Anyone tried boiling willow tree branches for root booster?

Indi

Active member
I boiled some fresh cut willow tree bark but it molded on surface before I could use it.
Root boosters,enzymes are extremely expensive and I have found a good substitute for enzymes but root booster like rapid start.
There’s a few videos on youtube that show cutting up green willow tree branches in early spring then boiling or let sit in sunlight like sun tea makes a good rooting hormone.
I’m going to make some more and refrigerate it or maybe there’s a perservitive I can add so it doesn’t mold or rot.
Before I make up a bunch I thought I’d ask if anyone has tried willow tree tea ?
 
Not boiling but soaking overnight. Anywhere there is new growth has the good stuff IIRC.

Works great! Though I have forgotten to do it for a couple of years.
 
I use Dip n Grow for rooting clones and it works great.
I was referring to using extract from willow tree to get a better root system as plants grow.
I have wondered why not add rooting compounds used on clones in nutrients to get bigger roots?
 
Willow, cottonwood and poplars all have high levels of rooting hormone in their green wood, which is why they root whenever they fall over, or you cut branches and stick them into the ground. No need to boil the water. Just let fresh cut sections of green stem year old cuttings soak in water for a day or so, and use the water.

Rootone rooting hormone will also work. I use that for making clones, and I get roots in less than a week on mj cuttings that way in a bubble cloner. More roots in a mature plant does not always mean better or bigger plants or better bud though. More root growth will take up more energy. If you are harvesting roots, that may be a good thing. I was reading that Cannabis roots have other types of cannabinoids and terpenoids in them. But I do not know anyone that harvests Cannabis roots. Also if you have a plant with weak roots, willow water be a good way to boost them.

However, using willow water on otherwise healthy plants is similar with my argument against adding fungal spores and feeding the fungus sugars. Are you growing Cannabis colas, or mushrooms? Too much of a fungal mass is not always a good thing, and many fungi are more detrimental than good for many types of plants. Some fungi here in Oregon will actually kill plants. A small amount of fungi is all that you really need, and Cannabis will excrete sugars from the root hairs all on its own to colonize localized root fungi. Similarly if your Cannabis has good roots, they should not need any hormones to boost more root growth. In my case I usually want to reduce vigor in Cannabis plants to keep them a more manageable in size.
 
I use dip n grow and am very happy with it.

I should have asked what can I use to get good healthy roots.

I had to shut things down for a while and I have been over watering.

I need to work on wet and dry cycles.
 
rooting

Don't know why it works, but I use fresh Aloe vera gel in place of rooting hormone and get close to 100% success.
 
Not boiling but I’m guessing that if you crushed the willow branches you should get the plant hormone out a bit quicker! To be honest, I’ve never tried crushing the branches first.
 
I boiled some fresh cut willow tree bark but it molded on surface before I could use it.
Root boosters,enzymes are extremely expensive and I have found a good substitute for enzymes but root booster like rapid start.
There’s a few videos on youtube that show cutting up green willow tree branches in early spring then boiling or let sit in sunlight like sun tea makes a good rooting hormone.
I’m going to make some more and refrigerate it or maybe there’s a perservitive I can add so it doesn’t mold or rot.
Before I make up a bunch I thought I’d ask if anyone has tried willow tree tea ?
Not for 10 years but from memory a good bundle of tips 30 cm long half inch to an inch thick tied in a neat bundle 10 to 15 cm wide with string . Soaked in boiling water in an old milo tin or tin bucket overnight to release the goods .discard willow tips. Dilute this water with plain water 1 to 10 . Use to soak Rock wool for cuttings or on medium. Or in bubble cloner. If in bubble cloner i would change to normal water after day three. Do not spray on cuttings unless you want roots growing out of every part of the stem above ground to the tip of cuttings. Set aside one cut and spray it if you want to see what I mean. Used to get roots exploding out of rockwool within 36 hours when using willow water,in combination with a humidity dome a heat pad underneath and sterile utensils, fresh clone gel ,sharp razor hydrated mother plant, cut site under water to stop oxygen getting in, dome vents closed for first 18 hours say or till roots start,bottom leaf de pointed so the cutting has a leaf to draw energy from without having to waste time and energy deciding which one to choose. Normal good practices for taking cuttings . Have thought about using in dwc but think it unnecessary as roots can get to big as is. I once got a bud from a bag of dope that was dry enough to smoke but still damp to grow roots using willow water and this method just trimmed the bottom inch off and treated like normal. The bud reveged and was eventually turned into many cuttings . These days I can get lazy and not do anything properly and cuttings might take two weeks to even start growing roots , dirty blunt knife, double dipped clonex ,or none at all , no heat ,no dome ,not under water cuts James into cubes recklessly ect will still get near 100 percent strike rate but will take much longer. But with willow water roots in 24 hours instead of 48 to 60 in ideal conditions is worthy of consideration.
 
Not boiling but I’m guessing that if you crushed the willow branches you should get the plant hormone out a bit quicker! To be honest, I’ve never tried crushing the branches first.
I set the ph of the diluted willow water to 6.5 . I get best results for cuttings at this ph range using any method I do not use nutrients at the start. And only a low ec when I do start to feed , initially a foliar feed. My prefered ph for soil is 6.3 and I set my ph in hydro / dwc ect at 5.8 when making a new mix.
 
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