant by stimulating plant cells to elongate. This process has been proved efficient on plant rooting and also makes sure to produce roots of higher quality.
Rooting hormones enhance the process of giving out roots of richer and more result-inducing quality and also making plant rooting an easier job. This method can be most suitable when it comes to vertical gardening of plants at your home. it can also be done to ensure that the plants grow a hold strongly at their roots.
It makes sense to adopt rooting hormone techniques to your garden plants, however, a lot of people don’t know just how easy it can be going about with the rooting process. In this article by Elitech Drip, we’re going to take a look at the four different ways you can make rooting hormones at home.
Contents
Preparing Rooting Hormone with Honey
Honey is a great antiseptic and an even better growth enhancer. It would be great for you to adopt honey as a rooting tonic. To do this, first, take water up to a level of 500 ml in any container and boil it.
Note: Make sure that the water is heated completely till it reaches a rolling boil (this is when you boil water rapidly with lots of bubbling).
Now turn the heat to a slightly lower level and let it simmer. Purifying or filtering the water can also help boost the process.
After this, take honey (two tablespoons will do the job) and mix it thoroughly. Let the solution cool. Try using standard honey. After you have made sure that it has been mixed thoroughly, turn off the heat and let the pot cool down. The main reason to employ honey is that honey is great as an antibacterial, antiseptic and also antifungal, which are all major factors in growth of the roots of a plant.
Once the hormone you have prepared has been completely cooled, the next step would be to put the cutting on the pot, such that they are all submerged and placed very well into the soil.
Tip: You can also dip the end of the cutting in the honey tonic that you have prepared and then plant it. By following this method, you have essentially created an additional layer type of protection for your plant.
The cutting should be soaked for at least 2 – 3 hours before you put them in the growing soil.
Using Aloe Vera as the rooting hormone
Take an aloe vera plant and cut the leaf portion using a sharp knife. By doing this, you can now push the gel out of the plant. If you can find a better way to flush out the aloe vera gel, that’s fine too.
From this gel, start churning it down as much as you can until it turns liquid and you’re able to stir it more freely. The reason why aloe vera gel is employed is that they are used as protection from bacteria and other fungi.
If you find it hard to cut and squeeze out the gel, you can get an aloe vera gel from your local market unless and until it has no sort of mixed ingredients.
After churning it to a squishy liquid, contain it in a cup. Make sure that you’ve mixed it thoroughly enough so that it has water in the right mix. Once it moves consistently like water, it is ready for application as your plant’s growth hormone.
Note: If in case you are not able to mash it properly you can go about adding 15 ml of water to the solution to make it consistent enough.
When you are about to plant your cuttings make sure that you have dipped he ends of your plant into the aloe gel and spin it as much as possible as all the ends are covered with the aloe gel. This is done to prevent any further bacteria to enter into the plant and ruin its growth.
Making rooting hormone using aspirin
For this process, you would require about 350-mg of an aspirin tablet and make sure you use a tablet that has no sort of coating around it.
Place this tablet on a pill crusher and start crushing it as much as you can. And apply pressure as much as you can and break the pill. Repeat the process unless a fine powder is formed.
You can get a pill crusher easily from the nearby pharmacy. Aspirin contains a salicylic acid which is an active ingredient that acts against and prevents any further attacks of bacteria and also boosts the growth process.
If you don’t have a pill crusher then there is an alternative way of putting the pill inside a plastic bag and breaking it using a hammer.
After this, use a glass or a jar with 240 ml of water and then pour the finely powdered aspirin into it.
Using a spoon, you need to stir the whole mixture until you are sure that the mixture has been mixed completely into it. If you find some undissolved particles around such as chunks you can let it sit for about one hour and after that, you can start stirring again. It is much better if you use mineral water because mineral water dissolves aspirin a lot better.
After the dissolving is done you will have to submerge the stem of your plant for almost an inch inside the solution at the bottom ends and let the cuttings absorb the solution for about 2 – 3 hours. This heavily helps in accelerating the rooting hormone’s effects.
Brewing a willow water solution
Before proceeding with brewing this solution, you will have to collect the branches of your plants in spring as it is the time when new growths are formed on the tree. See if you’re able to find any sort of fresh green roots that are skinnier than a pencil for applying the rooting tonic.
Use a pair of pruning knives to cut out the willow branches at an angle of forty-five degrees so that the tree doesn’t rot. If you’re able to collect it from established willows, then use barks and collect 3 cups as it has fewer hormones.
After you have collected the branches, you will have to cut them into two pieces, each having a length of 2.5 cm. Try to be as accurate as possible so that they can submerge in the solution as much as possible. This is very important.
Willows are used as they have salicylic and indole butyric acids, which tend to be natural growth hormones that will make the roots strong as well.
Note: If you are to use barks instead of branches, then you will have to make sure that they are to be cut at equal sizes.
After the cutting of these willow pieces is done, add them to a stove that has boiling water and contains about 3.8 liters of water in it already. Turn off the heat and pour in the willow branches and leave them to soak in the water for about 24 hours. During this time, they will extract and mix with the water thoroughly.
After a day, take the solution out and pour it in separate containers as they are already absorbed by the nutrients.
After you have them in a separate container store them using lids and keep them in the fridge for about two months.
Once the two months are up, you can take them and use them for the cutting. Keep the cuttings and soak them for about 2 hours so that they can absorb all the nutrients present.
Tip: You can use this willow solution for watering purposes as well. for the first month, as it can further speed up the growth of the plant.