On Jan 27, 9:28*pm, Sean Straw 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).

The sugar content would substitute for the sap lost when
the cuttings are taken.