Growing plants with Rooting Hormone

If you like experimenting, try growing plants from cuttings, using Rooting Hormone. I have grown lavenders successfully by using it, but only in Fall or Spring when the soil stays cool and moist. The instructions say not to do this when the soil temperature drops below 60 degrees, so I have not tried this in Winter and it is hopeless in Summer. I have read of others who have grown roses and many other flowers and shrubs this way. Try it out yourself. I failed with a few sages because natives can be picky.

The sequence is this. First you pick up Green Light Rooting Hormone from Green Arrow for $5 or order it online. I haven’t seen any other competitors at retail. It comes in a plastic container like in the photo, and it contains a powder. You select your cutting, slicing it off a healthy plant, then wet it and dip in the container so that the powder sticks. Then create a hole in the fresh soil, insert the cutting so that the powder doesn’t come off, then firm up the soil around it. I usually begin with them in pots. It’s a lot cheaper than buying lots of new plants.

If you are interested, the active ingredient is Indole-3-butyric acid, which the EPA describes as “a substance that is closely related in structure and function to a natural growth regulator found in plants. Indole-3-butyric acid is used on many crops and ornamentals to promote growth and development of roots, flowers and fruits, and to increase crop yields. Growers find it more effective and efficient than its natural counterpart because plants cannot break it down as quickly. No harm to humans or the environment is expected to result from use of indole-3-butyric acid.”