| Propagating
Roses in a tub... If you like the cold
frame method, but can't justify building a cold frame for just a few cuttings,
try the tub method. It's like having a mini-cold frame. |
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1. GET A TUB: Get a two-foot by three-foot clear plastic storage container.
Wal-Mart sells them for about $6.00. You might be able to find them cheaper if
you look. You'll need to put some small holes in the bottom so that excess water
can drain out. If you don't, the cuttings will drown. |
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2. FILL THE TUB: Fill the tub half full with a damp mixture of 50 percent
sand. Play sand from the hardware store works fine. For the other 50 percent use
peat moss. Pat the soil mix down firmly. You don't want air pockets. |
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3: GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY: Along with fresh cuttings, you'll need water in
a disposable cup and a supply of rooting hormone. For best results, look for a
rooting compound that contains .8% Indole Butryic Acid (IBA). You can find this
under the brand names of Rhizopon #3 and Hormonex #3. It will run you about $25
for a pound and will last for several thousand cuttings. We don't recommend the
rooting hormones found in your local garden center. While they work great on perennials,
We have found they are not strong enough for the more stubborn roses. |
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4: FIND AGED FLOWERS: Find a stem where the bloom has dropped its petals within
the past two weeks. Taking cuttings before petal-fall results in cuttings with
immature wood which will rot instead of rooting. Cuttings from once blooming roses
may be taken any time after petal-fall as long as it is from the current year's
growth. |
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5. TAKE A CUTTING: Take a cutting that has about five leaves. |
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6. STRIP LEAVES AND FLOWERS: Cut off any spent flowers. Strip the cutting
of all but its upper two or three leaves. |
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7. SHORTEN THE CUTTING: Shorten the cutting by cutting just enough off the
bottom so that the bottom-most leaf bud is about a half-inch from the bottom end
of the cutting. |
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8. MAKE TWO GASHES IN THE BASE OF THE CUTTING: Take your fingernail or sharp
knife and make a one-inch scrape from the bottom of the cutting up through the
leaf bud. Make a similar scrape on the opposite side of the cutting - there won't
be a leaf bud on that side. Scraping through a leaf bud disturbs rapidly growing
cells that are more likely to turn into roots. |
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9. DIP THE CUTTING INTO WATER: The rooting hormone powder is more likely
to adhere to the cutting if the cutting is wet. That's where your disposable cup
of water comes in handy. |
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10. DIP THE CUTTING INTO THE ROOTING HORMONE: Dip your cutting into the rooting
hormone powder. Be sure to dip the cutting in deep enough to completely cover
both of the gashes you made in the base of the cutting. |
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11. WAIT A MINUTE BEFORE PLACING THE CUTTING IN THE TUB: The process of pushing
the cutting into the sand and peat mixture wipes off a lot of the hormone powder.
By waiting a minute, you give the hormone a chance to permeate the plant tissues. |
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12. PLACE CUTTING IN THE TUB: Push the cutting down into the peat/sand mixture
about two-three inches depending upon the length of the cutting. You don't want
to push it down any father than the bottom-most leaf remaining on the stem. |
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13a. LABEL YOUR CUTTINGS - THE WINDOW BLIND METHOD: For inexpensive plant
labels, go to your local home improvement store and purchase the least expensive
set of window blinds they have. You should be able to find a 36" set for
under four dollars. Cut strings to seperate the individual plastic slats. Cut
the slats into thirds. You should now have about 150 plant markers that are designed
to hold up to direct sunlight. Use pencil to write the names of the varieties
- permanent marking pens can fade in the high humidity of a cold frame. |
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13b. LABEL YOUR CUTTING - ELECTRIC LABEL MAKER METHOD: OK, lets say you have
the handwriting of a doctor. Using one of the new electric label makers prints
neat lables for all your cuttings that you can wrap around the top of each stem.
There are several different models on the market. Look for one that produces labels
with clear plastic tape over the printing. The clear plastic is a UV shield that
keeps the label from fading. Labels without the UV shield can fade away in less
than a year. |
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14. COVER CUTTINGS: Do not use the cover that came with the container. Take
an empty two littler pop-bottle and cut off the bottom. Leaving the lid in place,
push the bottle over the cutting to crate a mini-greenhouse. You can cover a couple
of cuttings at a time if they have been placed close together. You may need to
water your cuttings every other day if the rains don't oblige. If the temperatures
get over 85 during the day, water every morning and evening to keep the temperatures
down through evaporation. The pop bottles keep the humidity high around each cuttings.
The bottles also isolate the cuttings so that if one develops fungus, the others
will not. |
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15. PATIENCE: Keep the container in an area of dappled shade and wait three
to 12 weeks, depending on temperature.This is the hard part. It takes three to
twelve weeks to get cuttings to root. Once you see side shoots and leaves developing
on your cutting, you can remove the bottle and tug gently. If the cutting resists,
chances are you have roots. If it pulls out, obviously it needs to be put back
in and given some more time. Once you determine that it has roots, keep the bottle
off for a couple of weeks to acclimate it before transplanting it into your garden.
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you will have roots and the buds on the sides of the stems will swell and bring
forth leaves. Between the peat moss, sand, and container, it ran about $12.00
to get 60 plants going. That's about 20 cents per rosebush - a bargain in anyone's
book. I have found this works best for OGR and English style roses in the fall.
At other times of the year, I would recommend going with the cold frame method. |
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