How to Graft Rose Plants
A key to a bountiful and consistent rose garden is finding rose plants whose roots and growing habits are conducive to your climate zone, soil conditions and environmental factors. Graft rose plants together to combine a suitable root stock with blooms from a variety of non-hardy roses. This is accomplished by cutting a piece of stem from your desired rose bloom and sliding it into a cut on the root stock rose so the two grow together. After the graft grows for a season or two, the stems of the old root stock can be cut off and the grafted rose takes control. Most rose varietals are compatible with one another, as long as you marry the graft with root stock that is hardy and compatible for your zone. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cloche, clear plastic bag or bottle
- Grafting tape or wax
- Rooting hormone powder
- Knife
- Secateurs
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Sterile gauze or cotton
- Misting bottle
Instructions
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Sterilize your cutting equipment with isopropyl alcohol and a sterile cotton ball or gauze pad.
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Cut a bud graft from the rose plant you wish to bloom with a sharp, clean knife. The bud is always just above the leaf nodule. Make sure your graft cut has at least 2 buds. Cut the bottom edge of the graft into a chisel or screwdriver v-shape. Set the graft piece onto a clean surface and mist with water.
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Cut a notch in the stem of the root stock rose plant with your knife at roughly a 100-degree angle to receive the point of the grafted bud piece.
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Slide the graft into the cut on the root stock as far as it will go until snug.
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Quickly wrap the graft area snugly with grafting tape. If using grafting wax, soften it in your hand and gently squeeze the malleable wax to surround and secure the graft. Mist water onto the plant until it's damp but not dripping wet.
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Place the grafted plant in a clear glass garden cloche, out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool location. Alternatively, cover it with a clear plastic bag or plastic soda bottle with the base cut off. This will help keep the humidity level near 99 percent, and reduce the stress on the graft. Allow the graft to sit, undisturbed, for four to seven weeks.
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Re-acclimate the new rose over six days. Make a small hole in the protective covering on the first day after the waiting period is up, then a few holes the second day and a few more the next. If using a cloche, you can remove it for an hour the first day, two hours the second day, etc. After six days, water the rose, leaving it in its shaded location for another week. You can now place the rose in the sun, replant it and fertilize.
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Tips & Warnings
Work very quickly, as thought you were operating on a person; if the grafts dry out, which can happen in seconds, it will fail. Have all your tools laid out and run through the process in your mind before starting.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Herman, D.E., et al. 1996. North Dakota tree handbook. USDA NRCS ND State Soil Conservation Committee; NDSU Extension and Western Area Power Administration, Bismarck.
