Re: Propagating

**"Rosenlund" rosenlund@transport.com>**

[Phillip]
>ok - so i should take my cuttings this fall and 'stuck' them this fall -
>correct?

Honest Phillip, my experience with cuttings is very limited... I take them
whenever I can... Spring, Summer, Fall... I'm taking cuttings now even. So
which ever you wish to do.

Older wood (hardwood) taken in late Fall and just SAT in the ground is what
I did to get 'rosa cymosa' species rose to grow.

A small pruning (softwood, and New growth) from mid June is what I "stuck"
next to the Mother plant is how I got my alba rose 'Mme.Plantier' started...
I just couldn't toss the pretty pruning to the sheep and stuffed it in the
ground and was very surprised I got a rose out of it.  (Stuck in summer of
98 and now it's 3+ feet large.)

>what was the soil like there?  did you amend it at all?
>protected from wind? dogs, rain, what?

With both of these Successes, I used no harmone, set them in a shady spot,
no covering, no working up of the soil... The cymosa was in poor soil, the
Plantier was in nice garden soil.  We had a very cold winter and I covered
up MP with some mulch. (cymosa was done eariler).  Both roses where left in
the ground threw a winter and into the next Fall before I dug them up and
moved them, about 1 1/2 years old then and still rather small, but they
definately took.

AS for cuttings I'm NOW taking (since early Aug. now that the greenhouse is
up) I pot into 3x5.5's; using root harmone; make several 1 inch "root cuts''
with a razor just lightly threw the skin; use the prettiest, sweetest
seedling soil with 1 inch of perilite in the bottom; mostly pencil size
"early summer growth" that is slightly harden off (seems to be doing the
best); leaving one set of leaflets (sometimes two) on the cuttings while
removing lower leaflets, having 2-4 "eye-lets" set in the soil; watered and
kept damp in the greenhouse with shade cloth covering all my glass.  Temps
are between 50-80'.

The earliest cuttings were done before I put up the shade cloth and I've
lost about 1/2 of them as the temps got into the 90's.  I've been told they
must stay below 85' and experience has told me they like filtered shade
best.  My other cuttings, after the shade cloth, are looking pretty good
with leave buds swelling and I've lost very few... BUT, this is still very
early to call it a success.

Without a greenhouse, all directions I've seen say to cover your cuttings
with plastic bags, jars or something to keep the humitity levels high...
heat (not over 85') and humitity is what will make them root.

I'm learning along with ya.

                ~Carleen~
Keeper of Sheep and Old Roses

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