Re: Willow bark rooting hormone
- Subject: Re: Willow bark rooting hormone
- From: m* g* <m*@3RIVERS.NET>
- Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 09:02:20 -0600
I've known about willow as a rooting agent or catalyst for ages, I must
have read it somewhere. Actually tried it once (on something other than
pellies) and it worked, but I don't make that many cuttings - yet. For
zonals I simply cut off the standard side branch above a node, dry the cut
tip in the sun (keeping leaves shaded) for maybe a half hour, stick it in
wetted perlite and place under fluorescents at the far end of my
propagation light table, making sure they are distant enough that light is
not too strong. Sometimes I place a plastic bag over cutting(s) for
several days with holes for ventilation, sometimes not, depending on the
state of the cutting. So far It's worked successfully every time. But
zonals are easy to root.
If I ran a commercial greenhouse I could see the necessity of
sterilization of medium and clippers, but I've never bothered with this,
preferring a rough kind of 'survival of the fittest'. The only time I've
ever had to deal with Blackleg (Creeping Death) is with the stellar Purple
Heart. I'm on my second - or is it third? - specimen, and this time I've
figured out how to keep it relatively happy. A terribly fussy plant but
beautiful and provides pollen for interesting offspring.
Maria
