Natural phytochemicals known as "auxins", tell plants when to form roots. Rooting hormone products, which are commonly sold in powder, liquid, and gel form, contain natural and/or synthetic compounds to help in cloning and propagating plants by rooting.
Rooting your cuttings with the addition of hormones to speed things up and create sturdy and healthy baby plants can be done for indoor and outdoor plants. Including your herbs and many cultivar of vines.

As with store-bought rooting hormone, it will probably take about three to four weeks to see any significant growth of your cuttings. 
Which is why I personally prefer to root in plain old filtered, mineral or spring water, if the plant's stems are agreeable. 
It doesn't usually take that long for long and healthy root growth to occur. And I like watching roots begin to fill a glass. 

I also enjoy just popping parts of a plant into soil for them to take root on their own - my jade, pothos, wandering jew and ivy cuttings do well using that method, and so do many of my other plants. 
I also make use of my aero-garden to root some cuttings hydroponically, if i have an empty slot while i'm sprouting my seeds.

Remember that you do need to water and tend to your rooting cuttings as you would any other plant. Once they're four or five inches tall and the root seems well-developed, you can pot the cuttings in any average potting soil mix or move them into the garden.

Having said all of that........here are common rooting hormone ingredients to make your own:

Using Rooting Hormones
After applying your choice of hormone, plant the cuttings in a rooting medium - either a store-bought or homemade mix. It can be done in a very light potting mix with very little soil in it. You can easily make your own mix using good potting soil, perlite, vermiculite, and sphagnum moss. You can make bulk batches and store extra to have on hand by putting it into 5 gallon utility pails from your home center. 
Just be sure your homemade rooting medium is not so dense as to compact and strangle the baby plants, but that it compacts enough to hold up the cuttings as they grow.
Pre-moisten your mix before planting your cuttings.

You can use these individual ingredients alone, or in combination, to make your own natural rooting hormone:

Aloe Vera
If you’re going to use it as a natural rooting hormone on several plants, then it’s best to grow your own aloe vera. I have a few healthy plants growing indoors, and I use the gel in the leaves for treating minor burns, rashes, sunburn, and minor eczema. It's an ancient healing herb, and it's easy to grow as a houseplant. Aloe is known for healing wounds, regenerating skin growth, and is used in hospital burn units. No wonder it's considered a good rooting hormone.

Cut a piece off the aloe plant, make a slit down the middle, and push a clean spoon along the aloe vera leaf towards where you cut it. The pressure should force the gel out. Mine has big leaves, so i just cut a piece, and squeeze the gel out into a cup.
Dip your plant cuttings into the aloe vera gel. 
Make sure the ends are well-coated. 
All that's left to do is plant your cuttings in your rooting medium.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon will prevent bacteria and fungus that can kill baby plants.
Dampen the ends of your stems in water. 
Coat the ends of the stems in the cinnamon fully, and on all sides. Plant your cuttings in your potting soil, and watch for the growth.

Honey
Honey is well-known in traditional holistic medicine as an ancient and valuable "superfood" with many healing qualities, as well.
You want to make sure you use raw or pure honey. That’s because most of the store-bought stuff has gone through pasteurization or processing, making it less useful at fighting bacteria.
Most advice is to boil honey in water, then dip the stems, but i have found it way better to just dip the cut stems into straight honey, then plant. 
You can use honey for  softwood, greenwood and hardwood cuttings. 
Succulent cuttings can benefit from honey if you dip them in honey, then propagate them by laying them right on top of your rooting medium. 
The roots will start growing from the lower part of the cut leaves in just a couple of weeks.

Willow Twig/Shoots Steeped in Water
You can combine the resulting willow water with just about any of the other natural rooting hormone ingredients listed here. You can use weeping willow or pussy willow twigs and/or shoots to make the liquid hormone.
Keep in mind that it will rarely work on it's own on the hardest to root plant cultivars.

The willow tree naturally contains salicylic acid, which can prevent infections, fungus, and bacteria from killing your new plants. Experts believe your plants may sprout up faster when using willow water as a natural rooting hormone. Willow bark has beneficial healing qualities used in holistic medicine. It's the natural source of aspirin, before big pharma played around with making money by manufacturing it in tablet or liquid form.

For this reason, the powder from a non-coated crushed plain aspirin is also great when used as a rooting hormone. 
And it's much easier than picking willow branches and shoots and soaking them. I no longer have my big willow trees, so aspirin powder it is, unless i hike through the woods in spring.

In early spring, cut fresh, green twigs or young, green shoots from a willow tree.
Remove all leaves.
Cut twigs or shoots down into one inch pieces. 
Put the twigs or shoots into a heatproof glass jar (canning jars are great for this). Fill it with boiling water at about 1 part plant material, to 2 parts boiling water.
Let the shoots steep for at least 24-48 hrs. for a concentrated brew. 
Strain the water and toss the plant material. 
Dip your cuttings into the willow water, and plant.

Coconut Water
Due to the coconut's popularity as a healthy alternative to dairy, oils, and such, you'll have no trouble finding coconut water to use as a rooting agent. Use an organic brand of coconut water, or get the water directly from a fresh coconut. 
Place your stem cuttings in the coconut water and let them soak for 4 to 6 hours before planting.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar prevents and kills off bacteria, which is harmful to your young plants.
Use 3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar per 1 gallon of water. Dip your cuttings into it, than plant them in your potting soil. You can get a lot of stems treated with this easy method, and grow quite a few rooted cuttings, taking very little time.

Aspirin
Same chemical properties contained in a willow twig that can be used to make willow water rooting hormone. It's the manufactured version of the natural healing acids of the willow plant. I make willow bark tea as a headache remedy.

The aspirin you use must have no coating, flavoring, buffering, or additional ingredients. 
It’s recommended that you use a tablet containing about 325 milligrams. I use it (when I remember!) when planting bare root trees and shrubs. 
It can also be dissolved in water and your stems can be dipped into it. 
One of my favorite nursery growers turned me onto the wonders of aspirin for the garden many years ago, and she advised planting an aspirin in the hole you dig to plant bareroot shrubs and plants.
The beneficial acid it contains protects your plant from fungus and bacteria as the roots grow.

Crush a plain aspirin tablet with a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one, a meat tenderizer, (flat side is the business end). Place a tablet between sheets of wax paper or foil, and give it a good whack or a few, until it's mostly powder with a few chunks. Continue to crush the pieces until it's powder. 
You can use the back of a spoon to press down and further break down the pieces.
Place the powder in a bowl. Moisten your plant ends, dip into the aspirin powder, and plant your cuttings. 

A few more natural rooting compounds you can try are:

Crushed Egg Shells for calcium
I use them regularly for all of my garden plants, indoors and out. My tomatoes do very well with the addition of ground egg shells to the soil.
For a rooting hormone, use a processor or food chopper to grind down the shells as small as you can, put them into a jar filled with water for a few days, then dip your stems and plant. 
You can keep a jar filled with crushed shells on the counter and keep adding water to it steep.

Banana Peels
The peels contain a large dose of potassium. 
Chop up banana peels, add hot water, and steep it for a few days.
Dip cuttings into the tea, then plant.

Coffee Grounds -  nitrogen and potassium
If there's one thing that is ALWAYS available in my home, it is coffee grounds. 
I have found fresh, un-brewed, but wet coffee grounds to work best because they're more concentrated than that of already-brewed out coffee grounds. But used grounds have plenty of benefits. 
My indoor and outdoor plants are treated to both types for healthy growth and acids. 
For plant feedings, i fill a bucket with a collection of used grounds and add water, soak for an hour or two, and offer the steeped mix, grounds and all,  to my acid-loving plants. My indoor lemon trees, outdoor hydrangeas, and rhododendrons love the stuff.
For my cuttings, i just dip cuttings into wet or muddy grounds from the coffee basket, and plant.

So all that, my friends, is how you can easily make your own natural rooting hormone to propagate most plants, at very little cost., and expending very little time.

Article ©2021 marysbloomers.com
All rights reserved.
Articles may not be reproduced wholly, or in part, without written consent.