To increase the number of rare varieties of roses in their flower beds, flower growers use cuttings. This is the best method for beginners; it is more reliable than grafting or propagation by layering.
Not all rose seedlings take root equally well. This article presents methods for successful rooting at home. They are affordable, simple and suitable not only for bush flowers, but also for those given as cut flowers.
Choosing roses for cuttings
To get a high percentage of rooting, the choice of planting material must be correct. Not all varieties take root equally well.
The easiest way to adapt when cutting is:
- Climbing, especially in varieties with small flowers.
- Polyanthas and hybrid-polyanthas reproduce well with green shoots in the summer, and partially woody shoots in the fall.
- Ground cover.
- Miniature ones take root easily even with the help of water.
- Floribunda varieties take root in half of the cases.
Difficult-to-root include:
- park;
- climbing large-flowered;
- scrubs;
- Most of them are hybrid teas.
Successful cuttings also depend on the color of the flower. The most suitable are burgundy and red, followed by pink and white. The yellow ones are the most difficult to root, they have the lowest survival rate of planting material and they die from infections more often than others.
Harvesting cuttings
The cuttings should be medium in thickness and development. A 2-3 year old with a large center takes a long time to adapt and may begin to rot when moved to open ground. Young ones, usually red in color, are also discarded due to slow rooting. They do not have time to fully develop before the cold weather and freeze in winter.
There are usually 3 options for cuttings suitable for propagation:
- Stems are the most common planting material.
- Lignified - sufficiently matured and stunted annuals with a diameter of 0.4-0.5 cm. These are usually rooted in the spring.
- Semi-lignified - cuttings are carried out in the summer, the central part of the shoot is used.
If there are single varieties or bushes on the site, you can try cutting off shoots with one bud. But it should be remembered that they can grow into weak plants that are not prepared for wintering. The optimal option is 2-3 internodes, and for yellow roses it is better to leave 4 or more.
Here are the basic steps for preparing a cutting:
- The length of the shoot is at least 10-18 cm.
- The upper cut is smooth, made at a right angle, departing from the sheet to a height of 0.5-2 cm.
- The same distance from the kidney is measured from below, but you need to cut it at an angle of 45 degrees, with a sharp, disinfected knife.
- Remove thorns and lower leaf blades. Cut the top ones to half length. This will help retain moisture inside the seedling.
The prepared cuttings should be placed in water, to which you can add rooting preparations, for example, Heterauxin. For the same purpose, a honey solution is used: for 1 tbsp. take 1 tsp. honey and some crushed rose leaves. The liquid needs to be changed every 2 days and after 15-20 days a light compaction will appear on the lower cut - callus.
Next, the seedling can be planted in a flowerbed or wait for long roots to appear.
The disadvantage of this method is the lack of oxygen for proper development in the aquatic environment and, as a result, rotting.
In regions with cold winters, bushes grown by cuttings wait out the frosts in a dry basement with good ventilation, buried at an angle in the sand. Optimal storage temperature is +1…+3 °C and humidity 65-70%. The next season, young bushes remain in the open ground for the winter.
General recommendations
The most suitable time for such an event: from the end of June to the end of July.
Preparing cuttings
Young and grassy shoots of roses are not suitable for cuttings at home. For this purpose, stems of the first year of life, 4-5 mm thick, which have not yet begun or have already finished flowering, are ideal. They contain more carbohydrates, which promotes better rooting of cuttings.
Rose cuttings are cut up to 25 cm long
When cutting a rose stem into cuttings (each 15-25 cm long), make sure that they have at least 3 buds. The lower cut is made oblique - at an angle of 450, directly under the kidney. And the top cut is made directly a little above the kidney. At the bottom cut, you can make another shallow longitudinal cut along the stem, two centimeters long. This will speed up the formation of roots.
Make a shallow cut along the bottom of the stem
Remember that as long as the cutting has no roots, its moisture supply will not be replenished. Therefore, it is important to preserve what you already have. In order to reduce evaporation, partial removal of leaves is carried out: the lower leaves are completely removed, and the upper ones are cut off by about a third.
To increase the percentage of successfully rooted cuttings, it would be good to soak the lower cut for 12 hours in some kind of liquid biostimulant for plants. Or you can simply dip it in a dry powdered biostimulator (such as Kornevin, etc.).
Slice treated with biostimulant
Timing of cuttings of roses
The cutting period depends on the climate zone, as well as the variety of rose and the characteristics of the formation of its shoots. In the warm season, the preparation of planting material and its rooting can be done twice. This is mid-spring: in April-May in greenhouses. A prerequisite for certain imported roses, which are first grown in greenhouses and then grown in open ground.
The best time for propagation is in mid-summer: late June - early July, when the shoots are just beginning to wooden. This is usually the period before flowering, when the buds gain color. Cuttings used later have a lower rooting percentage.
Often, after autumn pruning, parts of the bushes remain that are a pity to throw away, and gardeners try to save them for subsequent spring planting. To prevent freezing of most of the shoots you need:
- Remove all leaf blades and thorns.
- Seal the sections with paraffin to prevent early germination.
- Store the cuttings in a cool place: basement, cellar or in the bottom compartment of the refrigerator.
Rules for planting seedlings in the ground
At the end of April - beginning of May, if the air temperature is at least 12 °C, the plant can be planted in a flowerbed. The bed must be prepared in advance: dig up and apply fertilizer (for 1 bush - 1.5 kg of compost, 1 tbsp. mineral fertilizer). In light soils, it is advisable to add 30 g of ash per bush.
The seedlings are deepened into the soil, watered and hilled. It is important to choose the optimal distance between seedlings, which largely depends on the variety of roses.
Video: recommendations for cutting roses
Cuttings of roses in summer
It is easier to carry out cuttings with summer shoots than with autumn shoots. They have enough time to adapt to the flowerbed chosen for them and prepare for wintering. Cuttings taken at a later date are less able to tolerate frost. The optimal time for cutting is June, and planting can be done until the end of July.
Cuttings are prepared in the manner described above, and they can be planted directly in open ground, without using greenhouses or greenhouses. However, it is necessary to choose an area without strong wind and bright sun.
The best option would be diffused light penetrating the flowerbed through the tree crowns. The soil should be loose and well permeable to moisture.
The cuttings are deepened into the soil at an angle and dug in. At first, a greenhouse made of plastic containers is needed on top; glass jars are also used. If a significant number of roses are planted, then a small greenhouse is made from wooden supports and polyethylene. The seedlings do not require special care; they only need timely watering.
In winter, young plants are covered with jars or a greenhouse, which can only be removed the next season - in the spring.
Care after rooting
As soon as a small new leaf appears on the rooted cutting, it means that the process of root formation has begun. This can happen in 6-8 weeks. After this, it is recommended to gradually ventilate the greenhouse, increasing the ventilation time every day. It is necessary to ensure that the soil is always moist.
In the spring, when more and more new leaves appear on the plant and the ground warms up, the rooted cuttings of roses are planted in the ground in a permanent place. This should be done no earlier than the end of April, preferably in May, when there are no night frosts. Subsequently, for several years, the roots will have to be insulated for the winter.
Cuttings of roses in spring
For spring cuttings, it is necessary to make a greenhouse with pre-prepared soil: from turf and leaf soil, sand, ash and vermiculite in the proportion: 2: 2: 1: 0.5: 0.5. Length of the cut part of the plant: 10-15 cm.
When planting, it is necessary to powder the lower cut of the seedling with a growth stimulator and dig it 7-10 cm into the ground. If you dig deeper, this will slow down the formation of the root system. The sprouts should be 7-8 cm apart from each other.
The most important period is 15-20 days after planting. At this time, it is necessary to provide the cuttings with conditions for development:
- Watering is moderate; excess liquid will lead to rotting.
- High humidity level 80-90%. The leaf plates should be covered with droplets of water; for this you can use a spray bottle.
- Protection from direct sunlight. At high temperatures and hot air, ventilation is necessary in the morning and evening.
- A thorough inspection for the first signs of disease or decay.
After the root system has appeared, the rose can be transplanted into another small container 9-12 cm in size. To improve drainage properties, the top layer of the substrate 3-3.5 cm high should be sand.
Unusual ways to grow roses from cuttings
Various methods are used for rooting. Here are the most successful:
- in water;
- using potatoes;
- Trannoy method;
- burrito;
- in a plastic bag.
Planting rose cuttings in potatoes
The most popular way to root rose shoots is in potatoes. In a selected sunny area, protected from drafts, dig a hole 15 cm deep. To retain moisture in the soil, one third of its bottom should be filled with a layer of washed sand. Clean young tubers from their eyes and insert 20 cm cuttings prepared in advance into the holes. Place the potatoes in the ground at a distance of 15 cm from each other and cover 2/3 with soil. For the first 3-4 days, the plants must be covered with glass jars.
The advantage of this method is that the lower cut is constantly moistened and thanks to the potato, the rose receives nutrition and starch.
The main thing is not to forget about systematic watering and moisten the soil with sweet water every 5 days: 2 tsp per 200 ml. Sahara. After 14-15 days, begin hardening and remove the cover for a short time. After another 2 weeks, the jars can be removed completely.
Rooting cuttings in a bag
The effect of fog and high humidity can be easily achieved in another way, using a bag. It is necessary to put sphagnum moss in it, previously soaked in diluted aloe juice, in a ratio of 1:9 or a disinfected substrate. Next, inflate the polyethylene, tie it and hang it on the window. The roots will appear in 30-31 days. Afterwards, the cuttings need to be taken out and planted in pots.
Burrito Method
This method is actively used by flower growers in the USA and is becoming popular in Russia. This method is often used to root purchased roses. However, not everyone considers it effective.
The selection of cuttings occurs during spring pruning, and many shoots that are usually sent to the trash can become beautiful rose bushes in the future. Their main difference from other selected planting material is thickness; they should not be thin. A pencil or finger can be a guide; the length should be at least 15-20 cm. It is important in the early stages of preparation to discard all parts of the plant with defects or darkening. This is a sign of mold and one affected cutting can infect all the others.
The lower cut of the prepared shoots is sprinkled with Kornevin or treated with Epin, and wrapped in moistened newspaper and placed in a bag. You can use fabric instead of paper. Place in a cool place with a temperature of +15...+18 °C for 2 weeks, during which small roots should form.
Once every 7 days, the bundle must be opened and inspected for the presence of fungus or blackened seedlings, which are also removed. When the paper dries out, you can slightly moisten it. After callus has formed, the roses are moved to a flowerbed for further growth and adaptation.
Trannoy method
This method involves selecting cuttings after the main wave of flowering. Experts suggest choosing plant shoots with fading rosettes and two leaf blades and cutting off the middle part with swollen buds until leaves appear from them. The main thing is not to miss this moment. The length of the cutting is at least 20 cm. All greenery must be torn off, leaving only a couple at the top.
Plant several pieces at a time in a hole at 45 degrees in the selected area. On top of each group you need to place a 5-liter plastic jar with the neck cut off. This is reliable protection for planting material until frost, despite the appearance of leaves and new shoots. To supply the roots with oxygen, the soil around the plantings must be loosened. It is important not to forget about watering.
Distinctive features of crop propagation in autumn
You can cut roses in both spring and autumn.
But gardeners prefer to do this in the autumn. This is due to the fact that from a flowering bush you can see what kind of rose you want to propagate and it is difficult to confuse it with a non-flowering bush. And the main reason for autumn propagation is that it is combined with autumn pruning. Over the winter, the cuttings should take root and get stronger, and in the spring they will produce young shoots.
