It is worth propagating particularly beautiful roses. We show you how easy it is to propagate roses with seeds, cuttings and more.
If you've always wondered whether rose bushes (Rosa) for the garden can also be propagated from cut roses, then you've come to the right place. Perhaps you have heard that roses can be grafted onto potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and would now like to try this unusual experiment yourself. In addition to these unusual forms of propagating roses, we will also introduce you to the common propagation methods using seeds, cuttings and planters. In this article, we explain how best to proceed with the propagation of individual rose varieties and what needs to be considered.
There are several ways you can propagate roses yourself. In the following, we will explain some methods for multiplying your favorite rose using cuttings, planters, etc. You can find an overview article with interesting information about roses here.
Propagating Roses by Seeds
Propagation via seeds from the rose fruits (rose hips) is not only suitable for wild roses, but also for noble and shrub roses as well as for rambler varieties. However, hybrid varieties are not suitable for propagation via seeds, as this leads to the splitting of the genetic material, which means that the varietal characteristics cannot be preserved in the offspring.
Gather the ripe rose hips in autumn and carefully extract the seeds. The best way to do this is to cut open the fruit with a sharp knife and scrape out the flesh with the seeds inside. Then put this in a sieve and clean the seeds under running water until they are completely cleaned of the pulp.
Seeds that thrive within a fruit are naturally endowed with germination inhibition. To break this, you can use the rose seedsSoak in a thermos with lukewarm chamomile tea for about 48 hours. A cold stimulus is also necessary to ensure that the seeds are finally ready to germinate. This process is also known as stratification. To do this, store the rose seeds in moist sand for a few weeks in the refrigerator at around 4 to 5 °C.
The pre-treated seeds from home cultivation can be planted as soon as they start to sprout. Stratified seeds from specialist shops can be sown immediately. Fill some seed trays with potting soil for sowing. The Plantura organic herb and seed soil, for example, is ideal for this. Insert the rose seeds about an inch deep, spaced sufficiently apart. Keep the soil moist at all times for the next few days to weeks. When small seedlings have grown from the seeds, place the bowl in a bright, not too warm place out of direct sunlight. After the cotyledons, the first real leaves form. Then it's time to plant the little rose plants in pots with nutrient-rich garden soil. In the spring, when no more frosts are expected, you can then transplant the rose plants to their intended location in the garden.
Tip from the Pro: When propagating roses by seed, you should always prepare a sufficient quantity of rose seeds to increase the chances of success in cultivation. Because not all seeds are germinable and actually grow into a new rose plant.
Propagating roses by cuttings
Propagation via cuttings is probably the simplest and most efficient method. To increase the success rate, cut about three cuttings of each desired variety in late summer (August). It is best to use shoots that have just faded and shorten them to about 15 to 20 centimeters in length. In the best case, the cuttings should have at least five eyes. When propagating cuttings, be sure to use sharp tools and make the cut at an angle on the underside to make it easier for the cuttings to absorb water.
Except for the top pair of leaves, all leaves can now be removed to keep the evaporation rate as low as possible. Then fill small pots with potting soil or slightly sandy garden soil and insert the prepared shoots about halfway into them. Water the cuttings well and place them in a warm, bright place. For optimalFor greenhouse conditions, you can cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle and put it over the cutting. But don't forget to air the room from time to time to avoid mold growth. After the development of the first new leaves, these should also be removed again. Also, don't forget to water the planted cuttings regularly. The following spring (May) the rooted young roses can then be planted at their destination.
Thanks to the vase method, you can also grow small rose bushes from cut roses. To propagate the roses in water, you should first remove the withered flowers. Then put the rose stems in a glass vase with lukewarm water. A warm, bright location out of direct sunlight is ideal. Now you should change the water daily until the rose roots and can be transplanted into a pot with soil.
Tip from the professional: Propagation via cuttings produces ungrafted roses, but some roses do not root very well as cuttings and are therefore propagated via grafting. On the other hand, roses that are subject to plant variety protection must not be propagated from cuttings in the first place.
Propagating roses with sticks
Another form of vegetative propagation is by cuttings. In contrast to the cuttings, these are not cut in summer, but in late autumn or winter. To do this, separate woody rose shoots after the leaves have fallen and shorten them to a length of about 20 to 30 centimeters. All side shoots and leaves are then removed. Now fill a well-closable box with moist sand. The cuttings are kept bundled here so that they do not dry out until they are planted out. It is best to place the box in a cool, frost-free room during the winter months. When no more severe frosts are to be expected in spring (March) and it is slowly getting warm again, plant the sticks in potting soil - for example Plantura organic herb & seed soil - or a sand-peat mixture. In autumn of the same year you can then plant the rooted cuttings with the first green leaves at their destination.
Tip from the professional: Bedding and hybrid tea roses are not particularly easy to propagate using sticks, as they lack the necessary growth and rooting power.
Propagating Roses by Grafting
Garden professionals can improve your roses by graftingmultiply. This type of reproduction is common practice among rose growers. A possible and popular form of refinement is oculation. An eye of a hybrid tea is inserted into the root neck of a wild rose, which serves as a base. The robust, strong-growing wild rose later supplies the hybrid tea, which can develop so well and produce many beautiful flowers. Expertise, practice and the right tool are crucial for the success of this method. To make the cut as smooth as possible, you need a very sharp knife or a special grafting knife.
On a hot summer day in July, when the rose is full of juice, grafting can begin. To do this, first make a T-cut on the root neck of the Wildling. Then cut out a piece of bark with only one bud about two centimeters long from the tea rose. Carefully peel off the bark around the T-cut and slide the bud into the opened cut. To protect the resulting wound, it is best to carefully bandage it with raffia. The following spring, the top part of the wild rose above the T-cut is removed, forcing the noble bud to sprout from the rootstock. In June, remove the tip of the noble shoot so that the rose has multiple shoots. Incidentally, the process of budding is also carried out when breeding standard roses.
Another well-known form of refinement is grafting. While only a single eye is transplanted into the base when grafting, a whole shoot is transplanted when grafting. This propagation technique is often used on fruit trees, which also belong to the rose family (Rosaceae). You can find more interesting information about the vegetative propagation of various plant species here.
Refining roses on potatoes
It is often recommended to root cut roses in a vase with lukewarm water and then plant them later. However, this form of propagation is not very promising and therefore not recommended. Roses on potatoes - that sounds a bit unusual, especially when you consider that these two plants belong to completely different families. From a potato and a cut rose given to you, whose blooms are otherwise usually short-lived, you can grow a rose plant that can thrive in the garden for many years to come. How to Make Roses Using a Potatocan multiply, we explain in detail in our special article.
Propagate rose by lowering
Some roses can also be wonderfully propagated by layering. Shrub, rambler or climbing roses are particularly suitable for this, as their long shoots can be easily bent. In late summer, after flowering, choose a long shoot that bends down easily. You can also carefully cut into woody shoots so that they do not break. Place the shoot in a trough about 20 centimeters deep and cover the middle part with a mixture of soil and compost. You can also fix shoots that keep bending upwards with a branch fork that you stick into the ground. In the following weeks the soil must be kept well moist. From autumn onwards, new roots will appear at the bend in the shoots. The following spring, when the new rose plant is rooted strong enough to support itself, it can be separated from the mother plant and planted in its final destination.