Rooting Roses
The 'easy-way' guide!
Rooting roses is an easy, fun project that can be done by anyone. The process is straightforward and the results, although they may not be 100%, should be productive.
You need a minimum of materials but you do need time: time to watch and water! They cannot dry out and they do need light. Start in the fall and be ready for spring. New bushes for your rose bed and they haven't cost you a cent! This page guides you through the simple steps to success with your cuttings. If you have further questions, don't forget we have a free Q & A page! Have a go....try it for yourself.
Your Guide to Rooting Roses
 Each fall I cannot bear to cut back my mini rose bushes and throw the cut branches out, so I reproduce the plants at that time. This is usually in mid-September. It is an easy process, but takes a little care, to have minis growing in the spring.Start by cutting the mini roses (or HT's too) with six sets of five-petal leaves. All of the bottom leaves are removed, one remains on the top. You have a stem about six inches long, for minis, and eight to ten inches for a HT. Now dust the stem end in a package of root stimulator or hormone. This can be purchased in a packet the size of a seed packet at any nursery.(Rootone #1; sometimes in a small plastic "pill" jar!) It will last indefinitely and one packet will be enough for several years of rose rooting if you keep it dry. I have prepared pots for my minis, as it is easy to lose the little things. I use one pot for each variety, so it is easier to label them accurately. I prefer a pot about three or four inches in diameter and this can accommodate about ten cuttings of one cultivar. I use potting soil with extra sand, but any good grade soil will be okay if there is enough organic matter to maintain good moisture content. The cuttings I have prepared are put in a hole made in the pot, with a pencil, down to the lowest remaining leaf, and firmed in with your fingers, until the pot is full of cuttings. This pot is submerged in the ground so that the lip is below ground level. Now cut the bottom out of a gallon plastic milk carton. Keep the screw cap on. Set the milk carton over the submerged pot, after it is watered thoroughly. Now you are ready to sit back until you cover your other roses in the main rose bed, ready for winter. At that time, about late November, I cover most of the milk carton with mulch so that the carton will not be kicked off or dislodged until spring. In the spring you can peek in by removing the cap. Do not take off the bottle until late May or June. You will see new leaves forming when you peak and occasionally one blooming. These are similar to hot house roses, care must be taken when you uncover them, in May or June, that they don't get sunburned or dried out. They can be separated and placed in the garden but they do better if a jar or newspaper is covering them for a few days after transplanting. ...and keep them watered well. Rooting roses this way can produce a large quantity so make sure you alert the neighbors; they may want some! Rooting roses....Propagating roses....Transplanting roses....why not try it yourself this year!
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