# So whadya know about rooting hormone **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997 "2005-01-10T05:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/1 "2005-01-10T05:02:39Z")
Plant rooting hormones= auxins=willow branch clippings =aspirin? So OK I?m sitting here in the middle of winter thinking of planting grapes. I have a source of grape cuttings in mind and am wondering how to start the rooting process. A internet search finds that although they will root in water its best to use a rooting hormone. Now the rooting hormone is called auxin and is available in willow bark.Just soak mashed twigs overnight and presto. Well here it is now wintertime and I?m wondering if the chemical is available in the twigs even in wintertime.One explanation of the tea making process said do it in spring. Also So if the willow branch tips contain the auxins and primitive aspirin is made from willow bark can I use aspirin for rooting compound? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/2 "2005-01-10T05:12:46Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > Also if the willow branch tips contain the auxins and primitive aspirin is made from willow bark can I use aspirin for rooting compound? I’m not certain, but I don’t think so. Commercial aspirin is synthetically produced acetylsalicylic acid, and has probably never been within 100 yards of an actual tree of any species, unless you count the 5 minutes it was in the bag in the consumer’s car before she drove home from the parking lot. While willow branches contain auxins and salicylic acid, auxins are _not_ salicylic acid. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/3 "2005-01-10T05:43:38Z")
Oh, about PLANTS! I thought it was going to be something Australian … ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/4 "2005-01-10T06:07:46Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > While willow branches contain auxins and salicylic acid, auxins are _not_ salicylic acid. Natural auxin is indole-3-acetic acid. There are also several manmade auxins, such as indole-3-butyric acid or indole-3-propionic acid. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is not an auxin. While the tips of willow shoots _do_ contain auxin, I can’t find a reliable cite that says there’s enough there to promote rooting in plants. [This is about as close as it gets:](http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:AeadP3ssX9sJ:www.mg.umn.edu/newsapril01.doc+auxin+willow+rooting+site:.edu&hl=en&client=firefox-a) > [@](#): > > Willow water and rooting cuttings ?? A recent article in a popular horticulture magazine lead me to do some searching on this topic. Thanks to Dr. Jerry Cohen, Bailey Chair, in our Dept. for his comments. Many people feel using “willow water” will improve rooting on cuttings, especially roses. There are few, if any scientific findings to substantiate this, so it remains a “home remedy”. The following articles explain how to make and use it, but the “auxin-like” compounds in willows do not appear to give consistent, reliable propagation results. Other natural auxin rich sources, such as seeds, may have a similar effect. Commercial rooting hormones are the most consistent, reliable products to stimulating rooting. I ran across several sites that claim that if willow water doesn’t work for you, aspirin might. That’s BS. Commercial aspirin should _not_ contain auxins. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/5 "2005-01-10T06:21:00Z")
The most common rooting compound in the US is Rootone®. I have used it with good results many times. I also endorse the willow branch stuff, but sometimes it’s inconvenient in winter to trudge up to a neighbor’s door to ask permission to clip a bit of willow branch. Don’t let any willow pieces get into your project, or you’ll have a young willow among the grapes. ---
**Author:** ![SallyCan\_tDance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@SallyCan\_tDance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyCan_tDance)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/6 "2005-01-10T07:19:26Z")
Ha! I’m sure all the Australian Dopers got a laugh out of the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/7 "2005-01-10T11:19:57Z")
> [@SallyCan'tDance](#): > > Ha! I’m sure all the Australian Dopers got a laugh out of the thread title. rooting hormones = Fosters? ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/8 "2005-01-10T11:24:42Z")
[Here](http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/roses.html) is a good site explaining how-to. He does it with cut roses, but same idea. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/9 "2005-01-10T13:52:31Z")
So OK I’ll bite. Tell me about the Aussy comment. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/10 "2005-01-10T14:40:08Z")
Just in general, I’m not sure January is the best time to be propagating anything – if you could wait till March (or later, in Iowa), when plants are starting to come out of dormancy, you’d probably have better results. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/11 "2005-01-10T15:53:44Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > So OK I’ll bite. > Tell me about the Aussy comment. Aussies use the word root to mean a sexual act. If Vice President Cheney had been an Australian, he might have told Sen. Leahy to get rooted, instead of, “Go F\_\_\_ yourself.” ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/12 "2005-01-10T16:28:49Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Just in general, I’m not sure January is the best time to be propagating anything – if you could wait till March (or later, in Iowa), when plants are starting to come out of dormancy, you’d probably have better results. Thanks for the reply. According to the grape website,sorry I don’t remember which one, now is the time to do it. That way you have rooted plants in the spring. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whadya-know-about-rooting-hormone/283997/13 "2005-01-10T17:12:25Z")
Makes sense; I stand corrected.