Hi, I'm Stan DeFreitas, Mr. Green Thumb for askmrgreenthumb.com. How do you trim a rose and take that cutting, how do you make that cutting live? Well typically, you're going to take about a three to four inch piece. You're going to cut the bottom end off, and you're also going to trim off most of the foliage because it really can't hold all that foliage. I usually cut it at about a 45 degree angle, which gives me more space for rooting. I like to use a rooting hormone. It's usually indolebutyric acid. Now, when you take your little cutting, you're going to dip it down into this rooting hormone and it's going to have a little white residue. This hormone is just a small amount. If you want to shake it you can, you just need a little bit on there. Remember, it's not like Shake and Bake Turkey. You also want to take this cutting and plant it about, oh, up to the first major branch, and remember for the life of this rose, we're going to go ahead and plant it here into the ground. When we do, I really like to keep it in a sterile soil for all of its life, because a cutting doesn't have the same hardiness that a grafted rose might have, so I like to keep it in a good peat Perlite potting soil from the beginning until the end. Take that cutting, stick it into the soil and make sure that you keep it moist, keep it fertilized and you should have a good plant for as long as you have it. For askmrgreenthumb.com, I'm Stan DeFreitas.
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