Willow Water

[irridium]

Just found out on Insta that you can use willow stems steeped in water to make cuttings root better - is this true? If so, I'll test this out with salvias and roses.

Willow bark contains salicylic acid (what aspirin is made from) and yes, I have heard that it is supposed to work. It seems to act like a rooting hormone. Something like that anyway.

I needed to hear this as I only found out that root powder has a short shelf life. As I don't do a lot of cuttings, my small bottle of rooting powder must be years old.

Ooh I’m going to test this too now!

I've not tried it but have read ground cinnamon is good to use as a rooting agent as it has antibacterial properties.

Willow bark contains, in effect, aspirin (salicylic acid, named after Salix, willow), aspirin can be used to keep fresh flowers going for longer, so worth a try.

Yes, once I found that out, I stopped buying rooting hormone. Hasn’t made much difference to my success with cuttings. I’m no worse than I used to be.

I too, have varying success with cuttings. It's taken about 6 months for my rose cuttings to root and salvias are a bit hit and miss. I love that wallflowers are easy to take. Currently, waiting on hydrangea to root, but unsure how long they take.

Maybe, I'll use willow water to water them all to see if it'll bring them on a bit quicker.

Currently doing an RHS course at college and have been taught that willow water is better than commercial rooting powder.