How to root a rose stem

[ChanellG]

My boyfriend can read my mind, he gave me a beautiful, enormous cut rose yesterday - of course now I want to start a new plant from it . It will be very romantic.
When should I put it into the soil? Should I wait until the flower withers?

Claudine, I've always heard you wait until after the flower withers to take the cutting so I'm guessing that's the answer, but if the stem has a leaf you could still try adding aspiring to the water.

Channel, patience is a virtue that you learn from gardening and I think it is really worth the wait. Aspirin does not hasten the process as I have found out for myself but it does help you against the odds.
...I left the bottle with the stems covered in clear inflated plastic bags in a warm and well lit place where there is no direct sunlight but a good amount of light and heat.

Maddie, I'm confused - the stem is in a bottle of aspirin water inside a plastic bag?

 

[maddie]

@ Claudine, enjoy your rose until it starts wilting then remove the leaves if there are too many.. just leaving a couple on the stem is okay. The stem cannot support many leaves without the root.

[quote="ChanellG, post: 8336, member: 199"
Maddie, I'm confused - the stem is in a bottle of aspirin water inside a plastic bag?[/quote]
Yes, You are right. I do that just to ensure that the water is not completely evaporated leaving the stems to dry up. This also ensures that there is the right amount of humidity in there for the stem to take root. I just open up the plastic once in a while to let in some fresh air. This seems to work very well for me.

 

[ChanellG]

Yes, You are right... I just open up the plastic once in a while to let in some fresh air. This seems to work very well for me.

Ah okay. I didn't cover my rose cutting, but the water didn't evaporate. It hasn't made any new leaves so I am wondering if I should wait to put it in soil and sit it outdoors. It gets a decent amount of indirect sun and a small amount of direct sun as the sun moves across a nearby window.

 

[claudine]

ChanellG, Maddie, thank you for your responses, I'll wait until the flower whithers then. It has a few leaves so I guess I'll have to remove some of them. I have one more question: can I cut it into two stems and grow two plants from it? It's really long.

 

[maddie]

Ah okay. I didn't cover my rose cutting, but the water didn't evaporate. It hasn't made any new leaves so I am wondering if I should wait to put it in soil and sit it outdoors. It gets a decent amount of indirect sun and a small amount of direct sun as the sun moves across a nearby window.

In my kind of climate that would be impossible. The water in my glass bottles evaporate drastically. Chanell, I think it may be good to wait for the leaves to make their appearance and the weather to get a little warmer before you put it out to face the fickle weather. However, I think it would be wiser to acclimatize it to the sun outside in degrees before leaving it out permanently.

ChanellG, Maddie, thank you for your responses, I'll wait until the flower whithers then. It has a few leaves so I guess I'll have to remove some of them. I have one more question: can I cut it into two stems and grow two plants from it? It's really long.

If the stem is as thick as a pencil from bottom up it has great chances of rooting and you can have a double bonanza. If the stem at the top is spindly, you may have to chop it off with the flower. However, as you still may have to cut it off, you could try rooting it.. you don't stand to lose anything do ya?
Claudine, when you put your stem to root in water make sure that you cut the cut with a sharp scissors at an angle below the node. The node is where your roots grow from. So ensure that the cut is not too far below the node. See picture below.

Hope that helps.

 

[claudine]

Thank you, Maddie . I see it's not very different from growing miniature roses from cuttings - I was very successful with them (even though I wasn't sure how to do it, I decided to just put some cuttings into the soil) so I hope it will be the same this time, especially since you have given me so many advices . I'm very excited!

 

[ChanellG]

Claudine, the piece of rose stem that I have sitting in water was a left over piece I had because the person who trimmed it off their bush and gave it to me cut it too long. I've seen instructions that show pictures of a branch cut down into two inch pieces and stuck in soil in a bag to root. I'm not that good yet, lol. My leftover piece is the only that survived.

 

[Rzashida]

I've seen the article about, growing rose cuttings from a potato. I think the potato is suppose to keep it moist and the starch can be beneficial. The only question is how do you keep the potato from sprouting? I think I might try this today, and do a comparison of rose cuttings in water.

 

[ChanellG]

That's interesting; I'e never heard of that method before. Do keep us posted on how that goes. Maybe the potato's resources are consumed by the sprouting rose and it doesn't have enough energy to become a vine? I think if you did this in a container you would have less worry about that though. I sprouted a piece of potato just to see if I could and I didn't transplant it in time and it died. At any rate, let us know.

 

[Mommiesbiz1]

My grandmother taught me how to grow roses from cuttings. Roses love sugar so when I recieve a bouquet I always add honey to the water ( natural sugar). The rose buds will open and the flowers last longer too. Once the flower is dead I snip it off and then dip the stem in a little bit of honey again then use the milk jug and soda bottle trick. It normally takes about 8 weeks to start rooting. Honey seems to be a natural rooting agent.

Thanks Maddie for the picture of the cute rose stem. My point in this post is not to throw the gift of a rose stem away, to root it and make a new plant. I didn't know a rose stem could be rooted, just sharing the info for people like me who also didn't know you can root a rose stem. I also root my plants in water.

 

[claudine]

My grandmother taught me how to grow roses from cuttings. Roses love sugar so when I recieve a bouquet I always add honey to the water ( natural sugar). The rose buds will open and the flowers last longer too. Once the flower is dead I snip it off and then dip the stem in a little bit of honey again then use the milk jug and soda bottle trick. It normally takes about 8 weeks to start rooting. Honey seems to be a natural rooting agent.

Oh, I wish I read this sooner! Yesterday I planted my cuttings into the soil, I had no idea it would be good to dip them in a little bit of honey...I hope they'll root anyway. The more roses, the better

 

[ChanellG]

Oh, I wish I read this sooner! Yesterday I planted my cuttings into the soil, I had no idea it would be good to dip them in a little bit of honey...I hope they'll root anyway. The more roses, the better

The honey just protects them from bacteria.

I set my rose cutting out a couple days ago. It didn't seem to be making much more progress than that one small bit of root so I decided to put it in soil and sit it outside where it could become acclimated to being outdoors but not get too much sun. Hopefully it will start producing new leaves now.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, setting it outside doesn't seem to have been a good idea. Starting roses from cuttings takes so long, and it's so easy to make a mistake, I think I should just buy a plant for now. Too bad I can't plant seeds to get roses, then again I don't imagine it would be any easier to grow them that way.

 

[claudine]

ChanellG, don't give up!
Two of three cuttings that I planted are dead but one survived and although it lost all its leaves, it produced something that looks like a beginning of a new leaf. I hope it will grow bigger! I'll keep you posted.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, Claudine today I got a marigold at the farmer's market for only $1 and some thyme and rosemary. I'll just have to let those tide me over until the end of summer and then try again. My birthday is coming up, maybe someone will give me a rose (or even a hydrangea) as a gift

 

[maddie]

Well, Claudine today I got a marigold at the farmer's market for only $1 and some thyme and rosemary. I'll just have to let those tide me over until the end of summer and then try again. My birthday is coming up, maybe someone will give me a rose (or even a hydrangea) as a gift

Chanell, when is your birthday? I wish I could send you one of my sweet smelling pink roses. I am enjoying a nice little bunch of them at the moment. Chanell looks like the aspirin is much better at helping the stems root quickly. I have a couple of cuttings that seem to have rooted quite well with Aspirin.

 

[ChanellG]

Chanell, when is your birthday? I wish I could send you one of my sweet smelling pink roses. I am enjoying a nice little bunch of them at the moment. Chanell looks like the aspirin is much better at helping the stems root quickly. I have a couple of cuttings that seem to have rooted quite well with Aspirin.

It's June 14, Maddie


Before I left my mom's yesterday I took some cuttings from different plants including two rose cuttings. I had asked her to start saving her rose hips, but they take a while to turn and she likes to dead head her roses so they keep blooming. I made a makeshift vase from a plastic water bottle and crushed two aspirin (hope it's not too much) before putting in the rose stems, lantana, geranium, and oregano.

How long did it take for you to start seeing roots on the rose cuttings Maddie?

 

[maddie]

It's June 14, Maddie


Before I left my mom's yesterday I took some cuttings from different plants including two rose cuttings. I had asked her to start saving her rose hips, but they take a while to turn and she likes to dead head her roses so they keep blooming. I made a makeshift vase from a plastic water bottle and crushed two aspirin (hope it's not too much) before putting in the rose stems, lantana, geranium, and oregano.

How long did it take for you to start seeing roots on the rose cuttings Maddie?

June 13 is my bro birthday.. and 14 is his wedding anniversary. I am glad this is an easy date to remember.. but I am terrible at remembering dates.
I do think two aspirins is a little too much. I always use one. You could always dilute it or pour it into another bottle and put more cuttings into it. I think your lantanas and geraniums will take about two weeks to root.. while rose will take anything between one to two months. Keeping the stems covered with a plastic bag or bottle will keep the temperature higher and the humidity will help the plant to root faster.

 

[ChanellG]

I have some seeds in moist soil sitting on the window sill that I covered since the air conditioning is often on during the hottest parts of the day and that doesn't seem to be working. I am using regular potting mix, not seed starting mix, but still... All the rose stems I cloched last time died and only the on I left sitting in water started to root. Of course, this time when the rose cuttings root I am going to leave them in the water longer before trying to plant them in soil because I am just not getting the soil moisture right - it's either too wet or too dry.

 

[maddie]

I have some seeds in moist soil sitting on the window sill that I covered since the air conditioning is often on during the hottest parts of the day and that doesn't seem to be working. I am using regular potting mix, not seed starting mix, but still... All the rose stems I cloched last time died and only the on I left sitting in water started to root. Of course, this time when the rose cuttings root I am going to leave them in the water longer before trying to plant them in soil because I am just not getting the soil moisture right - it's either too wet or too dry.

Roses are finicky. I just lost one of my plants. I did the same things I do for the other roses.. and yet that one died after a couple of blooms. The ones in containers are more at risk than those in the round.. I guess.