Willow Tea as a Rooting Hormone

Weeping Willow
(Salix spp.)

Willow Tea is an easy to make rooting hormone used to propagate plant cuttings. And, best of all, it’s free. Willow bark contains natural plant growth hormones; namely, indolebutyric acid and salicylic acid.  










How to make Willow Tea:

1. Collect young twigs/stems of any of willow species with green or yellow bark (Salix spp.).
2. Remove all leaves.
3. Cut the twigs into short pieces, about 1" (2.5cm) long, and place them in a heatproof container.
4. Cover the cut stems with boiling water, just as you would when brewing tea.  Allow the willow and water to steep overnight.
5. Separate the liquid from the twigs by pouring the tea through a strainer or sieve. Your willow tea is now ready to use for rooting cuttings. 

Willow tea can be kept for up to two months if you keep it in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.  It’s a good idea to label the jar so you remember what it is. Also, write down the date it was brewed and the expiration date (two months from the date it was prepared).  


To use willow tea as a rooting compound, pour some into a small jar and place the cuttings you would like to root into the tea as you would flowers in a vase. Leave the cuttings to soak overnight – or for several hours – long enough to absorb the rooting hormone. Once absorbed, prepare the stems as you would when propagating any other cutting.


Once planted in your chosen medium, water your cuttings with willow tea to give them an even better start and further enhance their rooting.

Aspirin as a rooting hormone?
Recently, I have been reading articles and forums on the topic of using aspirin as a rooting hormone.  I will test these reports with my own cuttings, but for the cost of two extra strength aspirin, what would I have to lose but a little bit of time? The comments on the forums I have been perusing instruct us to:


“Crush two extra strength aspirin in a half-liter of distilled water and let sit with occasional agitation overnight. Now dip your stems in the aspirin water instead of rooting hormone before putting them in the medium and you will have excellent results.”


What do you think? Will you try using aspirin as a rooting hormone?


Video: Propagating Plants from Cuttings

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