Rooting questions.

[rootball]

I was just wondering what plants can be rooted by standing in water?
Is it true rooting powder once open is only useable for 6/8 months?
Why I ask I have some in my shed which is years old and wondered if it is still useable I’m sure I remember reading somewhere it only has a short life span.
Another silly question but what is rooting powder made from?

R

[stanhol]

I have no idea what rooting powder is made from but i suspect it has some plant growth hormone in it. I used to use seeweed feed, because its high in nitrogen and therefore encourages root growth. I have run out however and cant find the stuff here in Holland so have watered down some of my nettle feed to straw colour or a bit darker, and use that. It is also nitrogen based feed and seems to work.

Have even managed to take tip cuttings of my enormous Bay and 2 have taken. The hard wood cutting doesnt look happy but it was only 2 weeks ago i did them I am dead chuffed because ever greens are notoriously hard to propogate! My 5 rosemary tip cuttings are also doing well.

Good luck.

Sandra

ps , what are you trying to propogate?

[rootball]

Sandra thanks for responding.

So it's the nitrogen based stuff I need to look for. Where did you get the seaweed feed from, is it something easily available here in the UK? If I find some I can sent it to you if you like.

As you can probably guess I am new to gardening. I have put plants bought from the shop in the garden for years but last year decided to start growing veg from seed. I must say how good it felt to see the seed start growing and eat the veg straight from the garden some of the radishes never even got indoors. Also how nice potatoes plants look when growing lots of green foliage and nice little flowers too and boy did they taste nice. I grew them in 3 buckets and was like a child in a sweet shop and when I dug up the first few it felt like getting a gold medal.

Anyway back to the point I have some rosemary in the garden which have gone a bit leggy and wanted to take some cuttings in case anything happens to them and wondered if I put a few cuttings in water if the rosemary would root. You say you have some rooting now so I will give it a try. I also have 2 nice shrubs in the garden I would like take cuttings from both flowering now one has white flowers and the other pink have no idea what the name are.

R

[stanhol]

Hi rootball,

I didnt put mine in water, dipped for a few secounds in the nettle solution and then planted them in pots using the potting compost (damp not wet) i use for seeds, ie the cheapest i can get my hands on! ha ha ha

I then put them on a warm stone in my greenhouse, with a dish of water next to them loosely covered, and not touching, with some plastic ( the plastic i used isnt clear its sort of cloudy! , open ended.This is to keep up the humidity. Not explaining this very well, sorry! Basically, warm bottoms and cooler tops encourage root growth. Remember to take off most of the leaves so that the cutting can concentrate on making roots not feeding the plant. I aired mine a couple of times a day just by lifting off the plastic and then replacing. Make sure they do not dry out, BUT dont waterlog them either. Once established slowly increase the amount of light they are getting over a few days. Mine were on bottom shelf of a rack i use for sowing seed.

Dont worry if they loo a bit sick for a few days its normal while they try to set down roots.

Many thanks for the offer of seaweed feed, very much appreciated. But as the nettle feed has worked i will stick with that. Think i got my small bottle with an order of seeds from the organic seed compnay, i will look out the link for you.

Good luck. It is always so rewarding growing from seed and even more exciting to propogate something you already have.

Sandra

[stanhol]

The Organic Gardening Catalogue

The little one lasted ages!

Sandra

[areia]

ive had my rooting gel for 3 years still works for me, willow is suppose to be another natural rooting aid you stand around 6 twigs in the water with the plant, i always experiment put cutting in water, gel, or just straight in the soil, always strange the mixed results we get

[rootball]

Sandra thanks very much for the info and link.

I grow nettles in a big pot in the garden for cooking and making tea for drinking that is, so I guess the nettles solution is putting a whole load of nettles in a bucket and soaking for a week or so and then diluting 1 part to 5 of water or something like that. I like the idea of making the nettles solution I guess I can feed the veg with it too.

How do you make the stone warm ok only kidding, as I don’t have a greenhouse can I put the cuttings indoors somewhere?

Areia thanks as well, maybe I will experiment with some in water, some in the ground, seaweed and nettles solution and see what happens.

R