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David Hare-Scott[_2_] · 28-01-2012, 09:57 PM posted to rec.gardens

Eames wrote:
Sean Straw;948573 Wrote:
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:23:15 +0000, Eames
wrote:
-
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).

You said that you have used honey to dress wounds, do you know what it
is within the honey that helps heal wounds as i would presume that it
would be the same elements that would help to callus over the cutting
to promote the root developement

I wouldn't assume that, these are quite different processes in quite
different environments.

D