Taking cuttings from roses and growing the cutting on to be a fully-fledged rose bush is a wonderful process and it’s not hard and we will cover all you will need to know in our guide on how to grow roses from cuttings.
We have a guide on how to look after and grow roses once you have your cutting that has taken off and ready to plant into the yard.
Tools you will need if you are going to successfully grow a rose cutting into a rose bush
- Pruning Shears
- Rooting hormone
- Pots
- Gritty compost mix
Propagating Roses – When to take Rose Cuttings?
You can take the cutting and grow on the cutting at any time of the year but the best time is to take the cutting in the cooler months, I would say around September is a much better time and I have found that you will have a much higher success rate when taking cutting at this time of year.
Best Rose Stem to Take a Cutting
When you are standing in front of a rose plant there are better stems that you will want to take than others. The best rose stem to take a cutting from is one that has flowered and is ready to be deadheaded.
Take a cutting around 8 inches down from the base of the flower, once cut place the stem into a tub of water.
How to take a cutting from a rose bush
When you come to cut your stem we recommend using a very sharp pair of pruning shears.
Make the cut at 45-degree angle, the reason you want a sharp pair of pruning shears is that the water intake in the stem is less likely to be damaged as using a blunt pair would crush the stem and block the water intake on the stems this would dramatically reduce the success rate.
What to do one cut Stem
Once you have your stem remove the flower with pruning shears the reason for this is that the flower is taking the most energy, removing the flower will allow the stem to fully concentrate all its energy on re-growing and producing new roots.
Remove all but two leaves on the stem the reason for this is that more energy will be diverted to producing new roots but we do need to leave two as once the roots have taken the plant still needs to photosynthesize once the plant gets going this will give a greater success rate also.
Making an extra cut
So we have a stem that is in the perfect condition, however, we want to give you the most chance of success and at the bottom of the stem slice upwards into the stem approximately 1/4 inch.
Rooting hormone
When you have you’re cutting it is good practice to add rooting hormone, it’s not actually necessary but again to give you the best chance of success.
Rooting hormone comes in different types we recommend that you choose a powder type, with the slice in the bottom this will give you the most cover dip the end into the rooting hormone a little tip to get best results is to slightly dampen the end.
The rooting hormone gives the root a boost and spurs the root to produce extra growth, as I say it’s not necessary but will higher your success rate.
Planting your Rose cutting
Fill your posts with at least 6 inches of gritty compost mix, poke your finger into the center and place your stem into the hole but be careful not to knock off the rooting hormone when you place it in, gently compress the gritty compost mix the stem then give it water.
Cover your potted root
Once you have your potted root its recommend that you cover your root with a bag to give its own polytunnel to keep the bag up you can use a stick that you can put in the soil.
You need to keep the gritty compost mix moist all the time until your rose cutting has a good root base this is normally around 2 weeks, to tell if your plant has roots is give a small tug and if there is residence then the process has worked and you’re on your way to growing your own rose bush from a cutting.
When can I plant my cutting into the yard?
So if you have a pot that has produced a good root base, then you can now plant the potted plant into the garden.
I like to wait a little longer than most people but this is my personal preference, I like to see new leaf growth starting and I then know that I have a really strong plant ready for planting.
Once you come to plant your new roses then I recommend having a read of our Guide How to Grow Roses this will cover everything in choosing the best position to plant your rose, down to the complete care of your rose.
Rose cutting tips
If you are taking a rose cutting from a friend in the same area that you live then you are more likely to have success and the reason for this is that the conditions that you will be planting your rose in will be the same and if your friends rose is going strong in theory so should your new rose.
Its recommend that you start with taking a cutting from rose bushes and they are generally a much hardier type of rose.
Can I grow rose cutting in potatoes
Yes, well that was easy.
You simply get some small potatoes and plunge the cutting into the potato then plant them into the ground and it’s so surprising that it actually works I have tried it, it’s believed that the potato keeps the stem moist witch gives the perfect conditions.
I would love to hear if you have tried growing your own roses from cutting and how you got on so please drop a comment below and let us know if you have tried the potato root also it would be great to hear your experience also.