I grow (indoors only) & propagate just for myself (& a few friends) all of the plants you've mentioned & I rarely use rooting hormone on any of them.

In my opinon it's absolutely unneccessary, at least for these particular plants (except maybe for some Sans which are more water sensitive than most like the shorter, Birdnest nest types which I've killed several times). I've used in on these Sans. not so much for the rooting hormone but more for the anti-fungal that I know it also contains (& is so marked on the bottle).

I have since learned to use Cinnamon instead as an anti-fungal, so I stopped buying rooting hormone after that.

In 10+ years in each of 2 Plant societies I'd never heard of different grades of rooting hormone; several makes (brands) maybe but not grades. Interesting & curious.

Honey works just as well, as it encourages roots and is antifungal. A heat pad would also be a good thing for those hard to root cuttings.

I don't think it's accurate to sell a specific grade of rooting hormone for the divisions of plants you mentioned, because different plant species respond to different chemicals, whether we are cloning hardwood, summerwood, or herbaceous/tip cuttings. Even though it's generally true that the most effective concentration levels normally vary and can be roughly grouped by the 3 types of cuttings you mentioned, the most effective chemical to use varies and can be much more important than concentration levels; so, it is a combination of the concentration AND the choice of chemical that determines the effectiveness of a rooting chemical.

The rooting aids are synthesized forms of the plant hormone/growth regulator 'auxin'. Indole butyric acid (IBA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) are the two most common chemicals that have been found to be reliable in the promotion of rooting in cuttings. IBA is widely applied in general use because it is non-toxic to most plants over a wide range and promotes root growth in a large number of plant species.

Some plants respond better to either IBA or NAA, some respond to ONLY one or the other, some may have a toxic reaction to one but not the other which will lead to poor or no growth and actually, mortality; and some respond best to combinations of both chemicals, or to other variations of either IBA or NAA based on K (potassium). Both IBA and NAA are commonly available in talc or in liquid formulations of varying concentrations.

I do LOTS of propagating of several hard-to-root species, but only use a rooting aid occasionally for the most difficult. As a generalization, You should know on a per plant basis which chemical and concentration is most apt to be effective before applying it. I have found it mostly unnecessary. Learning a little about the cultural conditions cuttings prefer and some other tricks (like methods of wounding) along with cleanliness will add more to what it takes to be successful at propagating (plants) than rooting aids (except in the very hard to root plants).

Al

Aha, looks like a lot of you guys don't use these rooting hormones at all. Well, I'm a newbie indoor gardner and go crazy on gardening supplies. Oh well...

The problem with going crazy on supplies is most if not all supplies bought at box stores are geared toward new growers or people with little knowledge, they don't know better and but things like leaf shine and don't realize it hinders the plant's respiration and all sorts of bad things. I'd recommend spending your extra money on the soils your plants are going to live in, and a few new clay pots of various sizes, and lots of books, go to the library before buying a book so you can look over the book and then buy it if it will help you, then try to keep your plants healthy through proper care. You'll find the extra stuff you really don't need, maybe one or two fertilizers would be sufficient and a few sizes of unglazed clay pots is all any new grower would need until you know what you're doing and which direction you're going to go horticulturally. All the gadgets are useless and will only make growing plants less enjoyable.

I can't tell you how many chemicals I bought as a new grower because someone recommended it. I can tell you how many bottles of old fertiizer, dead plants, and snake oils I just threw away a few days ago because most if not all of it was not suitable for the plants I grow. Enough to fill a small trailer twice.

When my father was alive, and we were the best of fishing buddies, I used to save-up my pickin' money (the money I earned picking truck crops) so I could buy all those new fishin' lures that were hot off the assembly lines, thinking it would allow me to out-fish my dad. I can still remember him looking at my latest & drolly offering the sage comment, "That thing probably catches more fishermen than fish."

Armed with a good basic knowledge of plant husbandry, you really should need very little in the way of a chemical assortment or gimmicky aids. ;o)

Al

The only thing I've had trouble rooting without rooting hormone is pineapple tops. And they don't NOT root. They just take forever otherwise.

I get the impression rooting compounds are more useful if you're air layering, maybe?

What you say makes sense mentha. I should rather focus on getting better pots - I have pots in two sizes only large and larger - no wonder I managed to kill some of my small plants. I'm stocked with good soilless mix already - 50 pounds of it.

Now is probably not a good time to tell you about the polymer based gel I bought that's supposed to reduce watering requirements. Wait a minute - didn't I just read that more watering is good to leach the soil, oxygenate it blah blah? (Groan)

The only thing I've found the polymer gel to be good for is rooting cuttings. I don't use it often because I tend to not go to the craft section at WM anymore so I forget to get it. In the soil it is just asking for leakage when it expands it causes the soil to excape the pots. I've heard pampers diapers have the same poly gel in them and some people wrap pots in diapers while on vacation. A novel idea, but probably not too practical.

Do you mean root cuttings in the gel instead of a sterile mix? Isn't that akin to rooting in very moist soil? Could you please elaborate? I'd be glad to make some use of the gel - I thought I'd just have to throw it in the dump. Alternatively, I'm thinking of planting a couple of plants in just the gel - it looks fancy enough to be displayed in a transparent vase. Do you think that will work?

It is essentualy a form of semi-hydroponics. I would first try easy plants which can live in water like vining philos, pothos, a small Spathiphyllum, Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish Ivy), Dracaena, Diffenbachia, or Tradescantia zebrina (Wanering Jew) even some hoyas will grow in semi-hydro. The trick is put enough warm water in the gel to make it expand to it's full potental, make sure it is fully expanded by filling it with water a few times, then drain off any excess water. Only do about a tablespoon at a time, this stuff will expand about 10-15 times it's normal size.

You are looking at eventual algae growing in a clear vase, though. It would be better to go with a dark green or brown colored vase for many reasons of which I forgot most of them. The main reason being though is most plants are not used to having light reach their roots, and clear glass sometimes hinders their growth. It would be ok for short term like rooting cuttings, though.