Growing rose plants from cut roses. Try it.

A great way to collect a wide variety of roses is by propagating from rose cuttings taken from the rose bush one desires to have more of. or simply by using cut roses from the florist. The plant that results from this propagation technique will be an own-root rose unlike the grafted ones. Normally I cut off a bud with a few leaves about 6 to 8 inches in length from a rose bush and use it for propagation. But what I am going to share with you now is how I did not allow a few gifted roses to go waste and rooted them. On New Year's eve a little bouquet of red roses was gifted to my cousin Sis by her friend and she had been keeping the bouquet in a vase. I did not notice it until the 3rd day. On the 5th day, I decided to give it a try in rooting those 5 roses. My cousin liked the idea and so I went ahead with it. Here is the step by step process. 

1. The little bouquet of 5 roses which had been

 standing in the vase for 5 days.

2. Cutting it to a length of  6 to 8 inches. Better if we do it with a sharp pruner. Here am using a pair of scissors to cut them to my desired length.

3. Cutting the stem not in a slanted manner but horizontally. This is so because I am not going to use any rooting hormone.

4. In a pot with prepared soil (should be well tilled, loose soil with good drainage), using a pencil or a knitting needle or any probe push down into the soil to make a hole that is deep enough to plant the cutting up to about 50% of its overall length. Place the cutting into this hole. Lightly push the soil in around the cutting to finish the planting. Do the same thing for each cutting. It is better to use separate containers for each cutting. Here I planted all in one pot as I thought would transplant them in different pots once they root and grow. 

5. Water the soil so that it stays moist. Mind

 it, it should not be soggy.

6. Take a big plastic bag and make it open from both sides. Tie and tape one end on the pot in an airtight manner. Blow in air from the top end so as to fill up the bag with your breath. The roses would be needing Carbon-dioxide to respire. Tie up the top with a rubber-band so as no air escapes. Place it in the morning sun for an hour or two but keep away from the afternoon sun as it becomes harsh then. You will notice water droplets settling on the plastic bag. Each morning let the air out and keep the top open for about 45 mins. See if the soil is moist or dry. Water lightly on alternate days so as to keep the soil moist. Once done blow in air again  and keep tied. Continue this process for about 12 to 15 days. After that take the plastic bag out and keep the soil moist avoiding the afternoon sun.

7. The flowers withered but the stem stayed

fresh. The roots are growing within and after about 40 days, new shoots have come out. Out of my 5 cuttings 3 survived. I lost 2 of them because I was away for some days and had neglected them for those days.

8. 2 months have gone by and the rose cuttings

are growing so beautifully. Going to transplant 

each of them in separate pots within the next

 few days. 

If these cuttings were from fresh cut ones directly from the bush, they would have grown much faster and the rose bud would have bloomed in full. This is how I used to grow roses from bud and leaves cuttings (tender stem cuttings) and create new rose bushes. It had always been a great feeling when I gifted a tiny flowering rose plant to friends and family. Now tried my hands on these cut flowers gifted to my cousin by her friend. These cut roses have traveled a long way from some part of the world to the florist and from the florist to the one who bought them, from this person to my cousin and 5 days in a vase and than landing in my hands. Quite happy with this little achievement of mine. And so sharing with you all. 

** Never let a rose die. Red, pink, white, green and a lot more colors they are. They are there to stay with you if you care to keep them with love.**

                - Diana Raj Kumari