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Why spend money on commercial rooting hormones when you can make powerful natural alternatives at home? In this video, you'll discover **8 homemade rooting hormones** that gardeners have used for generations to help cuttings develop strong, healthy roots—using simple ingredients you may already have.
These easy DIY methods are budget-friendly, chemical-free, and perfect for propagating flowers, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and even fruit trees.
In this video, you'll learn:
🌿 8 natural rooting hormone alternatives
🌿 Which homemade options work best for different plants
🌿 Common propagation mistakes that prevent root growth
🌿 How to increase your success rate with cuttings
🌿 Tips for growing stronger, healthier roots naturally
Whether you're an experienced gardener or just getting started, these simple rooting tricks can help you grow more plants while saving money.
If you enjoy gardening tips, natural plant care, homesteading, Amish-inspired wisdom, and DIY garden hacks, don't forget to **LIKE**, **SUBSCRIBE**, and turn on notifications so you never miss a new video!
#Gardening #
Why spend money on commercial rooting hormones when you can make powerful natural alternatives at home? In this video, you'll discover **8 homemade rooting hormones** that gardeners have used for generations to help cuttings develop strong, healthy roots—using simple ingredients you may already have.
These easy DIY methods are budget-friendly, chemical-free, and perfect for propagating flowers, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and even fruit trees.
In this video, you'll learn:
🌿 8 natural rooting hormone alternatives
🌿 Which homemade options work best for different plants
🌿 Common propagation mistakes that prevent root growth
🌿 How to increase your success rate with cuttings
🌿 Tips for growing stronger, healthier roots naturally
Whether you're an experienced gardener or just getting started, these simple rooting tricks can help you grow more plants while saving money.
If you enjoy gardening tips, natural plant care, homesteading, Amish-inspired wisdom, and DIY garden hacks, don't forget to **LIKE**, **SUBSCRIBE**, and turn on notifications so you never miss a new video!
#Gardening #
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Here is a thing that will save you a great deal of money, and it near feels like magic the
00:05first time you see it work.
00:06You can take a healthy plant that you already own, or that a neighbor is willing to let you snip,
00:12and from a single cutting off of it, you can grow a whole new plant, not from seed, from a
00:19piece of the plant itself.
00:20One rose bush can become ten, one fig tree, one grape vine, one favorite tomato or a beloved house plant,
00:30all of them can be multiplied, over and over, for nothing at all but a snip and a little patience.
00:38The nurseries know this, it is how they fill their whole yard with plants to sell you,
00:43and they would just as soon you did not know how simple it is to do yourself.
00:48Now the plain truth is, that if you just snip a piece off a plant and poke it in the
00:54dirt,
00:54it will sometimes root and grow, and often it will not.
00:58It will more likely just wilt and rot.
01:01The trick, the old knowing that turns a poor chance into a good one,
01:06is helping that cutting grow its roots before it gives up and rots.
01:11And there are old homemade ways to do exactly that,
01:15using things you likely have in your own kitchen or growing wild along a creek,
01:20and I am going to show you the best of them today.
01:24My name is Elias Yoder.
01:26I farm a piece of ground here in Lancaster County, in Pennsylvania,
01:30that my family has worked since 1838.
01:34And this business of growing new plants from cuttings is one of the oldest and thriftiest arts a gardener can
01:41learn.
01:42My grandmother could root near anything.
01:45She would come home from visiting with a little snip of some plant she admired,
01:50tucked in a damp handkerchief, and by summer's end she had a whole plant of her own from it.
01:56That is how gardens were built in the old days, passed hand to hand, a cutting at a time, and
02:02it costs nothing.
02:04I remember the geraniums in her kitchen window, a long row of them in old tin cans,
02:10and every single one had come from a snip off the plant beside it, going back years, back further than
02:18I was alive.
02:19She never once bought a geranium in her life.
02:23She just kept rooting the next from the last, on and on, and gave the extras to every young bride
02:30in the church.
02:31A whole windowsill of living things, and a great deal of neighborly love besides,
02:38all out of one first plant and the knowing of how to make it many.
02:42And I will tell you plainly which plants make this easy, and which make it hard, so you start where
02:50you will have success.
02:51The soft green things root easiest.
02:54Your geraniums, your coleus, your mints and basils, your tomatoes, many a common houseplant.
03:02Those will often root in nothing but a glass of plain water on the sill.
03:07The woody things are harder and slower, your roses and figs and grapes and the like,
03:14and those are the ones that most want the help of a willow water or a cinnamon dip to see
03:20them through.
03:21So if you are just learning, start with the soft easy things, and win your confidence, and work up to
03:28the woody ones after.
03:30Before I go on, I will say this once, and then leave it be.
03:34I gathered the whole of it, all these old ways of multiplying your plants for free, into a book.
03:42You can find it at EliasYoder.com.
03:45The book is the long version.
03:48If you want it, it is there.
03:50I will not mention it again.
03:52Let me first tell you plainly what a rooting helper even is,
03:57because there is a lot of fancy talk around it that only muddies the water.
04:01When you cut a piece off a plant, that piece wants to live.
04:06And a plant has within it a natural substance, its own kind of quickening, that tells it where to put
04:14out roots.
04:15Some plants have plenty of it and root easy.
04:18Others are stubborn and slow, and a cutting off of them will sit and dither and rot before it ever
04:26roots.
04:26All a rooting helper does is give that stubborn cutting a nudge, either by adding a little of that root
04:34quickening from another plant that has it in plenty,
04:38or by keeping the rot and the mold off long enough for the cutting to find its own feet.
04:44That is the whole of it.
04:46You are either stirring it to root faster, or keeping it alive long enough to root on its own.
04:52Nothing mysterious.
04:55Before I even get to the helpers, let me tell you the very simplest way of all, because for many
05:01plants it is all you need.
05:03It is nothing but a glass of clean water.
05:06You take your cutting, strip the lower leaves, and stand it in a glass of plain water on a windowsill
05:13out of the hard sun.
05:14You change that water every few days so it stays fresh and does not go foul, and for a great
05:21many soft stemmed plants in a week or two or three,
05:26you will see little white roots come pushing out down in the water.
05:30Once those roots are an inch or so long, you plant the cutting gently in soil and you have your
05:37new plant.
05:37No willow, no anything, just clean water and patience and a fresh change now and then.
05:46Start there, and only reach for the stronger helpers when the water alone will not do the job.
05:53Now let me give you the best of the old homemade helpers, and I will start with the finest one,
05:59the one that is truly worth going out of your way for.
06:03That is willow.
06:05The willow tree, the kind that trails its long branches down by the water.
06:10There is something in a willow, most of all in the fresh, green, growing tips of its young branches,
06:17that is powerful, strong at stirring roots.
06:20This is old, old knowledge.
06:23The old people knew that a willow would root so eager it could hardly be stopped,
06:28and that its water would pass that same eagerness on to other cuttings set to soak in it.
06:35And here is a thing I find lovely.
06:38That same something in the willow bark is close kin to what is in the common headache pill folks buy
06:45at the drugstore.
06:46The medicine came from the tree, not the other way round.
06:50The willow had it first, long before any factory, and your grandmother's grandmother was using willow when there was no
06:58drugstore for a hundred miles.
07:01To make what folks call willow water, you go find a willow and you cut yourself a good handful of
07:08the young green twigs, the fresh growing ends, not the old gray wood.
07:14You cut those twigs up into little pieces, an inch or two long, and you put them in a jar.
07:21Then you pour warm water over them, fill the jar, and let it sit a day or two, up to
07:27a couple days, so the water draws out the strength of the willow.
07:32That willow water, once it has steeped, is your rooting drink.
07:36You stand your fresh cuttings in it to soak for several hours, or even overnight, before you plant them.
07:44Or you can water your newly planted cuttings with it.
07:47Either way, you have given them a real strong nudge toward rooting, and it cost you nothing but a walk
07:55to the creek.
07:56Of all the helpers I will name, this is the one I would send you after first.
08:02A few more words on it, since it is worth doing right.
08:05Any willow will do, the weeping kind or the common kind that springs up along every ditch and creek bank,
08:14and you can gather the twigs any time the tree is in leaf and growing, though the tender new spring
08:20growth is strongest of all.
08:23Once you have made your willow water, use it fresh, within a week or so, and keep it in the
08:29cool and the dark meanwhile,
08:32for like anything living, it loses its strength as it sits and will not keep for long.
08:38If you find a good willow, you have a free supply forever, for you can go back and cut more
08:45young twigs any time, and the tree never misses them.
08:49Some folks keep a willow growing on purpose just for this, right at the edge of the garden, and that
08:56is a wise thing to do if you mean to root a great many cuttings.
09:00The next old helper, and one you likely have in your cupboard this minute, is cinnamon.
09:08Now cinnamon does not stir roots the way willow does. What cinnamon does is guard against the rot.
09:15The greatest enemy of a fresh cutting is the mold and the rot that take hold at the cut end
09:22before the roots can form,
09:24and cinnamon is a natural foe of that mold.
09:29So you take your fresh cutting, and before you set it in the soil, you dip the cut end into
09:35some finely ground cinnamon so it is dusted with it.
09:39That dusting helps keep the rot and the fungus off that tender cut, while the cutting works on growing its
09:45roots.
09:45It is a simple thing, and it truly helps, especially with cuttings prone to rotting on you.
09:52Plain ground cinnamon from the kitchen, that is all.
09:55Honey is another old one, and it works much the same way as the cinnamon, by keeping things clean and
10:01healthy, rather than by stirring roots.
10:04Honey is a natural guard against mold and infection, which is part of why it keeps near forever in the
10:11jar, and why the old folks packed it on a wound.
10:14For a cutting, you do not want to dip it straight into thick honey, mind you, because that will only
10:20draw ants and bugs to it.
10:22Instead, you make a thin honey water.
10:25You take a spoonful of honey, and stir it into a couple cups of water that you have boiled, and
10:31then let cool.
10:32Do not boil the honey itself, just stir it into the cooled, boiled water.
10:38Then you dip the cut end of your cutting into that honey water before planting.
10:43It helps keep the cutting healthy and clean while it roots.
10:48Pure honey from a beekeeper is said to be better for this than the processed kind, and I would believe
10:54it, for the pure honey has more good left in it.
10:57I keep bees myself, and I will tell you there is a world of difference between honey straight from the
11:03comb and the thin stuff in the squeeze bottle at the store.
11:08If you happen to grow an aloe plant on your windowsill, the kind folks keep for burns, that is another
11:14good helper.
11:15The clear gel inside a fresh aloe leaf carries some of that same root-stirring and healing goodness.
11:23You just split open a fresh leaf, scoop out the clear gel, dip your cutting into it, and plant.
11:30It both nudges the rooting and guards the cutting's health.
11:34Two goods in one, from a plant that sits there on your sill asking almost nothing of you.
11:41There is one more I will mention, but with a word of caution attached, because I will not steer you
11:47wrong.
11:48Some folks use a little apple cider vinegar, a very little, as a rooting helper, and it can help.
11:55But you must be careful, because vinegar is strong, and too much of it does the very opposite of what
12:01you want.
12:01Too much vinegar will stop your cutting from rooting altogether, and in real strength vinegar is used to kill weeds,
12:09so you can see it is nothing to be careless with.
12:12If you try it, use only a few drops in a half cup of water, no more, and dip the
12:18cutting quick.
12:20Honestly, between you and me, I would sooner send you to the willow and the cinnamon and the honey, which
12:26are gentler and surer.
12:28But I mention the vinegar, so you have heard the truth of it, both the good and the danger.
12:34Now, I have heard folks say you ought to just crush up a headache pill from the drug store and
12:40soak your cuttings in that.
12:41And you can, since, as I told you, that medicine came from the willow to begin with.
12:47But I would rather you go to the willow itself, the way the old people did, than to the pharmacy.
12:53If you have got a willow within reach, you have got the real thing, free and whole, and you do
13:00not need the pill at all.
13:02That is more the spirit of this channel anyhow, using what grows free around you, rather than what you must
13:08buy in a package.
13:10Now, here is a thing worth knowing.
13:12You need not use just one of these.
13:15The old gardeners would combine them, and you can too, and see what serves you best.
13:21Willow water to stir the roots, with a dip of cinnamon or a little honey water to guard against the
13:27rot, that is a fine pairing.
13:29You might soak your cuttings in willow water overnight, then dust the ends with cinnamon before you set them in
13:35the soil.
13:36There is no single magic recipe, and any man who tells you he has the one true formula is fooling
13:44you.
13:44The honest way is to try a few things on a few cuttings, keep watch on which does best for
13:50you, and for the particular plant you are rooting, and learn from your own results.
13:55Every plant is a little different, and your own eye, watching over a season or two, will teach you more
14:02than any list ever could.
14:03Let me say the plain rules that matter as much as any helper, because a helper alone will not save
14:10a cutting that is handled wrong.
14:12Take your cutting from healthy new growth, not old woody stems.
14:18Take it in the cool of the morning, when the plant is full of water, not wilting in the afternoon
14:24heat.
14:24And take it in the right season, for that matters too.
14:28Your soft green cuttings do best taken in the late spring and the early summer, when the plant is growing
14:35strong and full of life, and eager to make roots.
14:40The woody cuttings off your shrubs and fruit are often best taken later, when the wood has firmed up, or
14:47even in the dormant time, when the plant is resting.
14:51When in doubt, take your cutting when the plant is growing vigorous and green, for a cutting carries the mood
14:58of the plant it came from, and a plant in strong growth gives a cutting that wants to grow.
15:04Cut it clean with a sharp knife or shears, not a ragged tear.
15:10Strip the lower leaves off, for leaves left down in the soil only rot, and leave just a few up
15:17top.
15:18Keep the cutting from drying out from the moment you take it, in a damp cloth or a cup of
15:24water, until you get it planted.
15:26Then keep it in a warm place out of the harsh direct sun, and keep the soil damp, but never
15:33soggy, while it works on its roots.
15:36And here is an old trick that makes all the difference for cuttings that wilt on you.
15:41A fresh cutting has no roots yet to drink with, but its leaves keep breathing out moisture, and so it
15:49can dry out and wilt before it ever roots.
15:52The remedy is to keep the air around it moist and close.
15:57You can set a clear glass jar upside down over the cutting, or slip a clear bag loosely over the
16:04pot, making a little glass house that holds the damp air in around the leaves.
16:10That way the cutting does not lose more water than it can bear while it is rootless.
16:15Just crack it open now and again, to let fresh air move through, the same as we do with the
16:22sweet potato box, so it does not turn stale and moldy inside.
16:27That little dome of moist air will carry a delicate cutting through the hardest part, those first days before the
16:35roots come.
16:36Do those plain things, add one of the old helpers I have named, and your chances go way, way up.
16:43And you will know your cutting has rooted by a few plain signs.
16:48It will stand up firm instead of drooping.
16:51It will start to put out new little leaves at the top, which a rootless cutting cannot do.
16:57And if you give it the gentlest tug, it will resist and hold, where before it slid right out.
17:05When you see those signs, it has taken hold and made its roots, and you can begin to harden it
17:11off, letting it have a little more sun and a little more air each day, and then move it to
17:17its permanent home.
17:18Do not rush that last step.
17:22A young, rooted cutting is still tender, and eased along gentle, it will grow into a strong plant that serves
17:30you for years.
17:31Think for a moment on what this means, once you truly have it in hand.
17:36It means you need never be poor in plants again.
17:40A neighbor has a rose you have admired for years, and rather than covet it, you ask for one small
17:47snip, and now you have that same rose.
17:51You find a fig or a grape you love the taste of, and one cutting makes it yours forever.
17:57A houseplant grows leggy and too big, and instead of throwing the trimmings away, you root them, and now you
18:05have three plants where you had one, to keep or to give.
18:09This is how a poor man builds a rich garden, not with money, but with snips and patience and the
18:17generosity of neighbors.
18:19It is one of the most hopeful arts I know, for it turns one into many, again and again, world
18:26without end, and asks almost nothing of you but the knowing.
18:32Let me say a word about who profits from you not knowing this, because it is worth understanding, though it
18:38is no villain's plot.
18:40It is only this. There is good money in selling you a new plant for ten or fifteen dollars at
18:46the nursery, and there is no money at all in teaching you that a snip off the one you already
18:52have, soaked in a jar of willow water, will give you another for free.
18:57No garden center anywhere has a reason to stand at your elbow and teach you to never need them again.
19:04It is not that anyone is hiding it from you. It is only that no one earns a wage by
19:10handing you your independence.
19:12So the knowing slips away, quiet, one generation to the next, until an old art that every gardener once had
19:21becomes a secret.
19:23The money runs the other way, toward the price tag, and always has. That is the whole of it.
19:30So there you have it. To root a cutting the old way, take a healthy piece off your plant, keep
19:37it damp, and give it one of the old helpers.
19:40Willow water first and best to stir the roots. Cinnamon or honey water to guard against the rot.
19:48Aloe gel if you grow it. A careful few drops of vinegar if you must, though I would let it
19:55be.
19:55Combine them and experiment and learn from your own eye. And follow the plain rules of clean cuts and damp
20:04soil and gentle warmth.
20:06Do that and you will grow a whole garden's worth of plants for nothing but the snipping.
20:13Tell me down in the comments what county you garden in, and what plant you most want to multiply, whether
20:19it is a rose your grandmother grew, or a fig, or a grape, or some house plant you love, because
20:26I would like to know what folks are trying to save and pass on.
20:30And if your own family had an old way of rooting cuttings that I have not named here, put it
20:36down there, for these old arts survive only by being shared, and I am always glad to learn one more.
20:44Next time out here I want to show you how to build a proper compost pile the old way, layer
20:50upon layer, so that you make your own black crumbly gold to root all these cuttings in and grow them
20:57on strong.
20:58That rich soil is the other half of this whole business, and it deserves a video all its own.
21:04But for now, remember this. A single plant, a sharp snip, and a jar of willow water, and you can
21:13make many where there was one, for free, the way gardeners always did before there was a store to sell
21:19it back to you.
21:20The people who built this country with their hands knew that, and we are only just starting to remember it.
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