rooting rose cutting-- help please

[fletamae]

My neighbor as a pink rose bush and she has been gone for a year.
I went and took some cutting of the rose bush. I took new wood should I have took old wood? and how would be the best way to root the cuttings?
I know about root harmone growing agent but I can't get that.
I have read about putting a cutting in a potato would that work?

 

[Reinbeau]

Have you got any willow trees nearby? You can make an infusion of willow branches (smash them up a bit) and water and use that water on your cuttings, willow contains a natural rooting hormone and has been used in the past for this purpose. I've never rooted roses, I'm interested in any other suggestions.

 

[Dace]

Most roses are grafted onto root stock. If your start a cutting it most likely will not be true to the mother plant.

 

[robbobbin]

Flet-I have rooted several rose cuttings using both hormone treatment and without.
I've found the trick is keeping the medium evenly moist but not too wet. Also I have better luck rooting the cuttings outside in pots. But this year I tried just shoving cuttings into the ground in my flower bed, and 2 of them have taken, also.

As far as the cutting not being 'true' to the mother plant. unsure about that statement, however true in some plant propagation, I think the rose cuttings are part of the mother plant and will be the same as the bush it was cut from. It is a way of making sure you DO get the same bush.

Oh and I've always had more success with new growth cuttings. And remember to scrape the cut end a little to allow more area to root.

good luck

 

[patandchickens]

Most roses are grafted onto root stock. If your start a cutting it most likely will not be true to the mother plant.

Er, I think you are thinking of *suckers*. Which would quite possibly be of the rootstock not the desirable top part of the plant.

CUTTINGS will be a clone of the branch they're cut from. So as long as you take your cutting from the part of the rose you intend to be propagating, it will come out right.

Now, I believe there are some roses that grow faster or better on grafted understock (although if this is just Joe Rosebush, esp. if it's older, this is probably no issue). But that only affects how likely the cutting is to strike roots and how well it will grow if it does -- does NOT affect what kind of plant you get out of it.

For instructions on how to root your cuttings, check out

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23151
and
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/roseprop.html (be aware the latter site is in Texas so you may need to adjust seasonal references for where you live)

Good luck and have fun,

Pat

 

[Dace]

Ah Pat, you are right! I am thinking of suckers!
Sorry

 

[vfem]

This is awesome to know! My mother has some roses I would love in my yard, and we just happen to have some weeping willows out by the pond. We'll see what happens when I try this in the spring.