Gardening: Make Your Own Plant Hormones

Indolebutyric acid is a synthetic plant hormone sold in various gardening products (and separately) to help promote and regulate certain aspects of plant growth. Other names for the hormone are indole-3-butyric acid, 3-indolebutyric acid, 1H-Indole-3-butanoic acid, and IBA. It is either light yellow or white in color with a molecular formula of C_12 H_13 NO_2, and is classified as being in the auxin family. Indolebutyric acid usually melts around 125 degrees Celsius, which means it will not dissolve by simply being immersed in hot water, but must be mixed with at least 75% alcohol first (then water is usually added for further dilution and the total solution stored in a cellar or other cool place).

The main purpose of indolebutyric acid in gardening use is to help roots, stems, and buds grow longer and stronger. Many gardening products include IBA as a synthetic hormone for plant enhancement, but the great thing is that you can make a version of it yourself, which I will explain in this article. (We won't be making real indolebutyric acid, but instead extracting genuine plant hormones that will have roughly the same effect and function as IBA.)

First, we will need to locate a willow tree. Willows are deciduous trees that come from the Salix genus and there are roughly 350 different species of them. Willows are very popular trees since most are highly ornamental, but they also have a number of useful and interesting properties. One is that the bark contains salicin, an acid whose synthetic form is used to make aspirin. Another property is that willow cuttings are known for taking root easily and readily (which may have something to do with their high plant hormone content). One famous story concerning cuttings readily taking root (Reference: Every Day Book by William Hone) is that Alexander Pope once asked to have a willow twig from a package that Lady Suffolk received from Spain. She gave him one to plant and now it's believed that every one of England's Weeping Willow trees come from Mr. Pope planting that single twig.

To make your own plant hormones, simply cut some twigs from your willow tree and shorten them into lengths small enough to fit into a bucket. Cover them with water and let them soak for at least two to three days. Next, remove the twigs, but hold on to the water, which will now be saturated with beneficial plant hormones similar to a prepared solution of indolebutyric acid. You can use this solution to treat your plants the same way you would use IBA solutions to enhance roots, buds, and the stems of your plants.