How do you bare root roses?

Question

How do you take cuttings from roses and start them, the process is called bare-rooting

Answer 1

Roses are one of the easiest plants to propagate from cuttings. Now you can share your favorite rose bush with friends and neighbors and enjoy the easy process of making tip cuttings.


Steps:
1. Prepare your potting medium by placing fresh potting soil in a small, clean 4-inch plastic nursery container. Water the soil well, then set the prepared pot to the side.

2. Select a healthy rose plant you wish to propagate. The plant should be blooming, well-watered and have no sign of insect infestation, fungus disease or stress.

3. Cut a section of stem 6-10 inches long. The ideal piece should have at least one flower bud that is almost ready to open and several mature leaves growing along a straight section of stem.

4. Remove the lower leaves so that 2-3 leaf joints are visible on the stem. The leaf joints are where the roots will form. The leaves will pull away from the stem easily by hand.

5. Dip the cut end of the tip cutting into a rooting hormone to encourage rapid rooting. Only the area of the stem which will be under the soil should be treated with rooting hormone.

6. Use a pencil to poke a hole into the prepared pot. Most gardeners who make tip cuttings poke a hole rather than just pushing the cutting directly into the potting soil to avoid damaging the delicate cambium layer along the stem. The cambium is the tissue that carries nutrients up and down the stem.

7. Place the prepared cutting into the hole, then firm the soil around the stem so that it is secure in the pot. Use your finger tips to press the soil gently around the base of the stem.

8. Place the prepared cutting into a large plastic bag. The plastic bag will act as a miniature green house, retaining moisture and heat while the roots are forming.

9. Seal the bag closed and place the cutting in a warm area away from direct sunlight. Although some light is necessary, direct sun will cook the cutting inside the bag.

10. Open the bag and mist frequently to keep the moisture level elevated. Because the little plant does not have roots yet, it can't pull up water from the soil. Keep the inside of the bag humid and moist without over-watering. Reseal the bag when you are finished misting.

11. Remove the greenhouse bag after 3-4 weeks, depending on the season. The little plant should have begun to develop roots by this point. Continue misting daily or whenever the soil feels dry to the touch being careful to avoid over-watering.

12. The plant is ready to live on it's own when you begin see new growth and roots coming from the bottom of the pot. Congratulations!

Overall Tips:
Leaf joints are the visible scars on the stem where the leaves grow. Even after the leaf has been removed from the stem, a leaf scar and new bud are evident.

Rooting hormone is available at garden centers and nursery supply stores, or you can make your own from willow bark tea.

Turkey roasting bags make excellent temporary greenhouses. They are durable and can be washed and used again and again.

Misting inside the greenhouse bag every other day should be adequate.

Cuttings will root faster in the early spring.

Answer 2

Steps:
1. Soak the bare-root roses in water for 1 to 6 hours. A five-gallon bucket works well for just a few roses, while a garbage can is a handy container if planting several roses.

2. Choose the right site in your garden or yard. Roses like full sun (at least 6 hours of direct light a day).

3. Prepare a planting hole two feet deep. Work in several spadesful of compost to improve soil fertility and texture.

4. Backfill the hole slightly to form a mound down in the hole. Spread the rose roots over the mound as evenly as possible.

5. Locate the graft union, the knobby part of the rose where the roots meet the stem.

6. Position the graft union 1-2 inches below soil level in USDA Zones 5 and colder. In Zones 6 and warmer, position the graft union just above soil level.

7. Fill in remaining soil.

8. Prune if necessary. Most bare-root roses these days are sold "pre-pruned" so you don't have to do any pruning at the time of planting. However, if your bare-root rose has more than a few canes, or any of the canes are damaged or rubbing against each other, prune them so that you have just 3 to 6 strong canes (rose stems) that curve outward.

9. Mound the soil over the base of the rose to prevent drying out. Water gently but well.

10. Remove the soil in a few weeks once the rose begins to send out new growth by gently pushing away the soil with your hand.

Tips:
Get your roses off to a great start by working a slow-release granular fertilizer into the planting hole. Most such fertilizers take care of all your roses nutrient needs for an entire growing season.

Answer 3

On a rose stem that has bloomed, cut the stem just below an eye, or where a bud that will bloom is located. Put the cutting in the ground (if you live in a climate that's warm all year round) or in a large pot if your winter is cold. It will eventually start getting roots. When the weather warms up, you can put it outside where you want it to bloom. For roses, mix some bone meal with the soil as it helps the plant get a strong root system.

Answer 4

Go to garden supply store ask for rooting compound, Get a flower pot with sand in it. Take your cuttings and dip them into the rooting compound and make a hole in the wet sand with your finger and place cutting in pot. Press sand up snug to cutting. Put Plastic bag over the whole thing. Within a couple of weeks you should see new growth in stem. P.S. Bare rooting is when you receive a rose from a nursery and they send it to you bare root.

Answer 5

cin_ann_4 is right on the money, I couldn't even add anything to her answer. She has everything covered.