Roses can be very delicate plants that are difficult to propagate or graft. The nurseries in particular tend to rely on the refinement of the plants. But there is also another possibility, namely to propagate the roses by cuttings.
Propagation by cuttings, however, is much easier to carry out than grafting. This method is particularly useful for shrub roses, climbing roses or groundcover.
The best time for cuttings is in the summer from the end of June to the end of August. Rose shoots with a freshly faded flower head are selected.
Propagating roses by cuttings in 6 steps
- Cut off a shoot with a freshly faded flower head. To do this, place the pruning shears about 3 millimeters below the 5th eye. By the way: you count from the blossom downwards.
- The withered calyx is removed with one cut just above the leaves below. Only the top leaves must remain.
- The soil should be loose and rich in humus. Do not mix in compost, this can cause the cuttings to root poorly.
- Now stick the cutting deep into the ground so that only the remaining pair of leaves are sticking out of the ground. Make sure that you choose a place for the cutting that is only reached by the sun in the morning.
- Now cover the cutting with an empty jar. An empty PET water bottle will do, too. To do this, cut off the bottom of the bottle and drill a few small holes in the neck of the bottle. Then put the bottle together with the lid over the cutting.
- Ultimately, the cutting must be watered regularly. The soil must be neither too wet nor too dry. If you're using jars for a greenhouse, you'll need to raise them occasionally to aerate the cuttings to keep them from rotting.
➤ Remember that it takes a long time for the cutting to take root. Therefore, it should not be transplanted to its final location until next year at the earliest. Even if the rose is already showing a lot of shoots, the roots are still very weak.