> On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:23:15 +0000, Eames
>
> >For one of my college assignements i have been looking at propagation
> >methods and came across an article that said that you could use honey as
> >a substitute for your commercial rooting hormones.
>
> I'm a hobbiest beekeeper.
>
> Dunno about as a rooting _hormone_, but honey has natural
> antibacterial properties, and as such, may benefit the health of the
> cutting.
>
> It's been used as a wound dressing and to preserve broken teeth
> (really!). I've personally used honey with success on bandages myself
> - no neosporin, etc.
>
> Note there's a marked difference between most store bought processed
> honey (much of which has been "cooked" to some degree), and "raw"
> honey (which is straight from the hive and run through basic filters,
> nothing more. The enzymes in Raw honey will still be viable.
>
> For rooting, I've had good success with "willow tea" (I've got a
> willow tree, so this is a no-brainer).
willow tea> a.k.a. salicylic acid> a.k.a. aspirin
For what it's worth
-----
http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm
Plants feeling under the weather?
Give them aspirin water!
By Marion Owen, Fearless Weeder for PlanTea, Inc. and
Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul
aspirin"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."
We've all heard that advice from doctors. And moms have been dispensing
this all-purpose cure-all to their families as a standard way of
providing relief from headaches and sniffles, muscle aches and joint
pain.
Then it should be no surprise to learn how an important aspirin
ingredient--salicylic acid--is being used as an Earth-friendly first aid
for warding off plant diseases.
Meet Martha McBurney, the master gardener in charge of the demonstration
vegetable garden at the University of Rhode Island. In the summer of
2005 she tested aspirin water on tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, basil and
other plants after reading about it in a gardening publication called
the Avant Gardener (PO Box 489, New York, NY 10028). The results were
well, astonishing...
"What caught my eye in the original Avant Gardener article was it said
that aspirin is an activator of Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR). And
that plants, when under stress, naturally produce salicylic acid, but
not fast enough and in sufficient quantities to really help them out in
time. So the bugs get them, and diseases get them, and they show even
more stress.
"But if you give them aspirin, it helps boost their immune system, kind
of like feeding people echinacea so they don't get a cold.
How much, and how often
The dosage that Martha used was 1.5 [uncoated] aspirins to 2 gallons of
water. She also added 2 tablespoons of yucca extract to help the aspirin
water stick to the leaves better. (The yucca extract can be substituted
with a mild liquid soap.) Martha explained that the yucca (or soap)
prevents the aspirin water from beading up and rolling off leaves of
broccoli and kale leaves. Finally, she sprayed the plants every 3 weeks.
The summer when Martha first started testing aspirin water, was not the
best, weather-wise. It was cool, rainy and damp. "But what happened was,
by the end of the season, the plants in the raised beds with the aspirin
water looked like they were on steroids!
"The plants were huge, and green and with no insects. We even saw some
disease problems that reversed themselves. We think we got a virus on
the cucumbers, and they aspirin water seemed to reverse it. The
cucumbers ended up being very healthy."
Aspirin improves seed germination
Martha also sprayed the aspirin water on the seeds they directly sowed
in the ground. The result, they discovered was 100 percent seed
germination, compared to spotty germination in the other trial beds.
Scientists at the University of Arizona and with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), curious about findings such as what Martha
experienced, are studying how salicylic acid prods plants into releasing
their natural defenses against harmful fungi, bacteria and viruses.
According to an article by Dean Fosdick of the Associated Press, "They
envision it as a commercially viable alternative to synthetic pesticides
in a natural way to extend the life of susceptible yet popular crops."
Is it organic? Well, not really. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is
'derived' from the white willow tree, Salix alba. Studies are now being
conducted on plants using pure willow extracts to compare the effects to
aspirin.
cut flowers
Cut flowers that last forever?
Well, not quite. But current research may explain a modern-old wives'
tale of adding an aspirin to a vase of cut flower to keep the blooms
fresh longer. Here's the explanation: The cutting of flowers is
perceived by the plant as a wound, and so it stimulates the production
of a substance that not only helps the plant fight off bugs, but also
hastens aging or wilting, such as in the case of a cut flower.
Aspirin halts the formation of the substance, which in turn, keeps the
flowers looking young and not wilting prematurely. (For more helpful
tips about keeping cut flowers looking fresh, naturally, click here).
Scientists laughed, at first
Plants weren't the only things affected by the aspirin water. At first,
scientists at the University of Rhode Island gave Martha a bad time
about her experiments. Teased her, mostly. But by the end of the summer,
they were so impressed that they are now conducting their own formal
investigations.
healthy houseplant
"I've recommended it to just about everybody. The people who've tried
it, that is, people who grow from oats to orchids, have found that
plants do remarkably better when given small amounts of aspirin water.
I've tried it on my houseplants, and it does really well. Plants are
more vigorous and I'm having fewer problems with aphids and the typical
things that can build up on houseplants over the winter."
aspirin on plants"Uh, Martha," I broke in. "My husband is losing his
hair. Maybe I should try aspirin water."
Martha didn't miss a beat. "Well, hey, you could give it a go!"
So the next time your plant is looking a little feverish or flushed,
consider reaching for some aspirin for treating what ails it.
------------
3 baby aspirin with 4 gal of water = 1:10,000, the recommended dosage.
[That is 243mg aspirin:512oz water.] (Notice how the ounces of water
seems to be double the mg of aspirin amount?!)
? of an adult aspirin with 4 gal of water = 1:10,000, the recommended
dosage. [That is 243.75mg aspirin:512oz water.]
I think it would be more like 1/5th of an adult aspirin to 1 gal of
water. [That is 65mg aspirin:128oz water.]
Seems ? aspirin (162.5mg) would need to be mixed with approx double that
number in ounces (325), or about 2? gal.
? aspirin (81.25mg) would be much easier to measure than 1/5th of an
aspirin. Mix would be about 81mg aspirin:163oz water, or about 1? gal
water.
Following this through, about the smallest you could reasonably go would
be: 1/8 aspirin (40.625mg) would mix with 81.5oz water, or about 2?
quarts.
Will add more links as find them and/or have the time... send me links
if you have them, please!!
----------
H2O2
1 oz 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1 quart water
16 drops of 35% hydrogen peroxide to 1 quart water
Mist and, or water plants.
---------
--
Billy
E Pluribus Unum
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in
the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are
cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is
spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of
its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the
clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
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> methods and came across an article that said that you could use honey
> as a substitute for your commercial rooting hormones. I was wondering
> if anybody else had heard of this or even tried it out for themselves