How to Grow Roses From Cuttings

Take stem cuttings from a healthy rosebush after the blooms wilt in autumn.

Propagation by stem cutting is a tried-and-true method of rooting a new rose from a mature parent rosebush. Taking a stem cutting from an existing rosebush isn't difficult, and is an inexpensive effective way to add more roses to your garden or to share favorite roses with gardening friends and family. Take cuttings from healthy, disease-free rosebush, as any problems will be passed to the new bush. Start three or four cuttings, as every cutting may not root.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp knife
• Paper towels or picnic cooler
• 1/2-gallon cardboard milk carton
• Small gravel or stones
• All-purpose potting soil
• Rooting hormone
• 2- to 3- gallon metal coffee can with plastic lid

Instructions

1. Allow a few of the biggest, healthiest blooms to remain when the rosebush is finished blooming in autumn. Wait for the blooms to wilt and fade naturally.

2. Snip a wilted bloom from a stem, making the cut straight across using a sharp, sterile knife. Cut the stem 4 to 6 inches in length, making the cut at a 45-degree angle so you'll remember which part of the stem was nearest the roots of the plant. The stem should have at least five or six leaves or leaf buds, which are small protrusions where leaves grow from the stem.

3. Keep the rose cuttings cool until you're ready to plant. Wrap the stems in damp paper towels and put them in a shady spot, or place the stems in a picnic cooler.

4. Rinse out a 1/2-gallon cardboard milk carton, then use the knife to remove the top one-third to one-half of the container. Cut off each bottom corner to provide drainage.

5. Fill the bottom of the carton with about 2 inches of small gravel or pebbles. Fill the carton nearly to the top with any good quality all-purpose potting soil.

6. Strip the lower leaves from the cutting stem, leaving two or three leaves intact at the top.

7. Dip the cut end of the rose stem in powdered rooting hormone, then plant the stem in the milk carton with the leaves above the soil.

8. Plant the milk carton in a protected area of your yard where the rose cutting will be exposed to bright light but no direct sunlight. Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the milk carton, then plant it so the top of the carton is level with the top of the soil.

9. Remove the top and bottom from a 2- or 3-gallon coffee can, but save the plastic lid. Place the coffee can over the rose cutting; push the can far enough into the soil that it is secure. Put the plastic lid on the coffee can.

10. Remove the coffee can once or twice every week and check the soil moisture, especially during warm, dry weather. Water enough to keep the soil moist, but don't disturb the cutting more than necessary.

11. Allow the cutting to remain until the weather warms up in spring. At that time, remove the coffee can lid on warm days so the new rose bush will become acclimated to outside air.

12. Remove the coffee can and dig up the rosebush in early or mid-May. Peel away the carton and plant the young rosebush in its permanent home.

Tips & Warnings

• To sterilize a knife, wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol.

References

• Texas A&M: Rose Propagation From Cuttings
• University of California Extension: Propagating Roses by Cuttings
• University of Rhode Island: Starting Roses From Cuttings