nope rooting hormone will not help established plants. it's just for roots on wounds and nodes. don't waste your hormone go with something like a 5-20-10 fertilizer and use as directed more is not better. this is also a good fert mid season around the first of june as it will boost your fig production as well as establish roots on young plants not old enough to produce figs. if a young fig does have figs pick them off the first year and it will put more power into the plants thus making it a stronger, well rooted plant that's less susceptible to disease. beware of fertilizers with high first number like 20-10-10 or 10-5-5 late in the season as it will give you a flush of growth and a bunch of die back come winter and possibly death. hope this helps.

I've rooted rosemary in water, and my mom did it in regular soil from the yard (without hormone). So I'd say it's a great candidate in just about any combination of methods you want to try. With the water, I used a transparent cup and it took about 1 month to see root growth, but once that root shows up, it grows very fast.

Decades ago we were taught in college laboratories that as long as the powder was kept dry it had an indefinite shelf life. We were taught to toss solutions after use. I don't recall anyone ever teaching why do it this way. Now people sell solutions and recommend tossing the powder. I don't recall anyone ever boasting that they knew why. My gut says its marketing. You will buy more if they sell solutions and recommend tossing the powder.

I did a little research since I also have a bottle of Schultz "take-root" rooting hormone (now marketed under the "Garden Safe" brand name) that is at least 5 years old. The main ingredient is indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) which is one of two main chemicals these rooting compounds use (the other being napthalenacetic acid or NAA). Based on manufacturers data sheets, there seems to be some discrepancy as to how long they will remain effective. For IBA, I've found ranges from 6 months to 3 years, provided it is kept dry and out of direct light. However, the MSDS sheets all rate it as a stable compound, which seems to mean that it will last for quite a while as long as it is stored properly (cool, dark and dry) and out of reach of reactive compounds that would cause it to degrade. For NAA.. it seems like 3 years is the common figure given for a shelf life, but again, it is listed as a stable compound, so it may last longer if stored properly. Both compounds break down quite rapidly in the presence of UV light (NAA is stated to last only about 10 hours when exposed) and in the presence of micro-organisms such as those found in water and soil. I've been using the Schultz product for years and have had great success.. even though it's a bit old. Although, I must admit that I also use saliva in conjunction with the rooting hormone on all my cuttings except for the poisonous ones, so that may make a difference. Unless you are working in a commercial environment producing bazillions of plants, I find it hard to go through a bottle of the stuff fast enough.. a 2oz bottle will be enough for thousands of cuttings, so it tends to last quite a while. Footnote: After doing this little bit of research, I stopped by K-Mart on my way home the other day and picked up a fresh new bottle! $6 every 5 years or so isn't going to break the bank, and it can't hurt to get some fresh stuff every now and then. Maybe I'll try both on my next batch of cuttings and see if there is any difference in rooting between the old and new. Cheers, Brad