How to Start a New Rose Plant
Starting a new rose plant can be done several different ways. New plants are commonly started from cuttings of older plants, but if your roses are not a bush variety, consider harvesting and germinating rose seeds. If you want to start a new rosebush, propagating with the small suckers that develop around established rosebushes is your easiest option. Regardless of which method you choose, be sure the mother plant is healthy. Any new plants will need plenty of water and good soil conditions to help them get established. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Established rose plant
- Garden shears
- Knife
- Paper towel
- Zip-top bag
- Fork
- Compost or manure
Instructions
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Cutting Method
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Wait until springtime to take your cutting. Find a healthy young stem on your mother plant. Look for a lighter green shoot with a few leaves attached that does not have any buds.
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Cut four to six inches off the stem with sharp garden shears. Make the cut at a 45-degree angle, with the tip of your shears pointed towards the ground.
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Plant your cutting with the clipped end in the ground, with about two inches of the stem below the soil. Gently press the soil around the stem so it stands up straight.
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Water your cutting when the soil feels dry to the touch. Shade your cuttings from intense sun for their first summer and water them regularly.
Seed Method
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Leave flowers on the mother plant after they die. Do not deadhead. After the flower wilts and the leaves fall away, you should see a small, bulbous rosehip where the flower used to be.
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Leave the rosehip on your rose plant as it grows. Mature rosehips will turn red, orange or yellow. Remove the rosehip from the plant, and cut it open with a sharp knife. Inside, you will find your seeds.
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Rinse the seeds well and wrap them in a moist paper towel. Put the paper towel in a zip-top bag and place the bag in the refrigerator. Check the seeds four to five weeks later, and you should see small root tips poking through the seed shells.
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Plant the seeds that have sprouted roots. Press the seeds about ¼ inch below the soil, and water well after planting. Be careful not to break off the fragile young roots during planting. Water the seeds regularly when the soil feels dry to the touch, and your seedlings should emerge within a few days.
Sucker Method
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Look for small suckers growing around the base of older rosebushes. These small shoots are actually new rose plants, and you simply need to separate them from the mother plant and replant the suckers in a new location.
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Use a fork to gently remove the sucker and its root system from the soil. If the roots are attached to the mother plant, use garden shears to sever the linked roots, leaving most of the root still attached to the sucker.
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Prepare the soil in your new location by adding compost or manure to the existing dirt.
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Plant the sucker in the new location. Cover the roots with dirt and lightly pack the soil around the base of the sucker. Water the ground thoroughly after planting. Continue regular watering and shelter the sucker from intense sun or extreme temperatures for the first summer.
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Tips & Warnings
Choose a location with good soil drainage for your new rose plant. Areas that are sheltered from wind and midday sun are ideal; new rose plants are especially vulnerable to intense sun and extreme wind or cold.
