Growing Magnificent Roses From Cutting
You may want to learn how to grow roses but perhaps can’t afford to get them from a garden center. Or maybe you don’t want to waste time and money on rose bushes from such a source until you know for sure you have the right kind of green thumb. One way of finding out what color your thumb is may be by trying to grow a rose bush from a cutting. Do you have a friend or acquaintance with a rose garden? They might be willing to give you a few cuttings, so you can try the experiment.
It’s best not even to try this with hybrid tea roses or those you get from florists. Floribunda roses grow well from cuttings, as do miniatures, but others don’t have as much success. People with a lot of experience, such as experts in how to grow roses, might manage growing even hybrid teas using cuttings, but someone who’s just starting out and doesn’t know all the ins and outs of rose growing is unlikely to have the same success. Better at least to begin with a type of rose that everyone agrees can be started with a cutting.
You should do the rose pruning in early spring, taking three or four six-inch stems (or for miniatures, three-inch stems). Cut them on a slight diagonal, in the morning before the stresses of the day. In the past, people knew how to grow roses with cuttings protected by Mason jars, and the practice still works well. So once you have your cuttings, take off the bottom leaves, with just a few at the top, and dip the stems into a rooting powder. Then set them either into your garden soil or into containers of potting soil. At this point, place a Mason jar over each stem and water now and then over the next few weeks.
When teaching people how to grow roses via cuttings, some recommend using containers with heating pads under them to encourage root development, though that may not be necessary if you’ve used rooting powder. In milder climates you should be able to grow the roses right outside, and may not even need Mason jars. Either way, it should take one or two months for the cuttings to become rooted. Once that has happened, and with continued research and rose care, you should be able to start creating a rose garden. You may discover your green thumb, and realize that this method of rose propagation is something you want to continue exploring.