Other applications of rooting hormone?

I've dipped cuttings in rooting hormone then placed it in soil to root. I was wondering if you can use rooting hormone in other ways:

1. Will rooting hormone added to water accelerate rooting of cuttings? (assuming the plant roots in water, i.e. coleus)

2. Can you sprinkle rooting hormone on a crawling plant's stem that is in contact with soil to accelerate it's rooting? (assuming the plant roots when in contact with soil, i.e. mint, creeping jenny, some succulents)?

3. Are these applications not a good idea or bad for the cuttings?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi. I've never tried to dilute powdered rooting hormone, but there are liquid forms on the market for that purpose. The method of rooting a part of the plant that is still attached to the parent is called layering, and I have the best success with woody plants using this method. I use the powder on the part that is in contact with soil, but I scrape and slightly injure the stem first. This seems to get the powder where I want it and it can do it's job. Cuttings root faster and more reliably, so I always use it. Hope that helps.
Neal.

I think gemini_sage has pretty much given the info I would have shared. Thanks for the well stated comment Neal.

I don't know if this was due to rooting hormone or just plain old excellent seeds, but here's my story.
I got daylily seeds from several people this year. Some looked fat some looked shriveled. One person sent them coated with Rootone. I presprout all the seeds in H2O2 water. The ones that were in the rootone powder all sprouted within 36 hours, while the ones not in the powder sprouted in 24 hours or up to a couple weeks if at all.
I'm going to get some rootone and experiment with other seeds and germination rates.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that the only daylily seeds that sprouted in the refrigerator were from a package that had the rootone in it.

What about in water? I got pretty little hanging rooting bottles for Xmas, I've hung them but I would like to try to actually root something in them. Would the rooting hormone give me a better chance?

joeysplanting, I use my rooting hormone formula when I'm planting bareroot stock. plus a sprinkling of Mycorrhizae. the two really help with minimizing transplant shock. I have Hosta, that look like they have been in the ground for several years. when I just planted them a year ago. hostajim1

Can anyone answer KatyMac's question from almost a year ago: is there a rooting hormone that can be added to water, if we are trying just to root in water, to improve the success rate?

Joey, I don't think the rooting hormones will work that way, but SuperThrive will aid rooting, etc. It's a mix of vitamins and micronutrients and I add it when I root things, it seemed to help things root faster. Also helps plants under stress or even just plants in general.

Superthrive...snake oil or the real thing?

If you are rooting in water, I think it would be worthwhile to try a low concentration IBA solution. I make my quickdip from IBA tablets, usually at 500-2000ppm depending on the plant material. Maybe a solution of IBA 250ppm or so would help. Happy Mac, if you are willing to do the experiment, Dmail me and I'll send you the tablets.

I love SuperThrive. I use it to nurse plants back to health. I received some very questionable (whether they would live or not) Alstroemerias from Wayside last Spring. I used SuperThrive and they all survived and were looking pretty good by the end of the summer. They are now taking a long deserved nap in my basement.

Dip and Gro is a liquid rooting hormone that you can add to water.

Dip 'N Grow is a concentrate, that's why you add it to water in order to get the right concentration, but then you're just supposed to dip the cuttings in it like you would with any other rooting hormone and then plant them in soil/vermiculite/whatever you start your cuttings in. I don't think it would do anything good for plants if you tried to root them in the diluted solution and that's definitely not how it's intended to be used.

Edited to add...if you are going to experiment on adding something like Dip 'N Grow to water which you're rooting things in, I would go much, much more dilute than if you're using it according to the directions.

This message was edited Dec 9, 2006 10:28 AM

I agree with Ecrane 3, the hormones are meant to be used in very small amounts or they will inhibit rooting. I haven't used ST in water so do not know if it will help or not; I also tend not to root in water because many types of plants develop a different kind of root in water than in solid medium (like cordylines) and then don't do well once planted in the solid medium. Exceptions seem to be mints, they seem to root no matter what.

If you read the label of Homonex, it will tell you about adding so many drops to a gallon to water propagating cuttings. It is the same formula as Superthrive plus an additional rooting hormone. I like it a lot more than ST -

Carol, I never saw Homonex around here. Can you tell me who makes it please? I'd like to try it when I'm out of ST, thanks.

I know that it is advised to change water every day when rooting in water
to eliminate bacteria. I am sure adding hormone can't hurt, but you'll use a lot of it
this way. At least it is my understanding.

I am sorry....I misspelled it. It is Hormex. Goofy of me.

H2O2, hydrogen peroxide. About $1.00 a 16 oz bottle.

Soak seeds in full strength for one hour.
Dilute the HP to half strength and soak seeds overnight.

Taramark: What seeds are you suggesting using this protocol for? Full strength sounds awfully strong.

bbinnj - sorry for the slow response. Will look at my bottle and give you the data. I really like Hormex....it is a step beyond ST.

Carol

I see Planet Natural has Hormex and I think it is less expensive than ST; I am going to try some. ST has been such a boon to me for transplant shock; if Hormex is even better - WOo HOo...... Thanks Carol.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/hormex-concentrate.html

You can use the hydrogen peroxide in place of other stimulants.

The full strength is for one hour only.

It works.

taramark: Do you presoak all seeds? Even tiny ones? Full strength for an hour followed by half-strength overnight?

Sorry, I should have indicated 3% solution of H2O2, (hydrogen peroxide).

You can soak any seeds: full strength for one hour;
dilute solution to half strength, and soak overnight.

I have soaked tiny seeds because they were old.

Does the Hydrogen peroxide strip the seed coat and so assist germination?

Patbarr,

I do not know if it strips the seed coat.

The oxygen assists the germination.

The hormone in rootone is not soluable in water, but is soluable in alcohol. Therefore disolve it in alcohol first then disolve that in water.. Don't get it on your skin unles you are prepared to grow warts and mushrooms out of your hand. The hormone stimulates tissue growth in plants and in people. The hormone is not very different from growth and sex hormones. If you are reckless, well then welcome to wart and growth land. The liquid root stimulants are already dissolved in alcohol, and work better because there is no time lag waiting for them to kick in. That is why they cost more! Frank