Cutting roses is possible in July: rose stems or branches taken from a bush, these cuttings are still tender and allow rapid rooting, then transplanting in the fall.
Although rose cuttings are most often recommended in September, it is also possible to take cuttings in early summer, in July and even in June. This is the time of the first roses, of the abundant and more punctual blooming of old roses, and it is not rare that you are offered a bouquet of roses from the garden, some of which, if not all, make you want to grow them. When the roses in your bouquet start to wilt, you can try cutting them!
How to prepare the cutting to optimize the recovery?
The June/July cutting is made from the stem under the flowers:
- a cutting length of about 20 centimeters is suitable.
- the bouquet or the terminal rose, deflowered, is cut.
- the leaves are almost all removed, cut cleanly, except for 2 or 3 very green leaflets which are left. Indeed, reducing the leaf surface will limit the transpiration and thus the water loss of the cutting. The plant transpires through its stomata, the organs responsible for gas exchange.
- With a sharp instrument, the bottom of the cutting is cut cleanly in bevels. Likewise, 2 or 3 longitudinal scarifications of 2 cm are incised. We can also remove sparingly without breaking a little of the soft and green bark. This scarification is not essential, but it increases the scar surface, where a callus is created, and a concentration of auxin, the natural rooting hormone of the plant.
Pots with cuttings
The cuttings will be gathered in the same pot, in a light mixture which does not compact to facilitate the transplanting without damaging the fragile roots: such as a mixture of potting soil (without adding fertilizer) and fine gravel or coarse sand.
Apart from the practical side, gathering several cuttings close together can help the most recalcitrant ones to root by a hormone game. If some cuttings produce a lot of rooting hormone, it can diffuse to a nearby cutting that makes little and allow it to root.
Mixing several varieties of cuttings can be interesting as long as you label them well.
Use a small stick to drill a hole in the pot before pushing in the cutting. Do not twist the end.
The soil is packed lightly, the pot is watered deeply.
Putting the cutting in the pot
To prevent rose cuttings from drying out with drafts or sweating more than their supply would bear, the cuttings are enclosed in a closed space. The 'smothering' can be done by enclosing the whole thing in a plastic bag, but if you're on the hunt for plastic, a jar does the trick and looks much better.
These cuttings must remain in a humid atmosphere until they start to root, between 6 and 8 weeks. They will show their good will by starting to grow.
The cuttings are maintained in the light shade and with a substrate which never dries out.
Is it necessary to put hormone of cutting or not?
The answer is never clear, after all. The cutting hormone can help, but has an unfavorable effect when it is too concentrated. Moreover, these hormones are quickly expired and without effect. It will be up to you to decide, knowing that for many varieties of roses, it is possible to do without it, which makes life easier! These wood cuttings, which are still quite green, need them less than the November cuttings.
Successful cuttings or not
The success rate of rose cuttings is related to the technique, but not only, because depending on the variety of roses, some root easily and others not. In any case, trying several cuttings of the same variety will multiply the chances.
Transplanting rose cuttings
At the end of September, the cuttings that want to start again are generally rooted. The lighter substrate makes it easy to separate them from each other. They will be able to have their individual pot of free soil for 2 months before being transplanted in place, or offered to friends.
