Starting Roses from Cuttings

If you select a cutting from a grafted rose, you should get a clone of that rose. You should not get any characteristics of the root stock. On rare occasion, a grafted rose will send out a shoot from below the graft union. Unless removed, this shoot will grow along side the grafted rose. Cuttings taken from this shoot will give you a clone of the root stock and not the grafted rose.

As a child, I rooted my first rose by randomly selecting a 5 - 6 inch stem from the parent plant, burying the bottom third in the ground and covering the top two thirds with a mason jar. Six weeks later, I gently lifted the stem from the ground and saw several 1 inch roots at its base. This simple method does work some of the time, but you can increase you chances of success if you follow a few simple rules.

Roses can be rooted over winter or any time during the growing season. Here, I am talking about rooting cuttings during the growing season. The ideal time to root cuttings is during the months of June and July.

Have your rooting medium ready prior to selecting your cutting. Commercial growers usually use sharp, sterile sand. I prefer to add an equal amount of milled sphagnum. The medium is put into a pot, filling the pot only one half to two thirds. The empty space left will add 'closeness' to the atmosphere, which will aid the rooting.

The ideal cutting will be neither new and tender not old and woody. It will be what is termed 'half hard' or 'half woody'.

Select a 6 - 8 inch stem that has flowered and the bloom is spent. With a sharp, clean knife, remove the cutting from its parent stem. The cut should be made where it joins the stem and should include a bit of 'heel' from that stem.

Remove the spent bloom and stem down to the first pair of leaves. Remove all leaves except that first pair. If they are very small, leave the second pair, as well.

Dipping the cutting in rooting hormone is not necessary, but it will speed the rooting time and help produce larger roots. Also, most rooting hormones contain a fungicide which will help prevent damping off. I do not advise using honey as a rooting hormone, due to its propensity to grow bacteria.

Immediately after preparing the cutting, insert it into the medium up to and including the first node above the base.

Place the pot where the cutting will receive bright light but no direct sun. Wet the medium once. Then, during the rooting period, keep the medium moderately moist, neither wet nor dry.

The ideal rooting site will have a close atmosphere with good air circulation. Do not cover the cutting. Do not mist the cutting. Doing so will increase the chances of losing the cutting to soil and airborne pathogens.

Don't be alarmed if the leaves drop off the cutting. It will do no harm. Remove any fallen leaves so as not to provide litter which will only cause problems.

The best evidence of a successful rooting is new growth, which should appear within six weeks. If you are brave and don't mind risking the cutting, after six weeks you can gently lift the cutting from the medium to check for roots.

Keep the rooting in the same pot until the following spring. Then remove the cutting from the pot along with all the medium intact and plant in it's permanent location.

I am particularly proud of the rose in this picture. I rooted it from a cutting last year. What you see here is its very first bloom. The name of the rose is Kordes Perfecta.