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If you’ve ever watched a tray of mulberry cuttings slowly turn brown and die, you know exactly how demoralizing it feels. I lost two full batches last spring before I finally started researching Hormex rooting powder mulberry cuttings as a serious solution. Nothing I had tried was working — not plain water, not diluted willow water, not the cheap gel hormone from the garden center. I needed something stronger.
Mulberry cuttings are notoriously tricky. Hardwood varieties especially seem to resist rooting with stubbornness that borders on personal. I was trying to propagate a Pakistan mulberry and a locally sourced Illinois Everbearing, and both had failed me twice. At that point, I was ready to try almost anything with decent reviews and a science-backed formula behind it.
That’s when I landed on Hormex Rooting Powder #16 (1.60% IBA) for Difficult Hardwood Plants & Trees – Maximum Strength Root Powder, Root Stimulator for Plants, Rooting Hormone for Cuttings, Cloning, & Propagation. The “maximum strength” label caught my eye. More importantly, it was specifically marketed for difficult hardwood trees — which is exactly what mulberries are.
Why I Chose Hormex #16 Over Other Options
There are a lot of rooting hormones on the market. Most of them contain IBA (indole-3-butyric acid), which is the active ingredient that stimulates root development. The key difference between products is the concentration. Lower-numbered Hormex formulas start around 0.1% IBA and are designed for easy-rooting softwood cuttings. Hormex #16 sits at 1.60% IBA — the top end of the range.
Mulberries are classified as difficult-to-root hardwoods. Several propagation forums and university extension resources I read confirmed that higher IBA concentrations perform better for this category. That made #16 the logical choice rather than, say, a general-purpose #3 or #8.
I also considered a couple of gel-based alternatives. Ultimately, powder won out for a simple reason: powder doesn’t introduce excess moisture to the cutting base. With mulberries, I’d already had issues with stem rot before any roots could develop. A dry powder application felt like the safer route.
What the Research Suggested
Beyond marketing claims, I wanted to know what propagators actually experienced. Reviews from orchardists, hobby growers, and university plant science pages consistently pointed to IBA powder at 1.5–2.0% as the sweet spot for hardwood tree cuttings. Hormex #16 lands right in that range. That gave me enough confidence to order it.
First Impressions: Packaging and Product Quality
The product arrived in a small, sealed plastic jar. It’s not glamorous packaging — just a straightforward, utilitarian container with a label that lists the active ingredients clearly. I appreciated the transparency. The IBA concentration and inert ingredients are right there on the label without any vague language.
Opening the jar, the powder is fine and off-white, almost talc-like in texture. It has a faint, slightly chemical smell — nothing overwhelming, but worth noting if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing. The lid seals tightly, which matters for long-term storage. Rooting powder can degrade if exposed to moisture repeatedly, so a good seal is genuinely important.
One thing I noticed immediately: the jar is generously sized for the price. I propagate cuttings every season, so having a meaningful supply on hand — rather than a tiny trial packet — was a real plus. First impressions were good, if unexciting. This is a functional product, not a lifestyle one.
My Testing Protocol for Mulberry Cuttings
I ran two rounds of testing across roughly eight weeks total. My setup was consistent between rounds to keep variables controlled as much as possible for a home grower.
Cutting Preparation
Each cutting was taken from healthy dormant wood, approximately 6–8 inches long, with at least two nodes. I made clean angled cuts at the base using sterilized pruners. Before dipping, I lightly wounded the bottom inch of each cutting by scraping the bark on two sides with a knife blade. Wounding exposes more cambium tissue and is thought to improve hormone uptake.
Applying the Hormex #16
My application method followed standard best practice. I moistened the base of each cutting very lightly — just a quick dip in water to help the powder adhere. Then I tapped the cutting into a small amount of powder poured onto a separate dish. Crucially, I never dipped directly into the jar. This prevents moisture contamination of the main supply.
After coating, I tapped off excess powder. Too much buildup can actually inhibit rather than help rooting. Each cutting then went straight into pre-moistened perlite in individual 4-inch pots.
Environmental Conditions
I kept cuttings under a humidity dome in indirect light at roughly 65–72°F. Bottom heat via a seedling mat was used for round two, but not round one. I watered sparingly — just enough to keep the perlite barely moist — and checked weekly for signs of root development.
What Actually Changed: Honest Results With a Timeline
Here’s where I’ll be straightforward with you: round one was not a dramatic success. About three weeks in, I had seen no obvious signs of rooting and two cuttings had started to show soft, darkened bases. I genuinely questioned whether the product was doing anything at all.
That moment of doubt was real. I almost pulled everything and started over with a different approach. Instead, I left the remaining cuttings undisturbed and added the seedling heat mat for round two.
Round One Results (No Bottom Heat)
- 8 cuttings total (4 Pakistan, 4 Illinois Everbearing)
- 2 failed due to base rot — likely my own moisture management error
- 3 showed callus formation at week 4
- 2 had visible root emergence at week 6
- 1 remained inconclusive at week 8
That’s a rough 50–60% success rate on the survivors, which honestly was already better than my previous attempts without any hormone powder at all. But I wanted to push further.
Round Two Results (With Bottom Heat, 72°F Soil Temp)
- 10 cuttings total (5 Pakistan, 5 Illinois Everbearing)
- 1 failed — early fungal issue unrelated to the hormone
- 7 showed callus by week 3
- 6 had clear rooting by week 5
- All 6 successfully potted up by week 8
Round two was genuinely exciting. Seeing those white root tips pushing through the perlite at week five felt like a real win. The combination of Hormex Rooting Powder #16 (1.60% IBA) for Difficult Hardwood Plants & Trees – Maximum Strength Root Powder, Root Stimulator for Plants, Rooting Hormone for Cuttings, Cloning, & Propagation with consistent bottom heat made a noticeable difference over my control experiments from previous seasons.
It’s worth being clear: I cannot isolate the hormone powder as the single variable. Bottom heat was also introduced in round two. Both factors likely contributed to the improved results. What I can say is that in prior seasons without any IBA product, I rarely got above a 20–30% success rate on Pakistan mulberry cuttings. This season was meaningfully better.
The Downsides: What You Should Know Before Buying
No product is perfect. Here are the honest limitations I encountered with Hormex #16.
It won’t save bad cuttings. If your wood is diseased, too thin, or taken at the wrong time of year, rooting powder won’t fix that. Two of my round-one failures were likely due to weak cutting selection on my part, not the product.
The powder can clump if moisture gets in. I noticed minor clumping after a few weeks of use. This happens when the jar is opened repeatedly in humid conditions. Always use a separate dish for dipping, and seal the jar quickly after each use.
Results depend heavily on environment. My round-one results were mediocre without bottom heat. The product isn’t a magic fix — it’s one component of a system. Temperature, humidity, medium, and timing all matter equally.
The concentration is overkill for easy-rooting species. If you’re propagating fig cuttings or other naturally enthusiastic rooters, #16 is almost certainly more than you need. Stick to a lower-numbered Hormex formula for those.
Final Verdict: Hormex Rooting Powder Mulberry Cuttings — Who Should Buy It
After two full rounds of testing, I’m keeping Hormex Rooting Powder #16 (1.60% IBA) for Difficult Hardwood Plants & Trees – Maximum Strength Root Powder, Root Stimulator for Plants, Rooting Hormone for Cuttings, Cloning, & Propagation in my propagation kit. It’s now a permanent fixture alongside my perlite and heat mat.
Buy It If:
- You’re propagating mulberries, especially hardwood varieties like Pakistan or Illinois Everbearing
- You’ve tried lower-strength hormones and had poor results
- You propagate multiple species including other difficult hardwoods like fig, persimmon, or olive
- You want a generous supply that will last multiple seasons
- You’re willing to pair it with proper environmental conditions like bottom heat and humidity
Skip It If:
- You’re only propagating easy-rooting plants like tomatoes or soft herbs
- You want a plug-and-play solution without adjusting your propagation setup
- You prefer a gel format over powder
The bottom line: this product delivers what it promises for difficult hardwood cuttings, provided you give it the right conditions to work. It won’t perform miracles in isolation — but paired with proper technique, it made a real difference in my mulberry propagation results.
Looking for a Bulk Option?
If you propagate at scale, there’s also a Hormex Ro