Rooting Roses - A Rose Rustler's Toolkit
Rosarian Contact:
Mel Hulse - Volunteer
Maintenance Director of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden,
San Jose, CA
(This article has been widely circulated on the Internet; the most recent
version has been improved with the inclusion of Paul Barden's photos.)
Here is that article, complete with the pictures:
http://www.paulbardenroses.com/hulse.html
Rose rustling is great fun! Whether admired in a bouquet, a friend's garden,
or found on a Sunday drive, knowing that you can clone the rose that takes
your fancy expands your love of your rose growing hobby. Hardwood rooting is
a classic amateur method of propagation, but is available only in the winter
when you can't see most roses bloom. Bud grafting requires ready root stock
and is mostly suited to professionals and experienced amateurs. Softwood
rooting is available when you see the rose blooming. I have had the good
fortune in turning softwood cuttings into growing bushes planted the San Jose
Heritage Rose Garden and others. I've started 1,000s of cuttings with near 100%
success when cuttings meet the specs I'm giving you and good success with
less select cuttings. Remember that all roses started out as seedlings on
their own roots so grafting is not essential to their growth.
Old Garden
Roses, English Roses, Shrubs, and Miniatures are generally good candidates
for rooting cuttings because most grow vigorously on their own roots. Most
modern roses such as Hybrid Teas and Floribundas are sold budded onto
rootstock. Most newer ones grow well on their own roots; a few do not. A
small number of old varieties, such as Spinosissimas and some other roses
with dense prickles as well as a few modern roses, are difficult to propagate
and may take many tries to gain success. Please remember that asexual
reproduction of roses still under patent protection (now 20 years) is
illegal, especially if for sale. This technique stresses three goals -
simplicity, successful rooting of your softwood cuttings, and ease of
transfer of the rooted cutting to your garden.
EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES:
* A very bright interior window ledge or table in front of the window with no
direct sun. I am having success outside under a covered, shaded deck in our
warmer climate (overnight temperature above 45 degrees).
* One gallon ZipLock type storage bag(s).
* Bypass shears.
* A very sharp pocket, paring, or budding knife, preferably carbon steel.
* 1 gallon or more container of water.
* Potting soil. For bags, you want a mixture that holds together well when
damp. Ingredients should be of fairly fine texture. In the West, Supersoil
works well. Shultz Potting Soil with Fertilizer from Walmart And Whitney
Farms Seed Starting Mix work also.
* Spray bottle of about 16 oz. capacity. Put in 1/8 teaspoon Miracle Gro for
Roses, K-Mart's cheaper clone or Peter's 20-20-20, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
to prevent fungus, and a few drops of dishwashing liquid to make it cling.
Fill with water. The mix should suds a little when shaken. If not, add more
dishwashing liquid. If you make a gallon, use a teaspoon each of fertilizer
and baking soda.
* Rooting powder or liquid. Useful, but not essential. I prefer liquid Dip
'n' Grow because I can vary the strength.
* A garden marking pen and labels. Home Depot sells a small kit of 40 labels
and the right kind of marking pen.
* Notebook and pen with waterproof ink.
* 10" wooden skewers of the type used for shish ke-bab.
* 1-gallon plastic planting pots. You know; those black things!
* 14" saucers. Cheap, plastic terracotta color ones from Home Depot work
fine.
* Patience!
SELECTING THE CUTTING:
The ideal in order of priority:
1. A stem with a spent flower is desirable. A stem with a flower bud with no
color showing is too young.
2. Include four - 5 leaflet leaves on the stem. 5 leaves are acceptable. Fit
in the baggie governs the length. Note. For this and the remainder of this
article, "5 leaflet leaves" includes varieties that have 7 or more
leaflet leaves.
3. A heel at the bottom. This is the place where a branching cane grows out
of a main cane. Cut right up against the main cane. Faulting this, cut
immediately below the bottom bud.
4. Soft, flexible wood, 1/4" in diameter or less.
5. Disease/virus free.
At left: An ideal cutting.
For climbers
that are sports of a bush form of the same rose, use the end of a climbing
cane rather than a lateral even though it has no bloom on the end. Use of a
lateral may cause the climber to revert to the bush form. Nature doesn't
always give you the ideal and all of the above guidelines can be broken if
necessary, but try for the ideal. Keep the cutting damp until ready to use.
Wrap loosely with a wet paper towel and put in a plastic bag. Keep cool.
Refrigerate, if possible. Use within a week.
PREPARING THE BAG:
* Write the rose name or found
location and date on a new baggie with the gardening pen. Note all known
information about the rose with date in your notebook. If you are more
diligent than I, you can keep notes on your cuttings' progress as a reference
for future propagation efforts.
* Fold the zipper part down a couple of inches to keep the zip groves clean.
Put 3 cups of potting mix into the bag. No more.
* Pour a scant cup of water into the bag. Grab the bag above the potting soil
and knead the water into the soil. While doing this, tuck the bottom corners
of the bag under the soil. The mass should look like a ball. When thoroughly
mixed, test for enough water. - If water leaks out when the bag is inverted,
and squeezed it is too wet. Squeeze out the excess water. - Put the bag top
upon a flat surface. Press the top of the soil down to form a 1+" deep,
round pancake. Stick a finger into the soil in the middle. If the soil breaks
apart, you need to add water and recheck.
* Set aside on a flat surface.
PREPARE AND INSERT THE CUTTING:
Snip off the stem 1/2" above the top-most 5-leaflet leaf. Strip off the
bottom leaves leaving 1 large or 2 regular 5-leaflet leaves. These are
required to produce a hormone during rooting and to start growth. If the
cutting does not terminate in a heel, locate the lowest bud eye on the
cutting--make a cut straight across directly below the lowest bud eye (the
"bud eye" is the swelling right above the junction of the leaf with
the cane.) Here are several guidelines for unusual cases:
* Lateral stems with mature
leaves off the main cutting cane. Cut (don't try to break) these off very
close to the cane. The bud eye they came from can still produce more breaks.
* 'Broken' (opening) lateral buds with immature leaves on the upper part of
the cutting. Leave the highest one alone. It will grow. Carefully cut off any
others with your shears.
* Very small or broken leaves at the top. Leave 3 leaves. Break off the
thorns on the bottom inch of the cane being careful not to disturb any minute
buds. Note that there are many tiny buds above a heel. Carve a shallow cut
through the bark from 1/2 - 3/4" above the bottom of the cutting to the
end of the cutting on the opposite side from a bud. Avoid cutting any bud
eyes.
At right: A typical cutting, about 6 inches long with bottom leaves
trimmed off.
The cutting will form a whitish callus along this score and along the cut end
of the cane. This is where roots emerge.
Dip the bottom inch of the
cutting in liquid rooting compound or for powdered rooting compound, water
and then the compound and knock off any excess. Place the cutting in the hole
you made with your finger with the leaves running the same way as the zip
grooves at the top of the bag. Press the potting soil around the cutting. It
is best if the cane is slanted from one end of the bag toward the other. Be careful
in this process to avoid letting thorns puncture a hole in the bag. If this
happens, use another bag. Unfold the top of the bag to be ready to close it.
Spray the inside generously with the spray bottle you prepared. If any
foreign material got on the zip groves, wash it off with the sprayer. Close
the bag from both ends toward the middle leaving an inch unclosed. Be sure
you do not catch leaflets in the zip grooves. Blow into the bag to expand it
like a balloon and zip it up completely. Put the baggie in bright, indirect
light preferably inside. Direct sun will scorch and kill the cuttings.
At
left: Inserting the cutting.
From now on, handle the bag only from the top. Set it down only on a hard,
flat surface (not your knee.) The idea is minimum displacement of the cane
and new roots. Note: While not recommended, it is possible to root 2 or 3
cuttings in a single bag if you are pressed for space. Sorting out roots
during potting or later planting will be a potential source for loss. I have
found that with 4 or more cuttings some usually die.
WATCH IT GROW:
Now comes the fun! Roses are
very individual and perform differently. New growth may appear in 8 days
('The Fairy') or may take over 3 months ('Belinda' with a hard cane.) Some
will form a lot of roots without breaking a bud; some will become tiny bushes
in the bag with no visible roots for some time. The presence of leaves does
not mean that your cutting has 'struck' (taken). Stored energy in the cutting
can support a lot of top growth, but if the cutting doesn't callous and roots
don't appear, the cutting will eventually die. Most of the care needed is an
occasional bag reinflation. The bag provides the complete humid environment
the cuttings need - a mini greenhouse. Don't worry if some of the original
leaves turn yellow and drop so long as the cane is green. Remove the dead
leaflets (use tweezers) and any mushrooms or fungus. If the soil cracks at
the cane, gently move soil into the crack and firm it in place. The skewers
are great tools for this. Give the inside of the bag several shots out of
your spray bottle before reinflating the bag. Some of these dummies think
they should bloom in the bag!!!! Watch carefully for buds and nip them
immediately. If you don't, you may lose the rose or set it back months. As
long as the cutting cane is green, any of the original leaflets or new growth
are still alive, or roots are apparent and vital, your rose is alive. Don't
despair!
Above: The bags with their cuttings placed under lights. A bright
place with indirect light is also a good choice.
HARDENING:
When to open the bag? This is the tough one. Here are some conditions that
should work:
* Roots show on the bottom of the bag and you have 2 or 3 five leaflet leaves
of new growth.
* You can't see roots, but new top growth has approached the top of the bag
and is not spindly or growth lower on the cutting looks mature.
* There are strong roots on the bottom of the bag for several weeks and a bud
eye has swollen but not broken. Opening the bag to harden the plant is the
most critical time in the process. If you lose the rose, it will probably be
at this point. Be sure that you have time to care for the rose on the day you
open the bag and the day after. It doesn't hurt to put off the "coming out"
until you have time. Patience!!! Open the bag for about one inch for about 3
hours the first day. Use a skewer stuck through the opening and into the soil
to hold the bag vertical. Check the rose every hour. If the new growth droops
or the leaflet edges brown, close and blow up the bag, wait a few days and
try again. If the rose is unaffected by the opening, close the bag after the
3 hours. The next day, double the opening period and the size of the opening.
Keep watching carefully. Keep up these increases each day until the bag is
completely open. Backup a step if the rose can't take it. After the bag has
been completely open a day, fold down the zip part. Keep in place another 4
days. Give it a spray once or twice every day.
POTTING AND PLANTING YOUR TREASURE:
Now you will see the reason why I told you to tuck in the bag corners. If
possible, do this next step on a plastic/newspaper covered table outside.
Fill a clean pot one-half full with potting mix. The potting mix need not be
the type you used in the bags. Place the pot in a saucer and wet the soil
until it runs into the saucer. Indent the soil in the middle. Here's the hard
part. Holding the bag over the pot, slip your hand into the bag under the
potting soil centered under the plant. Slide the bag from under the soil mass
and your hand while keeping the potting soil root ball as intact as possible.
Slowly work the root ball and the plant into the pot with the stem centered
and at the same angle it was in the bag.
At right: Once the root
system is sufficiently developed, as it is here, carefully remove the plant
with soil intact. Be sure to cradle the root mass carefully to avoid too much
trauma. The roots are delicate at this stage!
Some potting soil will break off, but don't worry. Once the mass is into the
pot, add the soil that broke off and gently firm it into place maximizing the
plant position without significant root displacement. Make a tag with the
info from the bag. Stick the skewer in the side of the pot and hang the tag
on it. Later, when you have a solid cane, you may place the tag there, but
don't block buds. Return the potted rose in its saucer to the same location
you had it while in the bag. Keep water in the saucer to a level where some
air can enter the top of the pot drain holes. This keeps the potting soil
"sweet." Leave it there about 4 days. Your eyes will tell you when
it is happy enough to move. If your weather permits, 50-degree nights or
above, move it outside. Start in a bright or dappled, shaded location with a
little morning sun and slowly move it during a week or two into full sun.
Depending on your climate (I'm in USDA zone 9b, Sunset 17), you may need to
move it inside at night for a while (I don't). Your eyes should be the judge
of how strong the rose is and how fast it can progress. It ain't rocket
science, just judgment and ... Hey! patience.
If you have a lot of gallon pots with cuttings, an old plastic garbage can
lid can be a saucer to seven. After a week or so of success in full sun,
continued growth, and given warm weather, plant it in the ground or a larger
container, just as you would any other potted rose giving regard to the
variety, vigor, and its requirements for space and sunlight. Always plant it
or place it in a larger container if roots show at the drain holes. Through
all this and for the first month in the garden, make sure it gets water every
morning. All of this timing depends on watching the rose. Proceed if the rose
is growing and gaining strength, back off if it droops or the leaves brown.
And, just like teenagers, some try to flower too soon! Pinch off buds until
you have a good strong plant, at least 3 months. (You may cheat and leave one
bud to see the first bloom. But then, pinch it off!)
Fertilize with liquid fertilizer or fish emulsion at least every other week.
I've also found that misting each morning with the fertilizer/baking soda mix
definately promotes healthy growth. Stop fertilizing at the beginning of
September in cold country; later in warmer climes. Provide extra protection
the first winter.Repeat-blooming roses will usually put forth a first bloom
in about 8 weeks. Once blooming roses won't bloom until the next year because
they bloom on old wood.
Growing roses from cuttings is not hard. Both the process and the results are
fascinating and the roses you grow are somehow more yours to enjoy. This
paper expands on instructions in the Rose FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.org.
I acknowledge my debt to rosarian Cheryl Netter who first described the
baggy method, nurseryman friend Tom Liggett and others who provided added
details and insight, and Paul Barden who helped illustrate this article with
his great digital photos. These instructions are tailored to my area (USDA
zone 9).
