Propagating Roses: Rose Propagation from Cuttings

DKrunner | Oct 17, 2010 |

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Propagating roses from cuttings is fun and easy. Rose cuttings are one of the easiest plants to propagate; following these instructions will help you increase your chances of successfully growing roses from cuttings.

Rose propagation can help you expand your garden and get a yard full of roses, if you so please, without spending a lot of money. Propagating roses is for the gardener who is looking for a bit of a challenge. This kind of gardening is for someone who prefers to grow from seed or from a plant cutting rather than to go down to a big box store to buy a plant that was grown in a hotbox environment. While propagating roses is a bit more challenging than filling your cart with plants at Lowes or Home Depot, you can be sure that you should not be too intimidated; growing roses from cuttings is really not that hard.

Here's how to better your odds of starting a successful rose propagation:

Wait for the right time of year to start your attempt to propagate rose cuttings.
While rose cuttings do tend to be one of the easiest plants to propagate and it can be done all year around, there are definitely some times that are likely to be better than others when it comes to propagating roses.

To get a clear picture of this particular aspect of propagating roses, go and check out your nearest rose bush. If you are looking at the plant at any other time than late summer or early fall/autumn, you will see that the plant has "hardwood" branches. The places that the flowers are coming off of are thick, tough wood. Now, if you look for this same detail in late summer or early fall, you will notice that the rose bush has put off new growth. This new growth is called "soft wood" and if you touch it, it will be very clear to you why it bears this name. The new growth will be sort of rubbery; even the thorns on a soft wood rose cutting will be rubbery (watch out, they can still poke at the right angle!). This is the perfect time to try propagating roses; when they have this new, softer growth on them. It will more perceptible to putting off new roots during this period. Therefore, for the best chances at propagating roses, wait until late summer and early fall to start gathering your rose cuttings.

If you prune your rose bushes, you can just take the rose cuttings off of what has fallen from your rose bush at the hands of your trimmers. Look for the new shoot growth; the rubbery, pliable new growth.

Choose a healthy rose bush.
If you are going to try propagating roses, you need to make sure that they parent tree that you take your rose cutting from is a healthy one. Look for any and all signs of distress or illness in the plant. If you see anything on the rose bush that makes you doubt it's health or hardiness, don't take rose cuttings from that particular plant. Once you have found one that is healthy and putting off new growth, you will have found your perfect propagating roses parent plant.

Take the right size of rose cutting for success in propagating roses.
Many people get in the mindset that bigger will better your chances, but this is incorrect when it comes to propagating roses. You will need to find a rose cutting that is really only about 4 inches long. You can even go as small as 2 inches, but the very largest cutting that you should ever use to try propagating roses is about 6 inches. You will have better chances with a small, healthy softwood rose cutting that you will with a large one.

Snip the rose cutting in the right spot to begin growing roses from cuttings.
Aside from the type of stem you should be looking for, and the size that the rose cuttings need to be, you also need to look to cut the rose in a very particular place. Look for what is called a "node"; the place on the rose cutting that is just below a joint where another stem might've formed or where a leaf branches out. It looks like a little knot or knuckle on the rose cutting. Use a sharp knife to make a clean cut under this point to have the best chance of growing roses from cuttings.

Clear the bottom third of the rose cutting of leaves.
To save energy for the rose propagation or roots, take all of the leaves off of the bottom third of the plant. Also take the tip of the rose cutting right off; again, more energy for propagating rose roots. Cut the remaining leaves of the rose cutting in half.

Agitate the rose cutting stem; dip in rooting hormone, and then tuck into it's new pot.
In order to expose the rose cutting to the rooting hormone, agitate the stem by roughing up the very bottom of the end of the stem that will go in the soil. Do this gently, so as to not damage the rose cutting too badly. Propagating roses is much faster when you use a good rooting hormone; dip the rose cutting in water (only the last inch or so, depending on the size of your rose cutting), and then into the rooting hormone (if you are using a powder rooting hormone; for liquid, dip the rose cutting directly into the rooting hormone).

In a flower pot, have a small hole in the soil where you will try propagating roses. You can use a pencil to create a appropriate sized hole for the rose cutting to go into without the rooting hormone being knocked off. To officially begin propagating roses, take your hormone dipped rose cutting and gently ease it into the soil opening.

Once your propagating roses have new leaves of growth on them, you will officially have grown roses from cuttings! This usually happens in about a month with rose propagation.