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Post by hotwired on Jan 30, 2013 18:46:25 GMT -5
My second post, and "The Orchard" is a category that I have a huge interest in. I love rooting with Willow Tea. Here’s my method and details on making, storing, and using Willow Tea Rooting Compound. I’m starting an orchard on about 1.5 acres, and use cuttings to get true varieties. Starting from seed is fun, but the fruit from the plant you grow will most likely be different from the parent plant. I use my egg carton boats for Bing and Black Cherry cuttings, Elberta, Red Haven, and Sun-Hi peaches, Cortland and Granny Smith Apples, eight varieties of Blueberry cuttings, and Rosemary cuttings. I use live willow branches about 1" diameter. It’s especially important to use young growth. It takes 54 square inches of bark for a cup of tea. That sounds like a lot but it’s ….. 1/2" diameter x 36", 1" diameter x 18", 1.5" diameter x 12", or 2" diameter x 9". I strip off the bark with a sharp knife, and put it into a large pot. Based on the previous branch sizes, add the appropriate water and bring to a boil, then reduce temperature and simmer for 20 minutes. Cover the pot and let it stand overnight, 12-15 hours. I remove the bark and pour a gallon of the solution into my 2-gallon aquarium. I usually make about a gallon at a time. If you make too much, put it in quart canning jars with lids, and you can store it for two months in the refrigerator or on an unheated porch without losing it’s effectiveness. Willow bark contains Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) which is a natural rooting hormone. The heaviest concentrations are in the cortex layer, on the inside surface of the stripped bark. Younger new growth branches contain higher concentration than larger limbs. Dead limbs contain no compounds. I create a cutting that has two nodes, pushing it into the egg carton indentation so it is held between two nodes on the internode area. Extend a minimum of one inch of internode below the boat. I like to leave a little foliage on the cutting, but the system works for stem, root, scion, or eye cuttings. It takes between 10 days and three weeks to develop roots, depending on what you’re rooting. Once I see roots developed, I plant the rooted cuttings in potting soil. Remember that the tea can be used to water your scions that are potted. I also use it to help develop root structure on new seedlings that I start from seedstock. I'm sure I'll hear a lot about boiling the tea. I simmer for 20 minutes, while some people just soak it. My grandfather used to say it could grow roots on a chair leg. Hotwired Tips & Tricks
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Post by logrus9 on Jan 31, 2013 10:54:35 GMT -5
I'm interested in this. My plan is to make some and use it as part of the base for compost tea. I figure it can only help make it better.
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Post by MikeH on Feb 2, 2013 5:37:13 GMT -5
Do you find that there's any difference in the potency, the effectiveness of willow tea based on the time of year that you take the willow cuttings? Specifically, I'm wondering if willow harvested now during winter will work?
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Post by hotwired on Feb 2, 2013 9:17:32 GMT -5
Do you find that there's any difference in the potency, the effectiveness of willow tea based on the time of year that you take the willow cuttings? Specifically, I'm wondering if willow harvested now during winter will work? I never really tried rooting with the tree in full dormancy. I do most of my rooting between May and October, because I plant-out in the Spring. You have my curiosity peaked. My last batch was in mid October and it wasn't in full dormancy. Sounds like I need to take a walk over to the pond and cut some branches.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 2, 2013 9:28:45 GMT -5
I suspect there will be no difference in potency. Willows will root any time of year, in fact just about every member of Salicaceae will. If you go out and take a willow cutting now and bring it into the warmth it will break bud and root.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2013 21:59:05 GMT -5
When I planted my weeping willow tree, I specifically had this purpose in mind for it.
I have not succeeded, yet.
I believe that boiling, straining, aeration, and changing the water are all possible ways to keep it from getting stagnant.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2013 22:56:46 GMT -5
I collected shavings of the greenest willow bark, over several hours, filling several coffee filters. Microwaved strong tea, saturated moss, and made air layers, this afternoon -- plum, pluot, pomegranate.
We have a 'false spring.' Shorts and tanktops weather. Leaves start to unfurl. Blossoms open. Snow thins them out, every time.
From the looks of them, I'm assuming that energy is being sent to branch tips, right now.
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Post by 12540dumont on Feb 10, 2013 0:26:01 GMT -5
Have you tried this with just masticated willow without the boiling?
Have you tried putting rooting willow in water with your scion wood?
Have you tried making tea with warm water and using it to water your rootings?
I'm very curious about this. Last year I had a vase of curly willow and Leo stuck some other sticks in with it and they rooted.
The year before we put willow and red twig dogwood together and the dogwood rooted.
This time of year I often put prunings in a vase with curly willow and put them on the kitchen table. Some have rooted.
I think Willow is one of those amazing plants and have often wanted to buy a armload of those twigs to make furniture with and establish them in on our creek edge. However, I live with a native plant fanatic.
He won't let me bring in anything that doesn't live in our neck of the woods. Or creek!
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Post by hotwired on Feb 10, 2013 10:27:34 GMT -5
I think Willow is one of those amazing plants and have often wanted to buy a armload of those twigs to make furniture with and establish them in on our creek edge. However, I live with a native plant fanatic. He won't let me bring in anything that doesn't live in our neck of the woods. Or creek! Sneak it in and blame it on the birds. Some people prefer to soak the branches for 24-48 hours rather than boil. I have no patience so I bring it to a low boil and shut off the heat and let it soak in my 23-quart Pressure Canner to hold the heat. Both methods work. I use a diluted tea on my seedlings because I believe it helps root development, though I have never tested that theory (ah.. another winter project). Like my grandfather said... Willow Tea will grow roots on a chair leg.
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Post by raymondo on Feb 10, 2013 15:43:06 GMT -5
Hotwired, do your egg carton boats just float on a willow solution until rooting occurs?
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Post by hotwired on Feb 10, 2013 16:12:12 GMT -5
Hotwired, do your egg carton boats just float on a willow solution until rooting occurs? Yup - As long as there's no U-Boat models in there with it.
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Post by MikeH on Feb 11, 2013 16:14:18 GMT -5
Wow, I just did the math. If I want to fill an 8 litre (2.1 gallons) container 4" deep, I need 34 cups of willow water, ie, 34 branches. That's a lot of willow branches. I'm not picking nits here but where did you get the 66 sq in/cup of water ratio from?
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Post by steev on Feb 11, 2013 19:11:04 GMT -5
Holly, I assume your native plant fanatic is why you can only grow corn, tomatoes, beans, and squash. Oh, wait; those aren't native to California, are they?
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Post by hotwired on Feb 11, 2013 20:14:35 GMT -5
Wow, I just did the math. If I want to fill an 8 litre (2.1 gallons) container 4" deep, I need 34 cups of willow water, ie, 34 branches. That's a lot of willow branches. I'm not picking nits here but where did you get the 66 sq in/cup of water ratio from? I make up a gallon at a time. You are right I just went back and reread it. It should have read 54 sq" not 66 sq". That's (16) 36" long x 1/2" diameter branches per gallon. My Grandfather used 1/2" diameter x 36" per cup. That is still a lot of branches, which is why I strip the bark off. I'm sure that you could use a lot less bark. We had a 60 foot willow with a 4' diameter trunk next to our pond, so I guess he figured more was better. That same tree is now 6' diameter if you count the knots. I'm sure a weaker tea would do fine.
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Post by 12540dumont on Feb 11, 2013 20:24:16 GMT -5
Steev, he won't let me plant anything on the creek bank except mugwort or valley oaks. Boring. There's nothing you can do with valley oaks, unless your a squirrel or have a lot of water to leech the bitter out of the haycorns.
I snuck one little curly willow 3 feet from the creek edge and boy did I catch Holly Hell!
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