Sure that, if you have a rosebush that gives you beautiful roses, the least you want is to do without it at some point, Yes, it’s true? This is one of the reasons why we are looking for how to plant rose cuttings and make them work well, so that we can enjoy other plants that are the same as the “mother”.
But how do you do that? Is there a trick to planting rose cuttings and making them successful? Should they be rooted or put in a specific mixture? If you also want to multiply your rosebush but you don’t know how to do it, then we will talk about all this.
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When is the best time to plant rose cuttings?
To take cuttings from a rose bush and succeed, the first and most important thing is know when to cut and plant them because not in all stations you will have the same success.
Having this clear, The two best times to plant rose cuttings are spring and fall. During these two seasons, you may be more successful, but be careful; If the fall and winter are very, very cold, it is better to protect it to prevent it from freezing.
That said, if you’re new to cuttings, we recommend doing it best in the spring, as you’ll be more likely to be successful. And more precisely, if you do it in April-May, when the rosebush is already active and in full force (it will have sprouted leaves, buds and may even have budding buds) much better because you increase the chances of it taking root and you will have a new plant.
How to choose cuttings
Another step you need to take before planting rose cuttings is knowing what type of cuttings you should choose.
The experts are very clear on this aspect and it is that They always recommend choosing branches that are at least a year old and have flowered. The reason for this is that these branches will have a larger reserve of sap than new ones, and this offers a higher chance of success as they will deplete the reserves much less quickly.
To give you an idea, the ideal is that it should be between 10 and 40 centimeters long. If you cut them smaller, you may run out of those reserves before the cut can survive on its own. Also, if the branches you cut are between 0.6 and 10 millimeters thick, so much the better.
Be sure that these cuttings have at least 4-5 buds.
Another important factor is the type of cut to give it. At the bottom, the cut will be horizontal. But at the top it will be diagonal.
How plant rose cuttings
Now that you have the rose cuttings, what do we do with them? The normal thing is to think that we should plant them in the ground and wait for them to take root and move forward, but the truth is that there are many methods.
That is why we will comment on them below.
Planting rose cuttings in a potato
One of the first methods of planting rose cuttings is to use a potato as a “pot”. The reason this is done is because potatoes provide the cutting with constant moisture and at the same time it can benefit from its own nutrients of this tuber to feed at the same time as the roots develop.
In fact, when this happens (the roots), you can transplant it directly into the ground.
Rose cuttings in water
This method is somewhat controversial. And it is that many farmers do not recommend it. The reasons they give for not putting the cuttings in water is that, in this way, can dehydrate (yes, although it is in the water) and it does this not only at the lower cutoff point, but also at the upper point.
Even so, it’s a method that, depending on where you live or what “hand” you have, may work for you, so don’t rule it out.
In this caseit does not consist of filling a glass with water and putting it in, but it is recommended to have made a mixture of perlite and water or similar so that it has consistency and, at the same time, so that the cut is not continuously in water, but rather the humidity is maintained.
Here you can use rooting hormones if you wish, as they are added to the water in the cutting.
Planting rose cuttings in the ground
This is the traditional method and the one most experts recommend because it’s where you have the best chance of success (also because it’s the method in which you don’t have to spend extra time on the cuttings).
It consists of making a peat preparation with perlite and orchid substrate (The more drainage you provide, the more likely the roots can grow and grow without feeling “limited”). In this preparation, you need to plant the cuttings and water them regularly. When planting, you must make sure that at least two nodes of the cut are buried since that’s where the roots will come from (not the base of the cutting).
Several points should be taken into account:
- don’t give him the sun. Although roses are “solar” plants, the cuttings should not be placed in the sun, but in the shade until they begin to “wake up”. And even so, being small, our recommendation is to place them in a bright place but without direct sunlight (at most, first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon).
- Keep watering. It is important that the soil is always a little moist, and for this it is necessary to check during the first weeks that it does not dry out too much, as this will further exhaust the cutting. You can control it in various ways like putting on a drip, making a mini greenhouse with a plastic bag, etc.
- Also here you can use rooting hormonesAlthough often they don’t need it. If the cuttings meet the minimum that we have given you, they will most likely succeed if you give them the right conditions without the need to apply products to speed up the process.
How long does a rose cutting take to root?
The rooting process of a cutting, or what amounts to the same thing, the time it takes for that cutting to “settle down” and grow into a rose bush itself will depend on many factors. Therefore, we cannot tell you a specific time. It may take weeks or months to do this.
So our recommendation is to arm yourself with patience and unless you see the cutting drying out or after several months still showing no signs of rooting, leave it alone. It may give you a surprise after a while.
Do you now dare to plant rose cuttings?