Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Starting rose bushes

Today I am starting rose cuttings. Here is how it works. Take cuttings from the mother bush. Each cuttings should be about pencil thick and about 4 inches long. Place them right side up about two inches deep in good potting soil. I can fit about 20 cuttings in a 1 gallon container. Keep them damp. If the cutting turns brown it is dead. As long as it is green it is alive. Soon leaves will show up and the cuttings are ready to be transplanted into individual one or two gallon containers. Here in north Texas I keep them in the container for a year. I start the cuttings in the fall and plant the new bush the following fall. Old roses on their own root stock have worked the best for me. I generally get a good percentage of cuttings to take root.