How to Grow Roses from Cuttings

You can start out with just a few rose bushes and end up with a whole rose garden. With a little help from nature and its magical process of propagation, you can multiply the number of roses in your garden by following these suggestions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rose bush

1. Decide which roses you want to propagate. Propagating a rose is natural reproduction of parent stock, and involves taking a cutting--a length of stem--of a rose plant and growing it into another plant.

2. 
    
   Stems for cuttings

   Determine approximately how many cuttings you want to take. Look at the roses you anticipate taking cuttings from to see if you have stems available that are firm and green, about the diameter of a pencil and 6 to 8 inches long with growth buds on them. You can take cuttings any time of year, but generally the temperatures in the fall are the best. Night temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees F and daytime temperatures not over 90 degrees F will most likely yield the best results when propagating roses.

3. Choose and prepare a location for the placement of your cuttings. It should be a site with bright but not direct light. The soil should be loose and rich in humus and kept moist but well drained--not soggy. Adding a little peat moss to the soil mixture may be helpful to keep it loose and moist.

4. Cut the stems that you have decided to propagate. Use sharp, clean pruners. It is recommended that you sanitize your pruners with alcohol or a weak solution of bleach to minimize spreading any diseases. Cut the stems in 6- to 8-inch lengths at a 45-degree angle below a growth bud. Be careful to keep the stems in the top side up position. You may want to cut a straight cut for the bottom of each cutting to avoid planting your cuttings upside down. Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the stems. The straight cut on the bottoms with the angled cut on the tops can minimize confusion when you plant. Proceed to plant cuttings immediately, or put in a plastic bag with a moist towel around the ends and plant as soon as possible--no longer than a 2-day delay.

5. 
    

   Plant your cuttings. Insert the cuttings top side up approximately 3 inches into the dirt. Firm the soil around them. Keep cuttings watered but not soggy. Roots take about 6 weeks to develop. Mulch over and around the cuttings for the winter. In the spring, you should see new growth if your cuttings have taken root. You can transplant them in the spring or care for them through the spring and summer and transplant them in the fall.

Tips & Warnings

• You should always water roses from the roots and not from above the leaves to minimize mold, diseases, fungus and insects.
• Many modern roses are protected by patents. You can propagate your patented roses for your own garden; you cannot propagate patented roses and sell them. Patents for roses last for 17 years.