Hormone rooting powders - advice

[ralphrmartin]

Interesting. I had a look to check this out, and here is what I found:

Doff Hormone Rooting Powder contains 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid which is a rooting hormone, but no fungicide.
This is almost certainly different to Doff Natural Rooting Powder, which if it is like other natural rooting pwders, probably contains seaweed.

Bayer Garden Strike 2 also contains 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid. [Update - this is a discontinued product].

Wliko Root Powder, Vitax Rooting Powder just contain seaweed / minerals.

Growing Success Rooting Powder just contains weak Nitrogen fertilser.
J Arthur Bowers Rooting Powder is "Natrual and Organic, free from Hormones and Fungicides"!
Various other brands come in a similar looking container to these two, and quite likely have the same contents.

So, if you want rooting hormone, don't buy something that just says "Rooting Powder".

I think I will buy some proper hormone and try out in future.

Thanks for putting us straight, Phil.

[daniel82]

Good information Ralph, it's making me think that perhaps a pot of actual HORMONE rooting powder might be worth investigating this year on a couple of test cuttings.

[ragamala]

Thanks for the research, Ralph. Rooting powders did contain fungicide in the past. I assume a change has taken place recently ,with the withdrawal for garden use of a number of the "old-fashioned" fungicides. I was never convinced about rooting powder effectiveness, but then I never really conducted experiments. I wondered if use of fungicide played as much part as hormone in success, at least in preventing losses. Which prompts the question would I use rooting powder, fungicide powder, or both for cuttings? Hmmm.

Does anyone know any trials to show effectiveness of hormone as against organic rooting powders?

[Phil_SK]

In the days when they did contain both hormones and fungicides I tended to use them when I felt I wanted the fungicide for something that was rot prone. Now, if I ever make a big cut to a plant, I dust it with sulfur which I judge to be successful (in a woolly, unquantified way). And it's just the lightest of dusting, not applying a thick cake of the stuff.

[Chocolatechillihead]

Hi Daniel82 the best way to get cuttings or offshoots of cacti to root is by sitting them in dry sharp sand as the weather warms up they should throw down some roots, it needs a little patients because this time of year the cacti are resting and not growing so much, but in warm weather and in dry sand they will throw down roots t look for water, wish you success and hope this helps, regards Mike alias ChocolateChilliHead.

[StevenT]

I agree with Mike's dry sharp sand suggestion. I used this method to reroot successfully a 4 inch/10cm diameter Astro ornatum and the late Ron W Evans used it for big single stemmed mamms (he didn't like the look of old spines at the base of plants so he restarted them as cuttings).

Steven

[ralphrmartin]

Following up, after I got Doff "Natural" Rooting Powder after ordering Doff "Hormone" Rooting Powder on Amazon, I found a review that said that the EU licence to use 1-napthylacetic acid for this purpose had expired, and therefore hormone rooting products stopped being manufactured (by all makers) last year and technically should no longer be available to buy.

Roll on Brexit...

[Tina]

Just don't go for the organic version, it had chicken feathers in it so must just be bird poo

[Andrew9]

I've used a product called Clonex on an aeonium cutting recently and it rooted pretty quick.
I got it from amazon, the label says the active ingredient is 4-indol-3-ylbutyric acid.

[gramps]

I just went online to buy some hormone rooting powder
All I could find was "natural rooting powder"
and small bottles of Miracle Gro hormone rooting powder selling at £30 a pop
So has hormone rooting powder been taken off the shelves too ?