Where to find "strong" rooting hormone?

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Trying to find heavy duty rooting hormone. Is there a brand name or a strength number on the label?

Anyone?
 

jk_lewis

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More is often not better. What are you wanting to root? I've been using plain ol' Rootone for 40 years and have never had a complaint.
 

Bonsai Nut

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I use Hormodin. Be careful - as others have said you need to fit the strength to the tree. Too strong and you will do more harm than good and will probably burn roots instead of grow them.

Rootone and Hormodin contain the same rooting hormone - IBA. Rootone is as strong as Hormodin 1 and contains .1% IBA as the active ingredient. Hormodin 2 is .3% IBA. Hormodin 3 is .8% IBA. You will probably find Hormodin is much cheaper than Rootone on an ounce per ounce basis because Hormodin is made primarily for the professional nursery channel.

Hormodin used to be hard to find, but I see they are even selling it on Amazon now...
 

jk_lewis

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A word on the liquid rooting hormones. The shelf life after they are open is VERY, VERY short. You (or I) always wasted 90% of the mixture. They are made, mostly, for the pros who set hundreds of cuttings in a day.
 

Alex DeRuiter

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jk_lewis

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Y
ou should also check this book out. Jkl suggested it to me a while back: http://www.amazon.com/Reference-Manu...9486564&sr=8-1

Yes! And Amazon has it for an amazing price now. Wish they'd done that when I bought it.

And buy the smallest bottle of Rootone you can find. It won't last more than 12-18 months after opening and using.
 
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Smoke

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Hormex is back. Best stuff made.

They have it available on the web site for shipping too. It is also available on amazon up to the #30 which is 3.0% IBA.

The web site has it up to 4.5% IBA. That is strong enough to grow roots on shoe leather. If you can't get roots with 4.5 % IBA...you suck!

Hormone is not necessary for growing roots....patience is!

Al
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Al, I remember you (at least I think it was you. . . .) saying something along the lines of using saliva to dip cuttings and them rooting without the use of hormone. If this is the case, does rooting hormone just speed up the process and help the roots grow more vigorously? Or is it more along the lines of speeding up the development of callous tissue and beginning the development of roots?
 

Smoke

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I am no scientist and have no idea why hormone does what it does except that I am sure the hormones help promote the process we are intending, which is growing roots. Kind of a no brainer.

There are people that insist on putting neosporin on a cut to promote healing as well as putting cut paste on a severed branch. Which ever gives you peace. I'm just sayin that hormone is not necessary, Mother nature makes sure the process works without it.

I have seen trees that were layered with dip and gro and left in solution too long and the trunk split open issueing roots way up into the trunk. It is possible to go overboard with this stuff. Time of year, health of tree and scalpal sharp cuts will issue roots in about 75 days on most plants without hormone.
 

parhamr

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I just mixed up a batch of about 0.9 percent IBA in vegetable glycerin. This should have a significant shelf life, as the glycerin has very little water available for bacterial or fungal growth.

I took 10 grams of 99.7 IBA-K (available on Amazon) and mixed it into about 100 grams of vegetable glycerin. Then I poured the whole thing into a container of just under 1000 grams of glycerin.

This particular strength I have targeted for Japanese maple trees. I’m hoping to start producing a large quantity of cuttings this year and 1% IBA was recommended by my reference book.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Check reference propagation books. Dirr's Manual of Propagation of Woody Trees and Shrubs is one such reference. If hormone levels are too concentrated, the effect can be complete inhibition of roots, nothing but callus with no differentiation. So check a reference and get the concentration down to a range that won't inhibit rooting.

I would do a control planting of cuttings, with zero hormones, you might be surprised. Almost as or more important than using hormones is setting up a better rooting bed. Bottom heat, and misting system can make a huge difference.
 
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