Propagation of roses by cuttings at home

How to grow at home

Propagation of roses by cuttings is not at all difficult, almost every branch of a rose can serve as material. Semi-lignified shoots take root best of all, young unripened twigs and fully lignified ones with a thick, strong bark should not be taken. The best time to root cuttings of roses begins with the formation of a bud and ends with the fall of the petals, or rather, it is at this time that the cuttings should be cut. Before flowering, the plant has not yet accumulated enough strength, the shoots have not matured, and after flowering it is already preparing for a dormant period, activity decreases, therefore it is better to grow roses from cuttings in the summer, although cuttings are often taken during autumn pruning bushes.

A cutting is a piece of a shoot, usually 12-15 cm long, but sometimes up to 30 cm long, with 2-3 active axillary buds, from which new shoots can grow.

There are many opinions about how to plant roses with cuttings, but first you need to prepare the cuttings. They are cut from the middle of the branch, it is better not to take the tops, as they are not fully formed, and the base of the shoots is usually too thick, and there are almost no active buds on them. The lower cut is made immediately below the kidney with a slope of 45 degrees, and the upper one is 0,5 cm above the upper kidney. At the bottom, all leaves and thorns are removed, the upper leaves are shortened by a third. You need to cut with a sharp, clean tool – a pruner or a knife with a disinfected blade, in order to injure the stalk as little as possible and not to introduce pathogens. The upper cut is recommended to be treated with potassium permanganate or paraffin, and the lower cut is lowered into a growth stimulator solution (Kornevin or similar).

Some gardeners soak cuttings in water or a growth stimulant for a day to speed up the rooting of roses. Roses at home are bred all year round, but it is best to do this in spring or summer. There can be many answers to the question of how to root a rose cutting. Some root cuttings of roses in water, others in a pot of peat or earth, others fill the container with vermiculite, perlite or coconut fiber, others plant it in the garden and close it with a jar. How to grow roses from cuttings, each grower decides for himself. How to root a rose is most easily found out only by experience. For example, growing roses by cuttings at home is perfectly possible right in a pot on the windowsill, if it concerns a miniature room rose, and climbing varieties take root wonderfully in a flower bed under a jar.

How to grow a rose from a cutting? Very simple. You need to take a good cutting, plant it in loose nutrient soil, moisten and maintain the desired temperature. Taking care of rose cuttings is simple – periodically check them, water them and wait for the roots to appear. Flowers propagated by cuttings do not give root growth, which makes them easier to care for. In addition, they do not respawn into briar. This largely explains the interest in the question of how to propagate roses using cuttings.

Video “Pros and cons of growing flowers with cuttings”

From the video you will learn how an experienced gardener grew a rose. 

How to plant a rose from a bouquet

You can breed the most amazing varieties in your garden plot if you take cuttings from a bouquet of roses presented. This works best with local flowers, Dutch ones take root worse often precisely because they are treated with a special agent that prolongs the flowering time, it slows down all processes, and hence the process of root formation. But this does not matter, it will take a little experience and patience, the most exotic varieties can be rooted. Another trick may lie in wait for the flower grower – the bouquet may contain not pure varieties, but hybrids that will not retain the characteristics of the mother plant in the offspring. Nothing can be done about this.

Cuttings are cut from the middle part of the stem if it looks healthy, but if the stem is sluggish or dented, then you can not try to learn how to root the cuttings on it. Having carefully studied the stem, you need to select a site with 2 or 3 promising buds, make an oblique cut close to the bud under the lower one, and retreat approximately 0,5 cm from the upper one and cut it off evenly.

Immediately, the upper cut is recommended to be treated with paraffin, wax, or dipped in a strong solution of potassium permanganate. After that, the lower leaves are removed, half or at least a third is cut off from the upper ones, the spikes are also removed. After that, one of the methods mentioned earlier needs to grow roots.

To begin with, the cuttings are placed in a growth stimulant solution bought in a store. It can be replaced with aloe juice. Experienced flower growers recommend leaving the cuttings in the stimulator for a day, and then plant them in the ground or put them in water. Water should be settled, if it was taken from the tap, or boiled. There is one caveat: if you decide to put the branches in boiled water, then you can’t change it later, you just need to add the same boiled water as much as you need, and don’t be confused by its green color. Some close the jar with a plastic bag without tying it.

From the upper bud – or even two – new sprouts can develop on the branch, usually their appearance indicates the germination of roots, but it is possible to grow new rose bushes from them. At first, these sprouts are red, then they become green in color – at first pale, closer to yellowness, and then they darken, turn into real dark green twigs. Experienced flower growers offer to cut off such a sprout with a blade, put it immediately in a small bottle (for example, from a medicine), cover it with a bag and place it under a fluorescent lamp. After two weeks, a light thickening will appear on the cut of the branch, and after another couple of weeks, roots will appear. Then such a sprout with roots is offered to be planted in a pot, and only in the spring of next year can a rather strong plant be planted in a flower bed.

If you decide to root the cuttings in the soil, then you need to pour a drainage layer into the pot, then nutritious loose soil, and on top – sand, about 2 cm thick. they will then germinate and receive nutrients. When planting several cuttings in one dish, you should keep a distance of about 7-8 cm between them. They are covered with a jar or bag on top to create a greenhouse.

Under a jar or an impromptu greenhouse, cuttings can be rooted on the street. Just do not allow too high a temperature under cover, even adults do not like roses. If necessary, the branches are aired and watered – that’s all the care.

Growing cuttings in potatoes

You can root cuttings in potatoes, which will create the necessary nutritional conditions. To do this, take healthy, strong, hard potatoes with no signs of lethargy, cut off the eyes, make an incision on one side and insert the cutting into it.

In the garden, in a quiet, fairly bright place, they dig a trench 20 centimeters deep and about 15 wide. A layer of sand 5 cm thick is poured onto the bottom, moistened, potatoes with twigs are placed on top and covered with earth. From above they arrange a greenhouse or close the cuttings with banks. Further, such unusual plantings are watered and waiting for the appearance of new branches, which will show that the roots have already developed.

How to grow in autumn

When pruning rose bushes in autumn, you can prepare a lot of cuttings that are unlikely to give roots at home or in a greenhouse without special additional lighting, and the life cycle of plants dictates the need for rest, not growth. They can be placed in the cellar until spring, and then planted and rooted, or you can immediately plant them in the ground and leave them there for the winter so that they take root in the spring. They do it differently.

Some flower growers recommend planting cuttings in the ground, cover with banks and leave it like that, covering it with earth and spruce branches or sawdust. In the spring, with the advent of heat, the covering material will need to be removed, and then rooting will occur as usual.

Others suggest planting the cuttings in a greenhouse or a special trench dug for them. It needs to be filled with compost and earth, planted cuttings, deepening by about 5 cm. From above they are covered by 20 centimeters with fallen leaves, hay, sawdust, that is, any material that can keep warm. Then this trench (or greenhouse) is covered with a film and pressed to the ground so that it does not blow away with the wind. In winter, it will be crushed by snow and keep the cuttings. Moreover, under the film, the process of rotting of foliage, hay or sawdust, which covered the plantings, will occur, which means that heat will be released. In the spring, after the snow melts, after removing the film, you will notice small light (in the absence of the sun) sprouts on our cuttings – this means that they have already rooted and continue to grow. They need to be mulched with a layer of 7-10 cm with sawdust, poured on top and already covered only from the cold, and you can put new plants in the sun. Here’s how to grow roses even in autumn or winter.

How to care

New plants, whether rooted cuttings or rooted sprouts that have developed on them, are planted in open ground in late spring, when there is definitely no frost, when the sun is gentle and generous, but not yet hot. The soil must be prepared loose and nutritious. Caring for them consists in moderate watering, sanitary pruning (if necessary), top dressing. They will need to be watered little and often, because the root system is not yet very developed and is close below the surface. It is advisable to use water at room temperature, pour it under the stem so that it gets on the roots, and not on the leaves.

Spring pruning is not needed for young roses. You can fertilize with nitrogen fertilizers, and later, in the summer, feed the young bushes with potassium-containing preparations. It is useful to mulch them with sawdust or hay, which will gradually turn into fertilizer. The task of leaving in the first year of life is to prepare the plants for wintering. Perhaps the only drawback of propagation by cuttings is that such beautiful and healthy bushes are still too weak and not adapted to the harsh winter. Therefore, you need to try to strengthen them, you can’t let them bloom, let them just increase the green mass and root system. All care of the first year should be directed to this.

Bushes can be powdered with crushed wood ash, scatter ash around them. It will be not only fertilizer, but also prevention against pests.

In autumn, sanitary pruning is carried out, the shoots are slightly shortened and the bushes are carefully covered for the winter. If they survive their first winter, then the next one will not be so terrible for them. From the cuttings, strong and hardy roses usually develop, which live long and bloom profusely.

Video “Rose care”

From the video you will learn how to properly care for the bush.