Indoor plants native to the tropics are difficult to breed and difficult to care for. Orchid cytokinin paste helps solve the problem of unstable flowering. The tool improves the growth and development of many species, but the magnificent representatives of the botanical family Orchidaceae respond particularly well to treatment with hormonal ointment.
Material Content:
What is cytokinin paste and its benefits for orchids
Phytohormones cytokinins stimulate the reproduction and growth of cells, accelerate other physiological processes. The active substances in the roots are synthesized, enter the shoots. A cytokinin hormone ointment is applied to accelerate the development of young shoots and new peduncles with buds.
Microscopic doses of the drug awaken dormant kidneys, stimulate the formation of new ones.
Not only orchids are actively responding to the use of cytokinin paste. There is a large group of plants that also respond well to the product with lush flowering and the formation of additional shoots. This property fully applies to violets, roses, gloxinia, hibiscus, dracaena, ficus, citrus and succulents. The hormones that make up the cytokinin ointment are needed by plants in small quantities.
Application to accelerate flowering and reproduction
The development of new shoots or lateral peduncles from the bud depends on the type, hybrid, and physical condition of the orchid.
- You can not use cytokinin paste to stimulate any plants at the wrong time of the year.
- Indoor flowers in good physiological condition respond best to the procedure.
The most effective cytokinins act during the period of awakening and increased kidney growth in late winter - early spring.
The use of hormonal ointment has a number of features:
- To bloom orchids, it is enough to apply so much cytokinin paste on the sleeping bud that is placed on the tip of the toothpick. As a result, lateral peduncle develops.
- For propagation, orchids cause 2 times more funds. The more hormonal ointment enters the growth bud, the stronger the drug stimulates the development of new shoots. As a result, more babies will form than the root system could feed.
How to apply cytokinin paste
Before using a hormonal product, you need to carefully examine the peduncle of the orchid. Often, flower growers call this part "stem" or "trunk." After flowering, it is usually shortened, leaving a “stump” with sleeping buds.
How to apply cytokinin paste on the kidneys:
- Bend the protective scales as carefully as possible and remove them with tweezers or a scalpel.
- An ordinary needle is disinfected with vodka or medical alcohol. Shallow scratches make the tip, damaging only the wax layer and thin skin on the kidney. Through these "entry gates" hormones penetrate faster to growth points.
- To stimulate flowering, a drop of ointment from 0.5 to 1 mm in size is collected and applied to the kidney with a toothpick or cotton swab. It is important that the application of the drug evenly covers the kidney.
- For propagation with new shoots, a drop of the agent with a diameter of 1.5 - 2 mm is applied. From the treated kidney, children will begin to grow.
Orchids have a shallow, relatively poorly developed root system. Plants have difficulty absorbing enough water and nutrients. If we stimulate the development of a large number of children with hormonal paste, then all of them will not have enough nutrition.
Ointment Results
Treated buds on the orchid begin to "wake up" 7 to 10 days after applying the paste. Three large sprouts are left, the extra ones are carefully removed so as not to deplete the plant.
We note the following positive aspects of the use of cytokinin paste for orchids:
- the plant does not need a long rest period to form new peduncles;
- the ability to get a large flowering specimen from a weak plant;
- after abundant flowering, the orchid is restored in a few weeks;
- increased fertilizer efficiency.
To consolidate the positive results, optimal light and temperature conditions should be maintained, and orchids should be watered on time.
Experienced growers recommend using a nutrient mixture with a high nitrogen content for feeding. A macrocell is necessary for the formation of amino acids and proteins - the basis for building new plant tissues.
How to make a cytokinin paste yourself
Many gardeners complain that this phytohormone is rarely seen in stores. However, it is not difficult to do it yourself. Even easier, use for these purposes the synthetic drug Cytodef (Supercytokinin). It is a growth regulator for roses and other ornamental plants. The drug is more expensive than cytokinin paste. The drug "Cytodef" is intended to stimulate the growth of shoots with buds, increasing the size of flowers. The powder is dissolved in water, plants are sprayed with a liquid.
If there is a desire to independently prepare a cytokinin paste, follow a simple algorithm:
- You need to purchase one of the cytokines (6-BAP, 6-benzylaminopurin) at a chemical reagent store.
- Anhydrous lanolin and medical alcohol (96%) are also bought at the pharmacy.
- A cytokinin weighing 1 g is infused in a small amount of alcohol.
- Anhydrous lanolin weighing 100 g is melted in a water bath to a liquid state. Do not boil!
- Thoroughly mix the alcohol infusion of cytokinin with liquid lanolin.
The paste is left in an open bowl for several days for the final evaporation of alcohol. The ointment container is kept tightly closed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Contraindications
Cytokinin ointment is a powerful hormone. Restrictions on the use relate to the state of the plant.
- Do not apply paste to a sick, weakened or damaged orchid.
- It is forbidden to use the product to stimulate the growth of buds on a young or recently transplanted plant.
An orchid suitable for processing with cytokinin paste should have at least 5 leaves. Adult specimens that are over 2 years old are most suitable for the procedure.
You should carefully use a hormonal agent, avoid droplets falling on the roots, leaves and flowers. It is important to remember that the use of cytokinin paste does not contribute to the resuscitation of patients and orchid-infected pests.
