A miraculous paste that encourages new growth and lets you easily propagate orchids, begonias and monsteraMany of our oldest gardening techniques, such as the pruning, bending and shaping of plants, are really about manipulating their internal chemistry, via hormones, to persuade them to change their natural behaviour. But what if instead of this elaborate and uncertain coaxing, we could just get a vial of these miraculous, growth-regulating compounds and apply them directly wherever it was needed? Think of it as hacking plant biology to free us up to do things that would normally be botanically impossible.Keiki paste is a wondrous substance that does exactly that. Mixed into its thick, lanolin base is a cocktail of natural botanical compounds that promote cell division in plants. Little vials can be bought really quite reasonably online, so you can start tinkering as soon as they arrive. The most common use for it is in cloning orchid plants which, since they can’t be produced via cuttings, is a total gamechanger. Continue reading…
Source : theguardian.com
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