Liquid Rooting Stimulator, 50 ml

$22.99

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A 50 ml dropper bottle of liquid rooting solution, diluted into water for cuttings and transplants.

A cutting has to grow roots before it runs out of the water stored in its stem and leaves. Rooting solutions are the usual way gardeners try to help that along, and a liquid concentrate is convenient because it goes into whatever water you are already using.

Read the dilution printed on the bottle and follow it.
Add the stated number of drops to water.
Either stand the cut ends of your cuttings in it, or use it to water the soil around a plant you have just moved.
Keep cuttings somewhere bright and out of direct sun, and refresh the water every few days.

Volume: 50 ml
Form: yellow liquid concentrate in a dropper bottle
Use: diluted into water for cuttings, or watered into the soil after transplanting
Sold as: a single bottle

One bottle, one size, nothing to choose between.

If you want a rooting product with more information behind it, our 35 ml Rooting Solution for Cuttings at least states what it contains on the label.

Follow the label dilution, and don't add extra.
Technique still does most of the work: a clean cut below a node, no leaves below the waterline, fresh water.
Store it closed, out of sunlight, and away from children and pets.

What is actually in it?

We don't know, and we would rather say so. There is no ingredient list on the bottle, and the supplier's listing describes it as an organic fertilizer in one place and a seaweed product in another.

How much should I use?

Follow the dilution printed on the bottle label.

Can I use it on cuttings in water?

That is the main use the supplier describes, along with watering it into soil after a transplant.

Is it a fertilizer?

It isn't a replacement for your usual plant food, so keep feeding as normal.

Why you'll love it

Goes into water you're already using. A liquid concentrate suits cuttings in a jar as easily as cuttings in soil.

A dropper, not a scoop. Drop-counting makes it straightforward to follow the label rather than guess.

50 ml goes a long way. Used a few drops at a time, a single bottle covers a lot of propagating.

What actually decides whether a cutting roots

It is tempting to think a bottle is what makes propagation work. In practice, four unglamorous things decide most of it, and they are all free.

Where you cut: just below a node, the small bump where a leaf joins the stem, because that is where roots come from. What you cut with: clean, sharp scissors, so you are not crushing the stem or introducing rot. What sits in the water: nothing. Strip any leaf that would end up submerged, because a rotting leaf will spoil the whole jar.

And the season. Cuttings taken in spring and early summer, while the parent plant is growing hard, root far more readily than the same cutting taken in November. If you are new to this, start with pothos or tradescantia in a jar on a bright windowsill, change the water every few days, and be patient for a fortnight.

A rooting product goes on top of all that. It is not a substitute for any of it.

A quick guide for your growing space

Heat

A plant under heat stress is already working hard. Treating or feeding a wilted plant in the middle of a hot spell tends to add to the problem. Water first, let it recover, then come back to it.

Humidity

Damp air keeps leaves wet for longer, and that is when fungal trouble gets its chance. Water at the soil rather than over the foliage, and leave room for air to move between pots.

Frost

Growth slows right down when it turns cold and roots take up much less. Most feeding and rooting products are worth pausing until the plant is clearly growing again in spring.

Small spaces

A pot holds a fixed amount of whatever you add to it, with nowhere for the excess to drain away to. Measure rather than eyeball, and flush the mix through with plain water now and then.