Help with rooting roses
- Thread starter olena
- Start date
I'm not sure if this will work with roses or not, but an old friend who was a prolific gardener used this method to root many different types of shrubs.
Look for a low lying branch....one close to or bent towards the ground. Slit it in an area that when held down will touch the ground. Push the slitted edge into the dirt and cover it. Take a brick and cover the limb beyond the slit so that the slit stays in the ground but is not covered by the brick. (You may have to do this on both sides of the slit depending on how pliable the branch is). Water and wait. Soon a mini plant will begin to grow. Cut the branch away from the old plant and watch it grow. Relocate once the plant seems strong enough to take the shock. Voila!
Now I know many rose bushes have very upright habits so I don't know if you would have a branch that could be bent to the ground. If not, I truthfully don't know what else to do.
Hope this helps.
Look for a low lying branch....one close to or bent towards the ground. Slit it in an area that when held down will touch the ground. Push the slitted edge into the dirt and cover it. Take a brick and cover the limb beyond the slit so that the slit stays in the ground but is not covered by the brick. (You may have to do this on both sides of the slit depending on how pliable the branch is). Water and wait. Soon a mini plant will begin to grow. Cut the branch away from the old plant and watch it grow. Relocate once the plant seems strong enough to take the shock. Voila!
Now I know many rose bushes have very upright habits so I don't know if you would have a branch that could be bent to the ground. If not, I truthfully don't know what else to do.
Hope this helps.
Olena got your PM. I am not having a problem with the link. I cut and pasted it for you.
Rooting Roses using Softwood Cuttings
I've been using this method very successfully since learning it at the very first Denver Rose Society meeting I attended back in 1984. For 15 years prior to that I had been rooting roses primarily by sticking cuttings into the garden soil and placing a canning jar over them. While the canning jar method works quite well, I prefer this method for several reasons, the primary one being that it is easy to see when the cutting has rooted. The method illustrated here is responsible for almost all of the Old Garden roses in my gardens and many of the older miniatures. With it, I've been able to root thousands of roses for myself, friends and for public rose gardens.
My original version of this document can be found in the Rose FAQ. This old document has been used by many people with success. If you came to this page from the Rose FAQ link, then you might want to use this updated version of this method instead.
Take a cutting that at least has color showing in the bud - this is an indication of the maturity of the wood in the stem. More mature is OK - I do it a lot after the flower has died, but it should be from this year's growth. It is preferable have at least a five leaflet set at the bottom of the cutting, but this isn't necessary. I'm not going to say how thick or long the cutting should be since it depends greatly on the rose variety. Cuttings from micro miniatures such as Tom Thumb or Cinderella can be pencil lead thin and only an inch and a half long, or the cuttings can be half an inch thick and a foot long from a tall growing rose with budeyes spaced far apart. What's most important is that the cutting has healthy bud eyes. Don't use stem on stem. For the once blooming old garden roses, use the stem produced this year, not last year's growth, even if it is only a couple of inches long. Some people like a "heal" (part of the old cane) on the bottom of the cutting, but I find it makes no difference. Actually, I prefer not taking a heal because it damages the old cane. Make sure the bud eyes are healthy, since they are where the new growth will come from. Use cuttings where the bud eyes haven't started growing yet. It may not be possible to get a cutting where all the bud eyes aren't growing, so pinch out any soft new growth from those that are growing. This soft new growth will just die anyway and might contribute to rot. If some of these terms, such as stem on stem don't make any sense, click on this rose image for a labeled drawing.
If you can't root the cutting right away, keep it moist by placing it in water just as you would a cut flower or by wrapping the end in wet paper towel and placing it in an air tight container such as a ziplock baggie or a tupperware container. Actually, you can root roses from those in a bouquet - that's how I came by my Felicite Parmentier, Cecile Brunner and a few of my unknown roses. Keep the cuttings out of the sun and wind.
Remove the flowering part, strip off the bottom two sets of leaves and score the bottom part of the stem along its length an inch or so. Roots will form along this score. To score the cutting, you can use a knife, pin (or even a sharp fingernail) and scratch just through the surface to the pith underneath. Don't remove all of the leaves, just those that will be underneath the soil. The cutting needs the leaves to produce roots, but those under the soil will just rot. The leaves can be trimmed back if there is a problem fitting them into the baggie. For more information on how to prepare the cutting, refer the image obtained by clicking on the cutting image.
Fill a gallon zip lock baggie 1/4 to 1/3 full with moist (not wet) STERILE loose potting mix. I use 1/2 Peter's potting soil and 1/2 perlite or vermiculite. The bag will should have about 2 1/2" of potting soil and the soil should be able to clump together when squeezed, but not drip water. With your hands, firm the soil down well, within the baggie. You may want to use a rooting compound, especially on hard to root varieties. It's not required in order to root roses - I usually don't use it. Dip n' Grow is a liquid rooting compound that works very well for HTs and miniatures. Rootone works well for everything. If you use a powder such as Rootone, dip the end of cutting into rooting compound and then knock the excess off until just a thin coating is on the cutting. I find the powders usually go on too thick and this can cause the cutting to fail to root. Poke a hole into the soil in the baggie where the cutting will go. Carefully insert the cutting a couple of inches into the hole. Continue to inserting cuttings until you are done. I've managed to root over 20 cuttings of miniatures in a one gallon baggie, but don't recommend it because of the difficulty getting the roots detangled later. Four or five are usually enough to fit in one baggie. Once all the cuttings are inserted, gently squeeze the soil in the baggie by placing your hands on each side and pushing in until the holes are closed up and the soil is making good contact with the cuttings. Now, take something with a spout such as a measuring cup and fill it with one quarter to one half a cup of water. Gently pour a tiny amount of this water right at the point where the cutting sticks into the soil. This helps the soil stick to the cutting and removes air pockets. Don't use too much water or the soil will get too wet and the cutting will rot.
Inflate the baggie by blowing into it and zip it shut.
Put in bright, indirect light - if it gets direct sun it will cook. I've used both indirect sunlight, and more recently fluorescent light. If using fluorescent light, use at least a double bulb light (a shoplight works great) and have the bulbs just 2 to 4 inches from the tops of the baggies. If you use a window, you may have to experiment a bit to find the best exposure. What ever light source you use, just place the baggie there and ignore it for awhile. You don't need to add any water, nor do you need to reinflate the baggie if it starts to deflate some. The cuttings don't seem to mind.
If any leaves drop from the stem, you can remove them and reinflate the baggie. If you pick up the baggie, such as for checking for roots, and the soil cracks away from the cuttings, just put the baggie back down and gently press the sides until the crack in the soil is closed.
In about a month, you should see roots forming in the soil. The roots on rooted cuttings tend to head down to the bottom of the baggie where they then spread out like the arms of an octopus. When you have plenty of roots, you can start to harden the cutting off. Don't rush it. I usually like to wait until there is also plenty of top growth. Some roses are good at producing top growth before they produce roots. This can cause some people to think that the rose has rooted when it actually hasn't yet and they make the mistake of trying to harden the cutting off too early. In this case just wait. I've never had success hardening off a cutting that didn't show roots. Other roses are good at producing lots of roots but are slow to produce top growth. You can successfully harden off the cutting at this point. But it doesn't hurt at all to wait. I've left cuttings so long in the baggie that they bloomed. Miniatures and polyanthas such as Mari Pavie are good at setting buds and blooming while still in the baggie.
Once you are convinced that the cutting has enough roots, unzip the baggie about an inch. Unzip a little more every day for about a week. If any any time the cuttings start to look shriveled, zip the baggie back up and leave it for a few days before starting to harden it off again. Once the baggie is fully open, transplant to a pot and protect from too much direct sun for a while. In order to get the cutting out of the bag, you can cut the baggie down the sides and lay it out flat with the cuttings and dirt sitting in the middle. Then you can separate the cuttings. Try to keep the dirt on the roots as much as you can, but don't worry if this is impossible when detangling a mess of roots. (Don't do like I often do and wait until the roots are a tangled mess before potting the cuttings up)
I keep mine inside for their first winter since I am a zone 4.
Some notes:
There is a BIG difference between cultivars in how long it takes them to breakout. Some will show roots by the end of ten days, others will take more than 6 weeks. If the cutting is still green there is hope.
Don't use diseased cuttings. Blackspot and Mildew just LOVE the closed, humid environment of a baggie.
If the leaves drop, don't panic. The cutting may still root.
Reasons the leaves drop: diseases such as blackspot will definitely cause them to drop. Inadequate light will cause them to drop.
If the soil is too dry, the cuttings will shrivel, if it is too moist they will rot and turn black.
If there are any black or rotting leaves or cuttings in the baggie, just open it up and remove them.
It is illegal in the USA to asexually propagate patented roses without permission from the hybridizer.
I've found some roses root easier than others.
Chinas are some of the easiest roses to root.
I've never had any trouble rooting miniature roses or polyanthas.
Rugosas seem to need more mature cuttings than other roses - instead of taking a cutting with a newly opened bloom, take one where the bloom has completely finished or where a hip might already be forming. Or take cuttings further down the stem where the wood is harder.
Some people have trouble with albas, but I've been able to root the following varieties without any particular difficulty: Alba Suaveolens, Chloris, MMe Plantier (hybrid alba) and Felicite Parmentier.
Other once blooming OGRs such as gallicas, centifolias and damasks have been easy to root.
Hybrid Teas - some are easier than others. Double Delight was one of the easier hybrid teas to root and also does well on its own roots in the garden. I have had more trouble with hybrid teas putting out plenty of top growth before growing roots than any other type of rose.
Pimpinellifolias (Spinosissimas) and their hybrids have given me the most trouble rooting. I've managed to root Fruhlingsgold and Stanwell Perpetual, but it took a long time and the percentages that rooted were lower than usual.
Zip lock baggies can be used to root plants other than roses. Some of the plants I've had an easy time rooting in baggies are:
Tomatoes - tomatoes are incredibly easy to root from cuttings. Just cut off several pieces that will fit in the baggie and stick them in the soil the same way you would rose cuttings. Roots are usually visible in under a week. You can get good sized tomato plants faster than by seed this way.
Stevia - this herb is currently in vogue and can be quite expensive. I find it roots fairly easily in about three weeks. Cuttings from non-blooming plants root the easiest.
Salvias - I've rooted the following salvias in two to three weeks: Pineapple Sage - Salvia elegans, Lady in Red, Indigo Spires, and Gentian Sage - Salvia patens.
Various thymes such as English Thyme and Lemon Thyme root easily.
Lemon Verbena roots easily.
NOT Geraniums (Pelargoniums)! - I find these do not appreciate the humid environment inside the baggie and tend to rot. Instead, I just stick geranium cuttings directly into loose sterile potting soil in pots and treat them pretty much the same as the mature potted geraniums.
Send all comments to Cheryl Netter
[ The Old European Roses ] [ Shrubs and Species Roses ] [ The Center Rose Garden ]
[ The Netter Page ] [ [The Rose Tour ] [ Credit where credit is due]
Copyright (C) C Netter 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Rooting Roses using Softwood Cuttings
I've been using this method very successfully since learning it at the very first Denver Rose Society meeting I attended back in 1984. For 15 years prior to that I had been rooting roses primarily by sticking cuttings into the garden soil and placing a canning jar over them. While the canning jar method works quite well, I prefer this method for several reasons, the primary one being that it is easy to see when the cutting has rooted. The method illustrated here is responsible for almost all of the Old Garden roses in my gardens and many of the older miniatures. With it, I've been able to root thousands of roses for myself, friends and for public rose gardens.
My original version of this document can be found in the Rose FAQ. This old document has been used by many people with success. If you came to this page from the Rose FAQ link, then you might want to use this updated version of this method instead.
Take a cutting that at least has color showing in the bud - this is an indication of the maturity of the wood in the stem. More mature is OK - I do it a lot after the flower has died, but it should be from this year's growth. It is preferable have at least a five leaflet set at the bottom of the cutting, but this isn't necessary. I'm not going to say how thick or long the cutting should be since it depends greatly on the rose variety. Cuttings from micro miniatures such as Tom Thumb or Cinderella can be pencil lead thin and only an inch and a half long, or the cuttings can be half an inch thick and a foot long from a tall growing rose with budeyes spaced far apart. What's most important is that the cutting has healthy bud eyes. Don't use stem on stem. For the once blooming old garden roses, use the stem produced this year, not last year's growth, even if it is only a couple of inches long. Some people like a "heal" (part of the old cane) on the bottom of the cutting, but I find it makes no difference. Actually, I prefer not taking a heal because it damages the old cane. Make sure the bud eyes are healthy, since they are where the new growth will come from. Use cuttings where the bud eyes haven't started growing yet. It may not be possible to get a cutting where all the bud eyes aren't growing, so pinch out any soft new growth from those that are growing. This soft new growth will just die anyway and might contribute to rot. If some of these terms, such as stem on stem don't make any sense, click on this rose image for a labeled drawing.
If you can't root the cutting right away, keep it moist by placing it in water just as you would a cut flower or by wrapping the end in wet paper towel and placing it in an air tight container such as a ziplock baggie or a tupperware container. Actually, you can root roses from those in a bouquet - that's how I came by my Felicite Parmentier, Cecile Brunner and a few of my unknown roses. Keep the cuttings out of the sun and wind.
Remove the flowering part, strip off the bottom two sets of leaves and score the bottom part of the stem along its length an inch or so. Roots will form along this score. To score the cutting, you can use a knife, pin (or even a sharp fingernail) and scratch just through the surface to the pith underneath. Don't remove all of the leaves, just those that will be underneath the soil. The cutting needs the leaves to produce roots, but those under the soil will just rot. The leaves can be trimmed back if there is a problem fitting them into the baggie. For more information on how to prepare the cutting, refer the image obtained by clicking on the cutting image.
Fill a gallon zip lock baggie 1/4 to 1/3 full with moist (not wet) STERILE loose potting mix. I use 1/2 Peter's potting soil and 1/2 perlite or vermiculite. The bag will should have about 2 1/2" of potting soil and the soil should be able to clump together when squeezed, but not drip water. With your hands, firm the soil down well, within the baggie. You may want to use a rooting compound, especially on hard to root varieties. It's not required in order to root roses - I usually don't use it. Dip n' Grow is a liquid rooting compound that works very well for HTs and miniatures. Rootone works well for everything. If you use a powder such as Rootone, dip the end of cutting into rooting compound and then knock the excess off until just a thin coating is on the cutting. I find the powders usually go on too thick and this can cause the cutting to fail to root. Poke a hole into the soil in the baggie where the cutting will go. Carefully insert the cutting a couple of inches into the hole. Continue to inserting cuttings until you are done. I've managed to root over 20 cuttings of miniatures in a one gallon baggie, but don't recommend it because of the difficulty getting the roots detangled later. Four or five are usually enough to fit in one baggie. Once all the cuttings are inserted, gently squeeze the soil in the baggie by placing your hands on each side and pushing in until the holes are closed up and the soil is making good contact with the cuttings. Now, take something with a spout such as a measuring cup and fill it with one quarter to one half a cup of water. Gently pour a tiny amount of this water right at the point where the cutting sticks into the soil. This helps the soil stick to the cutting and removes air pockets. Don't use too much water or the soil will get too wet and the cutting will rot.
Inflate the baggie by blowing into it and zip it shut.
Put in bright, indirect light - if it gets direct sun it will cook. I've used both indirect sunlight, and more recently fluorescent light. If using fluorescent light, use at least a double bulb light (a shoplight works great) and have the bulbs just 2 to 4 inches from the tops of the baggies. If you use a window, you may have to experiment a bit to find the best exposure. What ever light source you use, just place the baggie there and ignore it for awhile. You don't need to add any water, nor do you need to reinflate the baggie if it starts to deflate some. The cuttings don't seem to mind.
If any leaves drop from the stem, you can remove them and reinflate the baggie. If you pick up the baggie, such as for checking for roots, and the soil cracks away from the cuttings, just put the baggie back down and gently press the sides until the crack in the soil is closed.
In about a month, you should see roots forming in the soil. The roots on rooted cuttings tend to head down to the bottom of the baggie where they then spread out like the arms of an octopus. When you have plenty of roots, you can start to harden the cutting off. Don't rush it. I usually like to wait until there is also plenty of top growth. Some roses are good at producing top growth before they produce roots. This can cause some people to think that the rose has rooted when it actually hasn't yet and they make the mistake of trying to harden the cutting off too early. In this case just wait. I've never had success hardening off a cutting that didn't show roots. Other roses are good at producing lots of roots but are slow to produce top growth. You can successfully harden off the cutting at this point. But it doesn't hurt at all to wait. I've left cuttings so long in the baggie that they bloomed. Miniatures and polyanthas such as Mari Pavie are good at setting buds and blooming while still in the baggie.
Once you are convinced that the cutting has enough roots, unzip the baggie about an inch. Unzip a little more every day for about a week. If any any time the cuttings start to look shriveled, zip the baggie back up and leave it for a few days before starting to harden it off again. Once the baggie is fully open, transplant to a pot and protect from too much direct sun for a while. In order to get the cutting out of the bag, you can cut the baggie down the sides and lay it out flat with the cuttings and dirt sitting in the middle. Then you can separate the cuttings. Try to keep the dirt on the roots as much as you can, but don't worry if this is impossible when detangling a mess of roots. (Don't do like I often do and wait until the roots are a tangled mess before potting the cuttings up)
I keep mine inside for their first winter since I am a zone 4.
Some notes:
There is a BIG difference between cultivars in how long it takes them to breakout. Some will show roots by the end of ten days, others will take more than 6 weeks. If the cutting is still green there is hope.
Don't use diseased cuttings. Blackspot and Mildew just LOVE the closed, humid environment of a baggie.
If the leaves drop, don't panic. The cutting may still root.
Reasons the leaves drop: diseases such as blackspot will definitely cause them to drop. Inadequate light will cause them to drop.
If the soil is too dry, the cuttings will shrivel, if it is too moist they will rot and turn black.
If there are any black or rotting leaves or cuttings in the baggie, just open it up and remove them.
It is illegal in the USA to asexually propagate patented roses without permission from the hybridizer.
I've found some roses root easier than others.
Chinas are some of the easiest roses to root.
I've never had any trouble rooting miniature roses or polyanthas.
Rugosas seem to need more mature cuttings than other roses - instead of taking a cutting with a newly opened bloom, take one where the bloom has completely finished or where a hip might already be forming. Or take cuttings further down the stem where the wood is harder.
Some people have trouble with albas, but I've been able to root the following varieties without any particular difficulty: Alba Suaveolens, Chloris, MMe Plantier (hybrid alba) and Felicite Parmentier.
Other once blooming OGRs such as gallicas, centifolias and damasks have been easy to root.
Hybrid Teas - some are easier than others. Double Delight was one of the easier hybrid teas to root and also does well on its own roots in the garden. I have had more trouble with hybrid teas putting out plenty of top growth before growing roots than any other type of rose.
Pimpinellifolias (Spinosissimas) and their hybrids have given me the most trouble rooting. I've managed to root Fruhlingsgold and Stanwell Perpetual, but it took a long time and the percentages that rooted were lower than usual.
Zip lock baggies can be used to root plants other than roses. Some of the plants I've had an easy time rooting in baggies are:
Tomatoes - tomatoes are incredibly easy to root from cuttings. Just cut off several pieces that will fit in the baggie and stick them in the soil the same way you would rose cuttings. Roots are usually visible in under a week. You can get good sized tomato plants faster than by seed this way.
Stevia - this herb is currently in vogue and can be quite expensive. I find it roots fairly easily in about three weeks. Cuttings from non-blooming plants root the easiest.
Salvias - I've rooted the following salvias in two to three weeks: Pineapple Sage - Salvia elegans, Lady in Red, Indigo Spires, and Gentian Sage - Salvia patens.
Various thymes such as English Thyme and Lemon Thyme root easily.
Lemon Verbena roots easily.
NOT Geraniums (Pelargoniums)! - I find these do not appreciate the humid environment inside the baggie and tend to rot. Instead, I just stick geranium cuttings directly into loose sterile potting soil in pots and treat them pretty much the same as the mature potted geraniums.
Send all comments to Cheryl Netter
[ The Old European Roses ] [ Shrubs and Species Roses ] [ The Center Rose Garden ]
[ The Netter Page ] [ [The Rose Tour ] [ Credit where credit is due]
Copyright (C) C Netter 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
I've never had any luck rooting roses. It must be very rewarding. I think I'll try it after reading that article.-
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