Propagate This!

Succulent plants store water in their leaves very efficiently because they evolved to thrive in areas with prolonged dry seasons. If you travel during the week or have more sunlight in a room than most plants can tolerate or if you are prone to forget to water, succulents are for you. My favorites include rosary vine, burro’s tail, aloe vera, jade plant, and pearl plant, a Haworthia that you should grow. Keep reading to learn how to propagate these plants.

It’s a good question – what do the numbers mean after Hormex, like #3 or #1? Do they refer to IBA? Yes, the numbers after different Hormex products refer in a shorthand sort of way to the strength of the product. This range of IBA concentrations really sets Hormex apart and makes your job as a propagator more successful. The numbers range from Hormex #1 to the most concentrated, #45, indicating their relative strengths. #45 is reserved for plants such as Juniperus sabrina ‘Tamariscifolia’, aka Tam or Tamarix juniper, that are notoriously reluctant to root. No, most other powdered rooting hormones are not differentiated in this way and yes, it does make a big difference. Find more information at Hormex.

Elderberries and other thicket forming shrubs root well from hard wood cuttings. Once the weather has cooled enough to knock off the leaves, take a dozen tip cuttings. If the wood is very hard, slice the bark off of the bottom inch and in any case, roll the bottom inch of each cutting in rooting hormone such as Hormex #3. Put a rubber band around the bundle of cuttings and sink it into a trench or deep pot of damp sand. Leave one inch of stem and one or two nodes above the sand. Your job is to keep the cuttings slightly damp, exposed to cold but not freezing weather if they are not in a trench, and otherwise leave them alone until spring. Read this week’s blog for more about rooting thicket plants like elderberry.

Most products made to deliver rooting hormones to plant materials come in a dry form and in one, maybe two, strengths. Hormex goes way beyond them with 6 strengths of dry hormone preparation and a liquid concentrate of hormone in general purpose strength. Their website has great guidelines that outline examples of species that are best cloned with which strength, and you can write to me for suggestions. Too often when a plant does not root, gardeners figure they’re to blame. Sometimes that’s the truth, but sometimes it’s the right strength product. For thick cuttings, for green stems, and to quickly get a lot of cuttings ready to stick, use Hormex Liquid Concentrate. It penetrates readily, requires no more than a 15 minute soak, and makes for a simple drench during cloning.

My friend swears by willow water for his roses. He soaks the cuttings in it for several hours before potting up. I root roses and everything else with Hormex products, but you may find it interesting to know that willow not only has IBA but also SA, another plant hormone found in aspirin. Here’s a recipe for willow water:

Strength matters, whether it is the alcohol content of your favorite brewski or the rooting hormone you choose for a particular plant. While it may be considered more efficient to down the more potent beer, using a stronger rooting hormone than a plant requires will not be rewarded with greater result. A plant that can root in Hormex #3 will find that growth stunted in Hormex #45 and vice versa. Use the right strength for the right cloning power to produce roots in the fastest time. With 50 years of experience to document success,

are formulated at 6 different strengths for particular plant species from perennial Mints to Yew trees and conditions, such as dormant hardwood cuttings. Make smart choices, in beer and rooting hormone strengths.

It’s always a treat to add new annuals and perennials to the garden, or to start an entirely new bed as I am doing this year. However, the babies are usually growing in a very light potting mix and have lots of roots, sometimes to the point of being overgrown for their pots. Careful as you may be in transplanting, shock can be a big problem. Water in the newbies with 1 T Liquid Hormex/1 gal of water and use it weekly for a month. It got hot and rained hard the week after I transplanted a dozen stressed plants and they never missed a beat. The dwarf cleomes are blooming already!

In an improvement over traditional air layering, Rooter Pots work very well to clone stems that are stout enough to support the device. The plastic or metal pots open up completely to enable you to enclose a section of stem while it is still attached to the tree. They hold a lightweight soil mix and have holes for drainage once they are closed around the stem. You keep them watered and open them for inspection after a few weeks to watch the progress. Once the roots are plentiful and long enough, it is time to cut the stem below the rooter, open it up and pot up the new tree or shrub.

Plants multiply in many ways, including some that can be propagated from leaves like African violets. Take a leaf with 2-4 inches of stem from the middle row of a mature plant. Roll that stem in Hormex Rooting Hormone #1 and stick it into a little pot of AV potting mix or damp sand. Keep it in humid shade until you see little plants at the base of the leaf. Pot it up, stem and all, or separate small plants and root them. Lay the babies on damp sand and mist frequently with Hormex Liquid Concentrate mixed 10 drops/1 quart of water. When a new leaf sprouts, you’ve got roots.

Many sources say that the best cuttings for small juniper shrubs are taken in late winter, but I have had better success in late March, or what is technically early spring. Juniper roots best from cuttings taken from wood that is one year old at the branch tips and has been exposed to at least some cold weather. In many areas, the coolest temperatures usually happen after the first of the year and often quite close to spring. Six inch long tips work well: strip the lower half of the cutting, roll it in Hormex Rooting Powder #3 and stick it in a damp mix of peat, sand, and perlite or a peat based potting mix such as Metro Mix. For more tips about rooting juniper, keep reading…