What you’ll need:
Sharp pruners, scissors, or knife. Disinfect with rubbing alcohol or Lysol. A 50/50 mix of perlite and potting soil. The mix should be sterile and hold roughly an equal amount of air and moisture. Rooting hormone. This powder improves your odds of success, but it’s often not necessary. It should always be used on harder-to-root rose types like Damasks, Hybrid Teas, older wood, or winter cuttings. A 2.5- to 5-inch-deep pot that drains well. This could be as simple as the cut-off bottom of a plastic milk jug with holes punched in the base. A clear cover to hold humidity around the cuttings. You could use the top part of that milk jug, or a 2-liter soda bottle with the base removed. A clear dry cleaning bag propped up with stakes around the pot works well, too.
Best Time to Take Rose Cuttings
You can successfully root rose cuttings any time of the year. But for more consistent results, check the weather forecast. Plan to take your cutting when daytime temperatures are above 55°F and below 90; the ideal is between 70 and 80. That will probably be in spring and fall. It’s also best to take cuttings early in the morning.
10 Steps for Growing Roses from Cuttings
Overall, rose growing from cuttings is a simple process. Whenever you prune your rose plants or cut off the faded flowers, the balance of hormones in the removed stem changes. Under the right conditions, the changes stimulate it to grow roots. The resulting plant is identical to the parent. Bonus tip: Heel wood often roots more easily. It’s located at the base of a stem right where it emerges from another stem. Try pulling your stem straight out from where it attaches. Or cut slightly into the older shoot with a sharp knife. You can also add more tools to the process as you get into it. For example, using fluorescent lights, heat mats, and mycorrhizal fungi can increase your success. But there are some popular rose rooting tips that you should approach with skepticism.
Can you grow roses from commercial cut flowers?
Maybe, if you’re sourcing from a local flower farm that offers roses cut the same day. It’s not ideal, but you can always give it a try. However, roses bred expressly to sell as cut flowers are less likely to grow well on their own roots (they’re usually grafted onto stronger roots), so even if you do succeed in rooting these cuttings, the resulting plants may not do well for you. Another thing to keep in mind is that many commercial cut roses (as well as newer rose varieties) are patented. Those patents last for 20 years, so those roses cannot legally be propagated during that time without a license. Still, the overwhelming majority of roses are legal to root. Many of the older varieties actually depend on gardeners to preserve them by reproducing and sharing them. If you’re interested in preserving historical roses, rooting them can be a great way to get involved in rose societies and historical sites in your area.
Can you grow roses from cuttings using potatoes?
There’s a longstanding theory that potatoes are the ultimate rose rooting medium. It’s very tempting to believe that all you have to do is make a small hole in a spud, perhaps add some honey and cinnamon, stick in your rose cutting, and go. But keep a couple of things in mind: potato tubers are actually alive. They have their own mix of plant hormones and immune defenses. And at least one academic study has found potatoes had a 100 percent failure rate as a rose rooting medium.
Can you grow roses from cuttings in water?
Another old theory suggests roses root easily in water. They may start the rooting process in water, but it doesn’t go anywhere. There may be exceptions, so again, you can always try it and see if you have any luck. But expect the best results following the above guidelines.
