# Honey as a rooting agent.



## Honeyeater (Jun 21, 2020)

Hi Greg, let us know your results when you try it.

This is quite a popular method amongst gardeners here but I have to say I am not that convinced it actually works, at least not on the native plants I try to grow from cuttings.

I tried "nothing", store bought "rooting hormone", and "honey". Rooting hormone was just slightly more successful than the other two. It may have to do with the species of plants though.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

Honeyeater said:


> Hi Greg, let us know your results when you try it.
> 
> This is quite a popular method amongst gardeners here but I have to say I am not that convinced it actually works, at least not on the native plants I try to grow from cuttings.
> 
> I tried "nothing", store bought "rooting hormone", and "honey". Rooting hormone was just slightly more successful than the other two. It may have to do with the species of plants though.


I will report whenever I get to it.
This past summer I tried rooting green cuttings off an Aronia bush with terrible results - 4 took out of some 30-40 cuttings.
I used my old rooting stimulant (maybe too old).
Some Google sources say it is more about suppressing bacteria than about the actual stimulation.

Still, that video about testing the raw honey vs. the pasteurized honey may suggest of some difference between the two.
At least the raw honey did not hurt (and may have actually helped).


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## blackowl (Jul 8, 2015)

Yes, apparently, diluted honey. I've seen a video that mentioned this.


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## SeaCucumber (Jun 5, 2014)

Include willow water in your experiment. Softwood cuttings look like too much work because you need high humidity and a good temperature. The best media is inorganic. Fog is probably the best and most expensive media.
Propagation methods I've heard of:

cuttings: hardwood, softwood
layering: air, mound, tip


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