July - Rose Cuttings Propagation Month

First of all, although rose cuttings can be propagated nearly any month of the year, the month of July has the advantage of being ideal because it is this month that the flowers have faded and the new growth is mature enough to successfully root.

What's more, some rose varieties (that root with difficulty), will root easier if the stem is not fully matured and still softer. This is why you can take advantage of this month and you can take cuttings until late in the summer as well.

Before you proceed to choosing your cuttings, the most important step is to choose the spot where you'll root them.

It should be in indirect light and as far as the soil is concerned, the experts' advice that the cuttings should have a bed of peat moss and perlite (50% each) cow manure enriched soil and they are reserved about sticking your cuttings in the soil from your yard as it is not sterile and you might have problems with fungi and nematodes.

Also a very effective method is to use coir (coconut fiber - you can find it in pet shops) instead of soil it has great drainage and you virtually cannot over-water your plant, besides the roots are even sturdier in this substrate. Once you prepare your pot and fill it with the substrate you prefer, choosing the cuttings is the next step.

Although cutting propagation is not suitable for all rose varieties - miniature and climbing have the greatest success rate with this method - choosing the right stem for your cutting is an important step. Keep in mind a few characteristics your cutting should meet for best results:

-it should be from soft wood, a stem from a rose that flowered this season;
-it should be about as thick as a pencil (some growers consider this aleatory, they successfully propagate from smaller plants as well);
-it should be 4-5 inches long with a couple sets of leaves on;

Once you found the stems like that, cut just above a node (the place on the stem where leaves emerge) and cut at an angle. Place them immediately in water before you proceed to the next step. If you score up the bark on both sides of the cane (approximately for one inch) it will produce roots even easier.

Place the planting medium in small containers - 4 inch container will be most suited - then, if you want to use root hormone, moist the end of the cutting in water and then stick it in the rooting hormone powder.

Once you remove the excess with a little shake, make a hole in the soil with a pencil and place your cutting (if your cane has two nodes, place one under the soil, if it has three, you can place two nodes under the growth medium), gently firming the soil around the plant with finger pressure.

You need to keep your cuttings consistently moist and for that you can mist water over them several times a day or you can use a transparent plastic bottle to cover them creating the greenhouse effect.

You'll need to remove the bottom of the bottle with a scissors before using it as such. In as long as 3 to 6 weeks your plants should be rooted, of course now you can place them in larger pots or directly in the place you've chosen in your garden.

Keeping the cuttings in a zip bag with a little moist soil until they form roots is another easy cutting propagation method, the only inconvenient is that it may be more difficult to transplant since those roots are very fragile and if broken during transplantation, you might lose that plant.

There are more elaborate propagation methods like using hydroponic systems and also by applying heat underneath the potted plants as it stimulates root formation but both methods need extra effort and equipment yet it is worth it and it is not that difficult!