Rooting powder encourages cuttings to develop strong roots more quickly. For this purpose, preparations for professional horticulture contain natural or chemically modified growth hormones. Although you cannot make these yourself, there are alternatives that allow you to easily make rooting agents yourself. How – you will find out in this article.
How can you make your own rooting powder?
To make rooting powder yourself, you can use willow water from young willow twigs, cinnamon powder or aspirin solution. These natural alternatives promote root formation and effectively strengthen plants during the rooting phase.
Willow Water
If you would like to make your own rooting agent, willow water is probably the best alternative to the commercially available agents. Young willow branches contain large amounts of plant growth hormones as well as salicylic acid. These are exactly the active ingredients that are also found in the rooting powder for commercial use.
You can easily make willow water yourself:
- Cut young willow shoots that are no more than a finger thick, peel off the bark and cut everything into small pieces.
- For ten liters of willow water you need around two to three kilograms of clippings.
- Put the bark and wood in a bucket and pour water over it.
- Let it steep for at least 24 hours.
- Drain through a sieve.
- The willow water can be stored in a cool place for up to two months.
Application:
To successfully stimulate root formation, place the cuttings in the willow water for a day. The seedlings absorb the active ingredients in the liquid and form roots more quickly.
You do not have to dispose of the willow water afterwards. If you water the offspring with the rooting aid until they sprout, this will have an extremely positive effect on growth.
Cinnamon as rooting powder
Cinnamon powder does not contain any growth hormones. However, the spice acts as a natural fungicide and antibacterial and can therefore be used very well as a plant strengthener during the root formation phase.
The application is uncomplicated and requires no preparation: simply sprinkle some cinnamon powder on the seedling before sticking it into the substrate.
Aspirin
A drug that can also be found in almost every household is aspirin. The tablets contain the active ingredient acetylsalicylic acid. This has an antibacterial effect and promotes the transport of nutrients to the plants.
- It is important that you use uncoated tablets.
- Dissolve a pill in a glass of water.
- Place the cuttings in the solution for a few hours before planting.
Tip
So that the offspring take root well, you should definitely pay attention to high humidity. After thoroughly moistening the soil, close the growing tray with a transparent plastic cover or film. Thanks to this measure, the leaves hardly evaporate any water and do not dry out. To avoid rot and mold formation, remove the hood briefly every day.
