best way to root?

[bennett]

i'll be separating an heirloom rose bush this week and i need to know the best way to get it to root. i can't dig the whole thing up b/c its about 25 feet long. its at my husband's grandmother's house and she died last year, the house is up for auction and we want to keep at least part of the rose bush in the family.
whats the best way to get it to root and survive after i cut some off?

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

Get yourself some rooting hormone and dust the cut area with this. Then put the cut pieces in sand or vermiculite and keep it damp until roots form. Once you get a good set of roots put it in a pot with potting soil, to let it get bigger or put it out in the yard where you want it. The rooting hormone really helps.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Find some pieces (about 9-10 inches long) of the stem without flower buds. Pull these off the main stem so you get a" heel"on them -- this is very important; a"heel" is a small bit of the main stem & is sort of shield shaped. This is where the main roots will come from. Then strip of the leaves from the bottom half of each cutting. Then scrape a little of the outside skin of the rose stem on the bottom third of the cutting, also remove any thorns from there. All this irritates the plant into making roots.

Fill a large,deep pot with gritty cuttings compost (I use an old,deep ceramic sink as I think something very large is a more stable environment). Insert the cuttings to 50% of total height. Water & keep damp. They need to be kept in dappled shade. You may find you might have to pinch out the top leaves if they begin to go floppy. That rarely happens to me though! If any flower buds appear in the 1st year YOU MUST cut them off -- they weaken the plant.

My advice is to do twice as many cuttings as you need (you can always give them away as gifts). Most people only seem to have 50% success with rose cuttings ; I'm lucky as I seem to get 99% but then I have been doing it for years now

I do not use hormone powder or liquid; my only failures were when I did. You could try doing one half with & the others without)!

You will know that they have taken when they send out new shoots. Don't plant them out in' the real world' until they are 2 years old.




Now you know why roses grown on their own roots are expensive!!! But they are much stronger & a lot less trouble than those which are grafted -- no suckers to trim off!!

GOOD LUCK & I hope you get beautiful plants to remember your Mother by :rose



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[bennett]

thanks - would they be ok on a covered deck?
will i need to bring them inside during the winter?

i want to make sure that i get some to take - b/c after the property is sold i wont be able to 'legally' get cuttings from it anymore.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Yes, the covered deck would be fine initially, as they get older & have rooted they could be placed out in the garden but in a protected position (maybe next summer). The aim is to make them strong enough to survive out in the garden proper. Cosseting them too much, once they have actually rooted, is not a good idea. Luckily roses grown on their own roots are usually very tough.

As to bringing them inside in winter: I can't answer that as I don't know what your winters are like!

I do not bring mine in; my cuttings sink is in a very protected part of the garden. If I have young cuttings in there I do mulch & cover with floating fleece. But I'm in the UK & your winters over in the US can be very severe & long. I'm sure someone else on here can help you with this but you should let us know the zone in which you live.

Hope this helps; keep us posted as to how it goes & if you have any more questions we will do our collective best to help you.

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[bennett]

when i buy plants, i'm in zone 7 ( central north carolina)