- Cinderella, a pink shrub which again needs a lot of room, but disease free and very vigorous with a lovely scent, bred by kordes - Germany.

- Sally Kane, a cream HT, lots of full blooms on a healthy clean bush, foliage right down to soil level, nice bedding height. Bred by Fryers of Cheshire.

- One to watch for this year is rose of the year 2010 "Absolutely Fabulous" a yellow floribunda, medium height, nice perfume, clean rose.

 

More roses will be added soon.

 

 

 

A Guide to Rooting Roses

 

With virtually 100% certainty it can be said that here in the UK all rose sales, either bare root or containerised, produced by the British growers are for plants grafted on to briar rootstocks.

However, almost all varieties of roses will root quite easily; especially those that are of the more vigorous growing nature, the Miniature Rose in particular being very suited.   Most of the rose sales in the USA for Miniature Roses are for own root containerised plants or well rooted plug plants, a fact which does confirm that roses, and in particular the Miniature Rose, can be grown very successfully as own root plants.

Without any doubt the ideal situation for rooting cuttings of any type of plant is in a Mist Propagation Unit, but this system which could be quite costly to set up is probably more for the professional grower/serious grower.

Nevertheless, for the enthusiast who is mainly interested in reproducing a few plants from cuttings each year, and not necessarily roses, the accompanying pictorial guide will I hope be of help and encouragement to try rooting ones own garden favourites.

Basic Requirements

Rooting Gel, with three types shown namely, ‘Clonex’, Gel4Plugs and ‘Clone It’

Rooting Medium, ‘Jiffy 7’, ‘Grodan’ Rockwool Cubes and ‘Root Riot’ peat based cell kit

A standard seed tray size, gravel tray with about 25mm (1 inch) of   pea gravel or stone chippings  spread over the base.

A 1 Litre Pump Action Pressure Hand Spray and clear rigid plastic dome to cover the gravel tray.

Method

Most of the main requirements can be purchased from a Hydroponics source, I found my local Hydroponics shop stocked a good range of rooting gel, rooting mediums, gravel and gravel tray etc.

The gravel is initially placed in the bottom of the gravel tray to a depth of about  25 mm depth, if the Root Riot Kit is to be used then it can be placed directly in the tray on top of the gravel.   If loose peat blocks are used then they should be spaced out uniformly in a seed tray, placed directly on top of the gravel and then packed with strips of Oasis (wet type) in between to stabilise them, as shown in the accompanying picture. 

The Rockwool (Grodan) type blocks if loose would also necessitate the same treatment.

Jiffy 7’s will require soaking in warm water to allow them to swell to their useable size and then spaced out into the gravel tray and also packed in place with the Oasis.

Once the trays and blocks have been set-up we can then finally prepare for taking the cuttings.   The centre of each block will have to be opened up with a small dibber or a piece of thin dowelling with rounded end, this is not necessary if using the Gel4Plugs product as it already has the pointed probe ready to use as part of the cap.   Additionally, with this product, after the holes have been made with the ‘bottle probe’ the gel can be injected directly down the hole in readiness for the cutting.

If using the other types of gel then the cuttings would have to be dipped directly into the gel first.    Most rooting gels have a good thick viscosity which allows them to adhere quite easily to the stem of the cutting where they quickly help to heal and seal the wounds caused when cutting the stem.   All contain hormones, mineral nutrients and trace elements which help with root cell development, nourishment for the young roots and additionally anti-microbial agents to help protect against fungal contamination.                      

Application

‘Half Ripe’ cuttings the most suitable type for this method are best taken in late Spring/early Summer or as soon as suitable material is available.   They, in the case of roses, could also be taken in early Autumn from the second flush, but in this case it would be best to use the electric propagator and its bottom heat for quicker rooting.

The rose cutting is selected when the stem has reached the bud stage in its development i.e. as can be seen in the picture above, here the bud has quite clearly started to mature  denoting that the stem is at the ‘half ripe’ stage.

With a good clean, sharp pair of secateurs the stem is removed from the parent plant and clearly labelled, it is then trimmed with a very sharp Stanley knife, to remove the bud, and also at the base of the stem just below a leaf joint.

If the holes in the plugs have been made ready with rooting gel the cutting is placed directly into the hole and gel.   If not then its base will have to be quite liberally covered with gel, by dipping and then placed into a cell, its name label also put in place at this stage.   Once the tray of cuttings is complete water is carefully poured into the gravel tray to just above the gravel level, the blocks with cuttings inserted which are sitting in direct contact with the gravel will then start to absorb the water.   Providing the water level is maintained at all times the rooting medium will stay nice and moist throughout.

The next step is to place the cutting tray in a suitable position in either a conservatory or greenhouse, where it is in good light throughout the day and a nice stable temperature of around 20° C to 22°C can be maintained, high day temperatures and widely fluctuating day/night temperatures are to be avoided.   Under these conditions the cuttings should root quite quickly, showing signs of doing so around 21days without the use of a propagator, however, if a propagator is available the bottom heat provided by it does help considerably with rooting taking place some 7/10 days earlier.

It is very beneficial to the cuttings to maintain a humid and buoyant atmosphere around them, this is achieved by misting over daily with the hand sprayer and if not housed in a propagator, covered with the clear seed tray dome.   By doing so this will help the cuttings conserve moisture and thus retain their leaves until rooting starts to take place.

Proprietary items such as ‘Jump Start’ a cutting accelerator which will help make the clones root faster and ‘Wilt Stop’ a moisture sealant, both products being applied as a foliar spray, could be used if so wished.   

In conclusion, with the cuttings safely housed in the best rooting environment available, providing a nice warm, cosy and stable temperature is maintained, the cuttings will show signs of rooting fairly quickly.   So much so that around the 10 to 12 week stage new breaks from the leaf axils can clearly be seen.

Checks may then be made on the actual root growth, through lifting carefully each plug in turn out of its cell, and then when the cutting can be seen to be well rooted through the sides of the plug; it should be potted on into a suitable sized pot.

From hereon the young plant will make good and steady progress if kept well fed and watered and following a re-pot and short spell of growing on, can then be moved outside and hardened off prior to planting in the garden.

Main Points for Successful Rooting

Use a very clean and sharp Stanley Blade to trim the cuttings and apply a good proprietary Rooting Gel.

Avoid the rooting cells drying out, without becoming waterlogged and soggy by maintaining the water level in the gravel tray.

Spray the foliage regularly, including a weak fungicide and pesticide, to avoid any dehydration in the cuttings.

Avoid extreme temperatures.

Brian Schofield.  (Brian is the editor of the White Rose News the quarterly magazine of the Yorkshire Rosarians)