[Jake]

Any sciency types reading this?

I just wonder (I'm always concerned about pointless products), if rooting powder actually does anything at all.

I've taken cuttings of redcurrents and raspberries and some I used rooting powder with and some I didn't, however I've mixed up the cuttings and no longer know which I used the powder on and which I didn't so my experiment is ruined

So.....is rooting powder any good? Whatever happens I've got some cuttings that have rooted so I'm sorted, but what do you think. Is it a useful product or is it all a bit of a con.

I have done cuttings successfully in the past without using the powder and they worked fine for blackcurrents.

[mumofstig]

I was having trouble with ceonothus cuttings in my old garden, just couldn't get any to take. After several attempts i did some with rooting powder and those worked.
So 'it werks for me'.
In the same breath i have to say there are plenty of things that root easily without it!!

[SpudtheBinx]

Rooting powder can be one of two things. The first is the actual hormone that is produced underneath the skin of a stem that promotes the growth of new roots. This is how natural layering and cutting comesabout. The hormonesare at varying levels in different plants at different times of the year. The second, and cheaper type is a chemical that is extremely similar, an acid that starts with a B that I can't for the life of me remember right now. It is not as good as the hormone itself but it does work. Idealy you shouldn't need the powder for most cuttings as they should root easily, but then idealy is not always what happens, so it is always worth trying some if you are having difficulty imo.

I used the cheap acid stuff on some grape vines and they all took, but then grape vines are also one of the easier things to root. In ripe and semi ripe wood cuttings the hormone is in the slimy layer beneath the bark and on top of the stem.

[richyrich7]

You can make your own,but you need to plan ahead. Get some willow cuttings and put them in a pot of water, leave them till they start rooting, then chuck them away or plant. Dunk you cuttings in the water for a  few hours or leave overnight.
And then plant them as normal, there's a high concentration of the hormone auxin which aids with rooting.

[Jake]

Thanks cool dudes  

I got cheap stuff by the way. Never done raspberry cutting but they've done well......all of them.

Can't tell with the redcurrents.

I'll make my own maybe. hmm......