How Do I Start a Rose Plant?

Roses started from cuttings usually have the same characteristics as the old plant.

To start a rose plant, you take a cutting, or start, from a healthy rose bush and propagate it. The benefit of starting a rose bush from a cutting is the new rose bush will have the same characteristics as the plant the cutting was removed from. The exception is when the rose bush that produced the start is grafted onto the root base of a different variety of rose bush. Non-grafted rose bushes are called own-root, heirloom, antique, or old garden roses.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp hand-held cutting shears
• Containers
• Water
• Powdered rooting hormone
• Perlite
• Potting soil
• Plastic bag
• Pencil
• 18-inch length of wire

Instructions

1. Snip off a stem that has recently bloomed, using cutting shears. The stem should be about the size of a pencil. This should be in spring for most rose bushes. The flower should be faded and no longer vibrant. Cut the stem at a 45-degree angle 1/4 inch below a leaf node at least 6 inches down from the bloom. The leaf node, or leaf joint, is where a set of leaves is growing. Snip off the spent blossom by cutting straight across. That way, you can tell which end should be up when you plant the cutting.

2. Remove all the leaves except the top two leaves from the cutting. Place the entire cutting in a container of water so it cannot dry out while you are preparing the potting medium.

3. Mix 1/2 perlite and 1/2 fresh potting soil to prepare the potting medium. Fill a container that has drainage holes in the bottom with the mixture. Soak the mixture in the container with water until it runs from the drainage holes. Allow the container to drain.

4. Remove the cutting from the container of water and dip the end that was cut from the plant at a 45-degree angle into the powdered rooting hormone. The hormone should cover the cut end of the stem and at least one area where leaves were removed. This should be about 2 inches.

5. Push the eraser end of a pencil into the perlite-potting soil mixture 2 inches deep. This ensures the powdered rooting hormone does not rub off the stem when it is placed into the potting mixture.

6. Place the stem end of the cutting, or start, into the hole created by the pencil and push the mixture firmly around the stem end with your fingers.

7. Make a loop of wire that goes over the top of the container. This is so you can place a plastic bag over the container and it cannot touch the start. After placing the plastic bag over the container, place the container in a brightly lit and warm (65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit) area. The cutting should grow roots and begin to grow in three to five weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• To get a start, you can also cut through the raised area where the previously blooming stem is growing from the main branch. This raised area is known as the collar. This is most often done in the fall.

References

• East Texas Gardening: Propagating Old Garden Roses by Cuttings
• University of California Cooperative Extension: Propagating Roses by Cuttings
• Michigan State University: Roses--Propagating