Hi All,

Willow water is a safe and organic method for helping plants root.
willows all tend to grow in stream beds or near them, as heavy rains
come and wash them over sideways they have a tendancy to root back
into the ground as they lie. For this reason alone willows seem to
be very adept at rooting and have higher levels of rooting hormones
naturally.
Willow (salix) was the species that was first used to make asperin
(Salicylic acid), which is now synthesised artificially. So if you
have a plant to root here is what you do:
1) go get some willow branches, you can use florist types like
pussy willow or twisted willow, you can go to a creek and cut your
own white willow, black willow or other locally available willow
plant.
Make the stems about 1 cm thick and at least 1 foot long. soak these
in regular water for 1-3 days in a 5 gallon bucket 1/3 full. Now you
can use this water to help root whatever plant materials you would
like to root.
2) you may want to cheat....you can also use regular asperin
(Bayer or your favorite) do not use an asperin substitute like
tylonol or excedrin as it needs to say asperin. disolve 3 asperin
tablets in 1 cup of luke warm water and you can use that as a
rooting solution.

There are other rooting mixes as well, Dip and Grow and Hormex are
2 commercially available (chemical?) products. Also you can use
liquid Kelp products, which is what I use. it is organic and seems
to be a great rooting complex as well as a good seed soak and all
around fertilizer for micro nutrients. I do prefer to use organics
whenever possible.

A note on asperin, very few people know that asperin (real or
artificial) works topically, you can crush asperin and add water to
make a paste and put it on a burn, bee sting or tooth ache and it
works the same as swallowing a few pills and have it go into your
bllod stream without the stomach irritation.
also and lastly, if you want new willow trees simply leave them in
the bucket and they will root in the water, after they root simply
move them to a pot or a permanent area of the garden, just watch out
as willows can become invasive pest plants, although you cannot beat
a nice big weeping willow for shade.
- Matt
~~
From:  "Matthew Boeck" <mkboeck@hotmail.com> 
Date:  Thu Feb 26, 2004  10:38 am
Subject:  Re: what is willow water Jon?
Message 96033 

