Grow More Roses With Cuttings

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Robert J. Dolezal

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It takes 4-6 weeks to root softwood cuttings and over the winter to root hardwood cuttings.

Why would you want to know how to root roses? There are more good reasons than you might imagine. Here are at least three:

You can reproduce your favorite unpatented heritage, old garden, shrub and species roses using cuttings – for just pennies!
If you create new hybrid rose varieties, you’ll need cuttings to grow the understock and standard “tree trunk” stock necessary for grafting with the hybrids. (Many hybrid roses lack robust and vigorous roots – they’re nearly always grafted to a sturdy and vigorous rootstock such as Rosa multiflora, R. fortuniana or the climbing rose ‘Dr. Huey’.)
Rooted cuttings provide a way to reproduce unpatented rose varieties that are no longer commercially available.

No matter your reason, rooting softwood and hardwood cuttings is a reliable way to gain new plants for next to no cost. Softwood cuttings (which are used mainly for reproducing shrub and species roses) can be taken during the garden season, while hardwood cuttings (which are best for duplicating old garden and climbing roses) generally are rooted in fall for planting the following spring. Both methods are easy to master and similar in approach.

To grow softwood and hardwood cuttings, you’ll need plant rooting hormone (which you can find in most garden centers), a loose soil medium such as damp sand mixed with an equal part of peat moss, a container that’s 8 inches deep, tight-fitting plastic wrap, stakes and a pair of sharp bypass hand pruning shears. For hardwood cuttings, you’ll also need to find a cool, dark storage spot with a consistent temperature of 35-45 degrees F. (The vegetable drawer of a household refrigerator is ideal.)

You can propagate with softwood cuttings any time during the growing season from the completion of the first bloom until 2 months before the first fall frost. Just follow the steps shown in the pictures at the end of this article and described in their captions.

Hardwood cuttings should be taken in late fall by cutting into several pieces of cane from the parent rose. Cuttings should be 6 inches long and an inch thick. Fill your storage container with soil mix and stand your cuttings in it. Push the cuttings down into the mix until their ends rest on the bottom of the container. Firm the soil around each cutting, leaving the top inch exposed. Moisten the soil thoroughly, allow it to drain, then wrap the container with plastic. Store it until spring in a cool, dark place.

When the weather warms in spring, remove the container with its budding rose plants from storage, place it in a warm spot with indirect or filtered sunlight, loosen the plastic, and water. Transplant your budding plants to the garden when outdoor soil temperatures reach at least 60 degrees F.

And you thought rooting roses was just for the professionals! It just takes a little knowledge, a little practice and a few (unpatented) roses.

Warnings

Remember, it’s illegal to asexually reproduce patented roses (or any patented plant)! Always check the plant tag to make sure there’s no plant patent protection before you attempt to propagate.

Facts

While roses have the reputation of being a challenge to grow, they’re actually remarkably hardy and grow everywhere on terrestrial earth, from the poles to the equator.
You may wonder how growers produce thousands of plants that are all the same. The answer is a combination of bud grafting and rooting from cuttings. (Plant tissue culture has recently become used more often to create entirely new plants identical in every way to their parents through the process of cloning.)

Tips

Harvesting suckers from your existing rose plants can provide a convenient source of rootstock for your hybridization attempts. Usually suckers are cut off soon after they emerge from the root crown or below the bud union of a grafted plant. Instead of trimming a sucker back, allow it to grow until it’s at least 1 foot long. Then prune it off and root it as you would any other softwood cutting.

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Next Steps

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Roses and the Hybridizing Hobby
If you want to take your love of roses to the next level, maybe it’s time to try hybridizing unpatented beauties. After all, some of the best roses came about by the hands of amateur hybridizers. Just be patient and careful…then keep your love for roses growing!
Rooting Hormones
Having trouble establishing cuttings? Try using a rooting hormone. Here’s how they work.
The Care and Coddling of Roses
Roses are special plants that need special care. Here are some tips on how to keep your bloomin’ beauties healthy – especially through the cold season.

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