Expert: Darlene K. Kittle - 9/7/2009

Question
i have a dumb cane that has grown tall and the steam is becoming to thin at the bottom to hold it up. i heard that i can cut it down and repot it, and this way i could have more. but theres a problem that i live in egypt and im not sure we have rotting powder or hormone..so i was wodering is there a way to plant cane cutting without hormone? or can i rot it in water?

Answer
Mohammad,

It is rooting hormone and you could buy it online from ebay or another mail order supplier. It is the best way to root cuttings. It improves the chances of rooting the cuttings by 200%. If you root it in water it will grow very succulent roots which somtimes die when you move the cutting to soil.

A better way of rooting the top of a plant is by air layering but you are still best to have rooting hormone.

The instructions for air layering are here: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/airlayer/airlayer.html

Here are a coouple of sites that have instructions for making your own rooting hormones using a willow tree if you have those in Egypt. They would probably be growing along a river or lake.
http://rubyglen.com/houseplants/rooting_hormone.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_172766_make-rooting-tonic.html

Good luck.

Darlene