cloning question: rooting hormone vs seaweed extract

heady blunts said:

hey all,

my seaweed extract has instructions for mixing a solution for dipping cuttings to encourage rooting. should i really drop $20 bucks on clonex or does anyone have any first hand experience using a strong kelp dilution for cuttings?

thanks!

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"Brown seaweeds, which are the ones used in agriculture and horticulture, not only contain vitamins common to land plants, but also vitamins which may owe their origin to bacteria which attach themselves to sea plants, in particular vitamin B12. There is still some doubt about this -- B12 may be contained in the seaweed, although in some cases it is in associated bacteria. Vitamins known to be present in the brown seaweeds include vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which appears in as high a proportion as in lucerne. Vitamin A is not present, but its precursor, beta-carotene, is, as well as fucoxanthin, which may also be the precursor of Vitamin A. B group vitamins present are B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B12, as well as pantothenic acid, folic acid and folinic acid. Also found in brown seaweeds are vitamin E (tocopherol), vitamin K, and other growth-promoting substances. The unusual nature of the vitamin E in seaweed should be stressed. It has valuable characteristics (put technically, a complete set of isomers) found only in such seed oils as wheat germ oil.

Auxins in seaweed include indolyl-acetic acid, discovered in seaweed in 1933 for the first time. Two new auxins, as yet unidentified, but unlike any of the known indolyl-acetic acid types, were also discovered in 1958 in the Laminaria and Ascophyllum seaweeds used for processing into dried seaweed meal and liquid extract. These auxins have been found to encourage the growth of more cells -- in which they differ from more familiar types of auxin which simply enlarge the cells without increasing their number. One of the auxins also stimulates growth in both stems and roots of plants, and in this differs from indolyl-acetic acid and its derivatives, which cause cells to elongate but not to divide. The balanced action of this seaweed auxin has not been found in any other auxin."

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NUG-JUG said:

The only thing about seaweed extract is that it's a liquid not a gel like the clonex. it still works but it doesn't glob onto the cut as well.

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NUG-JUG said:

The only thing about seaweed extract is that it's a liquid not a gel like the clonex. it still works but it doesn't glob onto the cut as well.

Click to expand...

heady blunts said:

hey all,

my seaweed extract has instructions for mixing a solution for dipping cuttings to encourage rooting. should i really drop $20 bucks on clonex or does anyone have any first hand experience using a strong kelp dilution for cuttings?

thanks!

Click to expand...

NUG-JUG said:

soaking the cloning medium with the kelp solution is probably better. my mistake was probably trying to use the seaweed as if it was clone gel..it still worked, but the 'grow more' seaweed extract calls for 5 oz. per gallon. Thinking that was a lot I used 2.5. That's way more than a teaspoon..maybe i should cut back a little?

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yortbogey said:

Willow Water Rooting Solution
A number of years ago I knew a grower who used this method and swore by it. He had the best results with this solution in a hydroponic aerated clone machine.

For any who want to try willow water for yourself, here is the "standard" method:

1. Collect stems of nearly any species of willow (Salix spp.). Weeping willow (S. babylonica) is probably most popular, but we use S. caroliniana with good success.
You want young first-year twigs, with green or yellow bark; not old enough to develop brown or gray bark.
2. Strip off and discard all the leaves. All you want are the twigs. Cut the twigs into 1" lengths. Now you have what looks like a pile of small matchsticks.
3. Add enough water to barely cover your twigs. At this point, methods vary among workers. You can either heat the mixture almost (but not quite) to the boil, and brew it like tea, letting it soak until thoroughly cool, and for several hours more, OR you can not heat it, and just let it soak, like "sun tea" for several days, in the room-temperature water. In either case, when the liquid develops a greenish-yellowish-brown color, rather like weak tea, You filter off the solids, keeping the liquid. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks, or may be used immediately.
4. When ready to root your cuttings, make a fresh cut at the base of the cutting, and place it in the willow water, like flowers in a vase. Leave it there several hours, so it has time to take up a significant amount of the willow water. At the end of the soak time, you can rewound the base and apply an auxin-based hormone. Then root the cutting in your normal way.



SNAGGED from another site......BUT really does work

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Puddin'tane said:

such as good ol' bee honey

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MJBadger said:

yortbogey said:

Willow Water Rooting Solution
A number of years ago I knew a grower who used this method and swore by it. He had the best results with this solution in a hydroponic aerated clone machine.

For any who want to try willow water for yourself, here is the "standard" method:

1. Collect stems of nearly any species of willow (Salix spp.). Weeping willow (S. babylonica) is probably most popular, but we use S. caroliniana with good success.
You want young first-year twigs, with green or yellow bark; not old enough to develop brown or gray bark.
2. Strip off and discard all the leaves. All you want are the twigs. Cut the twigs into 1" lengths. Now you have what looks like a pile of small matchsticks.
3. Add enough water to barely cover your twigs. At this point, methods vary among workers. You can either heat the mixture almost (but not quite) to the boil, and brew it like tea, letting it soak until thoroughly cool, and for several hours more, OR you can not heat it, and just let it soak, like "sun tea" for several days, in the room-temperature water. In either case, when the liquid develops a greenish-yellowish-brown color, rather like weak tea, You filter off the solids, keeping the liquid. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks, or may be used immediately.
4. When ready to root your cuttings, make a fresh cut at the base of the cutting, and place it in the willow water, like flowers in a vase. Leave it there several hours, so it has time to take up a significant amount of the willow water. At the end of the soak time, you can rewound the base and apply an auxin-based hormone. Then root the cutting in your normal way.



SNAGGED from another site......BUT really does work

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Heady Blunts , this is exactly what i was going to post when i first opened the thread , willow water actually thickens up & will root almost any plant .
It has natrual Satylic acid ? & if you do a web search on willow water you will find it has the same properties of hormone rooting powder/gel only purely natrual with no chemicals .

Stay green .

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