Here's an LD post.... the Rapid Rooters aren't necessary, but I'm sure they're good. LD's Stupid Easy Cloning Method - almost organic even. Close enough for many. Buy RapidRooters or one of the knock-offs. Doesn't matter 'cause they're all made at a single factory in Springfield, Oregon. They're made from cellulose from the wood products industry. "Waste not - want not" - Grandma Dawgz Make a kelp & alfalfa meal tea. On this one either dilute the standard recipe by 50% with pure water or, more logically perhaps, start with 1/2 the material for usual recipe that makes 5 gallons. To each gallon of diluted tea, add 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice/extract/gel/whatever, 1 tsp. of Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt and soak the RapidRooters in this for a few minutes. Remove and you want to press out the excess water/tea. You want it a bit more hydrated than they were when they arrived at your home. You'll figure that part out. Put in a tray with the 8" dome, spray the inside of the dome, leave the cuttings alone, spray the inside on a regular basis when needed. You want a solid beading of water on as much of the surface of the dome. You're looking for high humidity on this part. Dat's it. LD
I guess I should post the recipe for alfalfa/kelp tea and explain that Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt is liquid silica.... extremely beneficial for tons of reasons. The best way to buy it is either the Dyna-Gro product or AgSil16 which is powder and you just mix it with water. It can be purchased at buildasoil.com for something like $14, and will make 4/5 of a gallon of Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt strength liquid silica. The ratios for mixing it with water are on the website. Don't buy Silica Blast lol this is for 5 gallons. 1 cup of Alfalfa meal 1/4 cup Kelp Meal Bubble for several hours - 24 - 36 something like that. LD
I'd like to note this product as well - Dip-N-Grow "Dip Gel". http://dev.dipngrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Dip-Gel-Bulletin.pdf Dip-Gelâ„¢ is a carboxymethyl cellulose based product that when mixed with water is very thick and viscous. Unlike traditional surfactants and oils, Dip-Gel does not soften the cuticle to aid the movement of active ingredients into the leaf or stem. Dip-Gel can be mixed in water which then can be mixed with products containing IBA such as Dip'N Grow to produce a rooting gel. Improved rooting and/or lower IBA rates may be possible because this gel clings to the stem of a cutting and provides a reservoir of hormone. Since more material is sticking to the cutting, it may be possible to reduce IBA rates because the cutting is able to absorb hormone from the gel reservoir. So you would use your Aloe and Kelp "tea" and mix the tea with the Dip Gel product (Dont use the Dip-N-Grow product) to make your own organic rooting gel. j
http://www.modernistpantry.com/carboxymethyl-cellulose.html That's the place I got my carboxymethyl cellulose.... it was the cheapest source I could find 2-3 months ago when I was looking.
haha im in michigan and we had 3 huge ones in the back yard growing up..too bad we had an apple tree too so went from willow to apple tree switches
My ultimate goal is to live on my own homestead, or as part of a commune, and be completely self sufficient from gardening, foraging, and bartering. Everything that I learn now, with respect to gardening, I am trying to mold in a way that would suit this lifestyle. Basically I would like to be able to source all my soil, amendments, and everything related from the environment around me. I doubt I'll be able to source my own Dip Gel, but aloe is pretty gelatinous itself. Theoretically, would it work to just mix in some kelp/algae extract with pure aloe gel from the leaf, to use by itself as a cloning gel?
Great! I learned a little bit about apiculture last year and I'm getting a bee box sometime this month, too.
Literally cutting the stems, scraping off the growth/axillary buds from a node, and sticking them in a cup of water will work.