Willow tea for rooting?

I have discovered recently that there is a chemical in Willow trees that promotes rapid rooting. You can make a tea from any willow bark or branches and use it as a rooting dip that is actually the fastest found on the planet. I just remembered this. I wonder if that same compound could be incorporated into a growth tonic. I suppose we should define what our objectives are with Foliar feeding first, he?"

i read this in another forum after looking around for stuff on foliar feeding. anyone ever heard of this or tried it. im wondering if you could take maybe a light solution of this and spray fresh clippings after a day or two in the pot if it would do any good?? would it make a difference as a foliar feed or as a dip??

i know im askin alot of questions and postin a bunch but im tryin to soak this stuff up as fast as i can...thanks

Hi boredinfla

Since this post is unrelated to your Plant Food & Nutrients thread, I've moved it to a new thread in the Propagation forum.

Willow bark contains auxins. If you make some willow tea, you should dip the base of the cuttings in it, not spray it on the leaves.


penguin

Isn't Willow bark also a source for aspirin?

Thought I read that somewhere.

i think its the aspirn tree not sure , ive done this it wont do the job alone u still need to use root hormone its good for wetting the medium also its most highly consitrated in the last 6 in of tip not much in bark , u make a tea and will last for years if u store in frige

Acetylsalicylic acid is salicylic acid with an acetyl group added. Salicylic acid is a plant hormone that is found in all plants, but occurs in relatively high concentration in willow bark, and is in fact named after the Latin word for willow. Aspens are in the willow family, but a different genus than willows.

Rooting compounds use synthetic indolebutyric acid, which is the auxin that is present in high concentrations in willow tea. If the tea is made properly then you shouldn't need to use any other rooting compound.

Rooting compounds are entirely optional for , stem cuttings will root without them.


penguin

so we were both right about aspern peace back at ya i heard it is the branch tips if its the bark could have something to do w/ my less than satisfactory results

so are you saying that if i wanted to take a whole branch off my wildly growing plant, if i rooted the main stem instead of cutting on a node it would root easier? or without solution?

thanks for the move...needed a change of scenery.

It just means that mj is one of the plants that's easy to root. You don't really have to use a rooting hormone to get good results. It can help, but isn't necessary.

Found an old thread on Willow tea.

A New Tea for the Organic list - "Willow"