How to root a rose stem

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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:D
 
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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:D

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.
 
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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.
 
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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!:D I'll keep you posted.
 
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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 :)
 
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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.
 
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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?
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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Oh yes, unfortunately they're very finicky. I'm afraid that my last rose cutting died too. Part of it turned brown yesterday. I have no idea what I did wrong:( . But I already told my boyfriend how I would love to try to root more cuttings so I hope that soon I'll get another rose:D
 
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Well, I removed the rose cuttings from the container with the other plant pieces and put them in the little bottle I rooted the last cutting in. (The lantana and bouganvilla are already wilting) I also took the bottom three stems off of the oregano (stuck them in a little tin with some damp soil under a bag away from direct sun)... going to see what works best.

May take some more rose cuttings next week if mom hasn't dead headed the plants in front the house, but those are much younger so maybe it would be better to wait?
 
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Well, I know not to expect anything from these latest cuttings until at least August. This time around I am going to wait until the roots are more developed before attempting to move the plants to soil and I will keep them indoors out of direct sunlight for a while after that as well. My mom just gave me six marigold six packs that she got on sale at Lowes. Now I have 36 new plants to find homes for!

That will keep my mind of the rose cuttings for a little while :)
 
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Yesterday, I got another rose:D . It's so beautiful! But I can't wait for the flower to wither because I want to root the stem. I decided that I'll cut it into two stems and plant one in soil and the other one I'll keep in water. This way there are bigger chances that it will be a success:D
 
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LOL, Claudine, you sound like me! I have been thinking of buying some cut roses and trying to root them so I don't have to keep begging for cuttings. I've seen so many beauties growing in my neighborhood that I just have to have some of my own. Once I am successful I'll start asking for cuttings again.
 

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