Roses are beautiful and fragrant flowers that are very commonly used in gardens. Imagine a beautiful rose blooming in your garden, spreading its fragrance throughout your home. Rose plants are readily available in the market, and you can get beautiful new rose plants in the market, but have you ever thought about making a new rose plant out of its stem. So let’s learn how to grow rose stems.
It’s easy to get a healthier rose plant to bloom with little effort and for free, it’s all a matter of time and technique. Roses will produce in winter, so rose cuttings can be potted in early summer or spring.
Spring is their season of vigorous growth and the perfect time to prune the stems. But when choosing a stem to cut, care must be taken that it is neither brand new nor mature. The stem should be about the thickness of a pencil.
Things You Need When Growing Rose Plants
1. Cutting of Rose plant
2. Pot or place in the garden where you want the plant to grow
3. Sharp razor blade to make a good cutting
4. Gloves (rose plant have thorns)
5. Gardening Tool – Shear
6. Honey and ground Cinnamon
Steps to Plant a cutting
Start by filling the pot with potting soil.
Selecting pruning from rose plants is an important step, and recently flowering stems are good candidates for pruning.
The cut should be four to eight inches long and have at least two to three leaves attached to it. Cutting leaves helps promote root formation through photosynthesis.
Always remove all flowers from cuttings, as flowers drain energy from the stem, which can affect its rooting process.
Make a sharp cut at a 45-degree angle, preferably just below the leaf node. Scrape off the green part underneath with the help of a razor or blade.
Remove the bottom leaves and keep only the top two leaves, as these continue to photosynthesize the plant and help with rooting.
Cut the leaves in half to reduce water loss during transpiration. Dip the bottom cuts in honey or cinnamon for a rooting hormone. Make a hole in the pot or soil of the growing medium and insert the cutting.
You can cover the stems with plastic pots to retain humidity and create a miniature greenhouse effect. Make sure enough light and heat reach the incision. Keep the area moist and roots will develop in three to five weeks.
You can place cuttings in pots or directly in the ground, I prefer to place cuttings directly in the ground so they don’t need to propagate later. I also don’t use glass for the greenhouse effect as the climate is warm enough to help it. I’ve had great success with this, but you need a mild climate and good soil for this. But for starters, the easiest way is just toss them in a pot.
Prepare stems for planting by making a sharp 45 degree cut at the bottom
cutting ready for planting
honey or cinnamon as a rooting hormone
rooting hormone
Put the cuttings in the pot and water well
Planting Cuttings in Pots
Plants with new leaves after about 8 weeks
rose cut bud
Rooting and Pruning Tips
1. Use a sharp knife to avoid crushing the stem when cutting.
2. You can use a rooting hormone to increase your success, or you can use honey/cinnamon as a rooting hormone, or simply skip this step.
3. Mark the flower color you cut out, I always mix them and have to wait until they bloom to know their color.
4. It takes about four to eight weeks for rooting and new leaves to emerge.
5. The growth of rose plants requires a lot of water and sunlight.
6. When choosing rose cuttings, make sure the stems are neither too young nor too mature. After flowering, the new stem matures and is as thick as a pencil.
7. Early summer and spring or late fall are the best times to prune rose plants so you can easily make new ones.
Care of Rose Plants
Rose plants love water, so water your rose plants diligently. The amount of water your plants need depends on the soil type and climate. Rose plants need about an inch of rainfall per week during the growing season.
For an impressive flower display, you’ll need to fertilize them monthly. A proper balance of nutrients is necessary for optimal growth of rose bushes. You can fertilize your rose plants once in spring and fall.
Prune your rose plants in early spring around March or April. It will help you get rid of any damage and old canes and make your plants healthier.
Keep your rose plants healthy and prevent any diseases. The most common types of diseases are powdery mildew and black spot, and you should improve the air circulation of your rose plants and water them properly. You can treat rose diseases with a fungicide spray made from a simple homemade mixture of baking soda and 1 teaspoon cooking oil.
Deadheading is the process of cutting dead roses after they bloom. Deadhead will increase the number of roses, so cut off the old flowers and see the effect it has on the health of the plant.
