Has anyone else tried washing fig cuttings with rubbing alcohol?, and observed increased callusing of the treated cuttings?

<EDIT> Do not wash with Alcohol!!! It seems to kill bacteria including the benificials, but not all fungal spores.

An initial reason for contemplating the use of alcohol was to reduce mold growth. I had one large caliper cutting that had possible mold growth and had been already treated with hormone ( 1 week in moss), instead of starting over I brushed it with alcohol. It did not appear that there were any ill effects from the alcohol exposure after being potted in a cup. After observing the increased callus formation of the hormone treated cuttings, I decided to including alcohol as a test variable.

An observation of the Hormone comparison tests that were performed,is that the hormone treated cuttings developed calluses quicker than the untreated cuttings. Once cuttings callus they almost never rot (in my experience). The main components in the Dip N Grow other than Rooting Hormone is alcohol.

Date: 2/3/2013

I applied 50% isopropyl rubbing alcohol to several cuttings (and let them air dry for a few minutes) then placed them in damp sphagnum moss @ 76 deg F. They were compared to cuttings started at the same time which were treated with Dip N Grow hormone @ full strength (100%, undiluted).

Experiment with undiluted Dip N Grow.
The test groups are

Hormone undiluted (100%):
    A1...Scoring "single wide slice"
    A2...No Scoring

No Hormone (50% Alcohol wash):
    B1...Scoring "single wide slice"
    B2...No Scoring

There are 3 cuttings in each group.

The callus formation on the Alcohol Treated cuttings was greater that that of the Hormone Treated cuttings at 1 week. The Hormone treated cuttings had more "primordial root formation" but less callus formation on the bottom/treated end.

I will post pictures at the 2 week point for comparison.

I love your methodology. Look forward to the results.

I use rubbing alcohol on orchids for scale sometimes. The alcohol molecules are too large to get into the leaves so they cannot do damage that way. The danger is that because alcohol evaporates so fast it can actually cause frost damage to the plant. Imagine how cold your hand would get with alcohol if was not heated and thin as a leaf. So spraying to saturate is not recommended, I use it to wipe leaves. I don't know how much that applies to cuttings but hope it helps.

Nichole,
Thanks. I just try to be observant.

Brent,
I don't actually know if or why the alcohol may cause the callus (scab) to form sooner on the fig cuttings. from my rooting experiences last year, If the cutting is callused and has primordial root formation (initial root bumps), before placing in cups, losses were kept below 2%, and none rotted. The cuttings are fully dormant (no leaves or roots), and the alcohol has not done any noticeable damage to the cuttings and evaporates within minutes after application.

i thought it was about drinking fine single malt or something while putting the cuttings into a baggie or something. but interesting idea :)

GOOD IDEA !
Thanks For sharing !

AUSTIN

i got a 12 year old bottle of scotch maybe that would work (for me not the cuttings) ;)

YES DAVE NEET WITH JUST A TINY SPLASH OF WATER

Attached Pictures of Hormone treated (on left) and Alcohol treated (on right) cuttings at Day 1 and Day 15

At Day 15 the Alcohol treated cuttings have not developed as much callus as the Hormone treated (note the callus formation in the scores), But they have "root primordia" (root bumps) erupting along their entire length, similar to the Hormone treated cuttings.

Yes, it definitely keeps the cutting from drying out. I use melted unscented Tea Candles, they were waxed for long term storage. It usually falls off once the cutting starts to grow (swell), I then apply Elmer's School Glue on the cut end to keep the top from drying out. Grafting wax would probably stay on longer, but tea candles are available at all discount stores.

the wax is a good tip .
thanks

AUSTIN

Pete, I've used Dip 'N Grow since I bought it a few years back and had it on hand.  But I've had reservations regarding it's use since a couple of commercial propagators have said to avoid alcohol which is known to kill plant cells.  Dip 'N Grow includes alcohol to serve as a steralant, I believe, not as a rooting aid.

What does your hormone treatment consist of?  (i.e., if IBA, how many PPM?)

Austin,
You're welcome. I was just following a few leads from Older Posts. If you do a search you will find more information from experienced members on the subject.

Harvey,
This experiment was actually prompted by you! You had asked (on another topic) about an experiment with 100% (undiluted) Dip n Grow. The Hormone treated cuttings in this experiment were treated with undiluted Dip n Grow Rooting Hormone. The Alcohol treated were added as a test group for my reference.

50% Isopropyl Alcohol doesn't seem to affect the cutting's ability to produce roots. Also the sterilizing affect is one of the beneficial aspects that I wanted to utilize. This test was to see if alcohol increased callus formation.

Pete, from what I've been able to determine, isopropyl alcohol can dehydrate and, possibly, kill plant cells.  I don't believe there is anything in is actions that should benefit rooting of cuttings other than the sanitizing of the cutting.  One comment I found online in my searching made it sound potentially more harmful, but I didn't see support for the comments.  Maybe I'll try to copy your experiment and include a sample for use of IBA without alcohol.  I've been sanitizing my cuttings with 10% bleach and then air drying so I don't think any further sanitizing is needed.

Not that much alcohol is required to dissolve the IBA.  Their MSDS shows they have both ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol, but I don't see what percentage.  Based on the smell, it seems fairly high.

http://www.dipngrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DipN-Grow-MSDS.pdf

IBA is short for indole-3-butyric acid, the most commonly-used auxin or hormone to aid in the rooting of cuttings.  Dip 'N Grow also has half as much NAA, or 1-naphthaleneacetic acid.  I've read some statements that IBA with half as much NAA is most effective but I've never seen a study to support that.  As I wrote above, I've known commercial propagators to just use IBA.

SCfigFanatic,
Thanks for commenting.

noss,
You're welcome.

Harvey,
I had not found the alcohol concentration on their Website or the MSDS, that's why I opted for the 50% Alcohol (and it is readily available at local stores). As to the alcohol content of the Dip n Grow, diluting to manufacturers recommendations should pose no threat to the cuttings (they would be out of business if if did :)

I have not washed any cuttings that I have started to date and have lost very few in the rooting stage to mold (pre-rooting in Sphagnum Moss method). From my earlier "hormone and none" test all the cuttings (16 and 16) are currently growing in 16oz cups and a few 32oz containers. Event the one untreated cutting that developed mold at the score point, it was trimmed (to 2 nodes) and returned to Sphagnum moss, where it rooted and is now in a cup. Also 8 of the 32 are currently leafing out.

I also thought that if scoring (without hormone) increases root production, treating with alcohol would decrease any chance of mold growth at the score point. The alcohol treated score points are currently swelling and slowly developing calluses, which is an early validation, but more testing needs to be done.

As far as my conclusion on Hormone, It works to increase callusing and root growth on every fig cutting on which it has been used. Even at full strength the alcohol content has not damaged the cutting and the large calluses have developed a large number of initial root growth. I think that for figs, a lower concentration (more dilute mix) would probably also work to promote increased root growth.

Thanks, Pete, I appreciate your disciplined work on this.  I'm not convinced that the alcohol does not cause some level of damage, but it might be very minor and offset by benefits, mainly sterilization.

It appears that any root hormone with IBA uses alcohol as IBA does not work with water.  The following verbage came from Wikipedia.

Plant hormone

IBA is a plant hormone in the auxin family and is an ingredient in many commercial horticultural plant rooting products.

Since IBA is not soluble in water, it is typically dissolved in 75% or purer alcohol for use in plant rooting, making a solution of between 10,000 to 50,000 ppm. This alcohol solution is then diluted with distilled water to the desired concentration. IBA is also available as a salt, which is soluble in water. The solution should be kept in a cool, dark place for best results.

This compound had been thought to be strictly synthetic; however, it was reported that the compound was isolated from leaves and seeds of maize and other species. This chemical may also be extracted from any of the Salix (Willow) genus. ^[1]

Danny, as I wrote above, it does not require very much alcohol to dissolve IBA and then make it water soluble.  Similar to GA3, I imagine, which states to mix it with enough isopropyl alcohol to make a paste and then mix with water, so less than 0.5% alcohol in final solution.

There are also IBA products available that are already made water soluble.  You can find 98% water soluble on eBay, that's what I'm working with now.  Cost me about $1.40 for mixing up one large batch of 2500ppm IBA.

Update
Note attached pictures at Day 22, 2/25/2013

As of today 3/6/2013 the alcohol treated cuttings have grown buds while the Hormone treated are still growing massive roots but have no buds showing.

There is also a noticeable difference in the root strength of both groups, the Hormone treated are stronger and harder to damage. The Alcohol treated (non hormone treated) are easily damaged, removing from the Sphagnum Moss damages about 10-20% of the roots.

A quick dip in alcohol will kill any mold, spores and fungus, but the cell wall break down in the soft tissues at the cut ends can die if the alcohol level is too high. Dehydration at the cell level is destruction of the actual cells.

Clorox (10%), sodium hypochlorite (1%) or hydrogen peroxide (50%) may be used for surface sterilization of plant tissues. Zoom in on the cut top ends on the ones dipped in alcohol and see if there in ring of root nubs or roots around the end or does it look dead at the immediate end and the roots are coming out elsewhere. I spent many years killing potential tree grafts this way. Curious if you now add a hormone dip to the alcohol ones, will they turn on with roots, the stems look like they have plenty of vigor in them so you'll get plants out of both.

Jack,
Thanks for the info. I am exposed to the 10% bleach solution daily (at work), I've been an advocate. The Hydrogen peroxide (50%) sounds good, its readily available and inexpensive.

Attached is a picture I just snapped with my phone, it clearly shows roots growing from the bottom of the alcohol treated cuttings. I have been very busy the last 2 weeks and have not been able to plant (cup) the cuttings from this test. They have been at room temperature (60-70 deg F) in ziplock bags since 2/25/13. I don't think adding hormone is necessary with the amount of root growth. If the cuttings were cupped on 2/25/13 and maintained at 75 deg F there would be substantially more root growth.

Great looking roots, I agree, no need to do anything special on these. They should spread out well in the pot with that kind of symmetry on the root mass

BTW, what kinds are they?