Vettin, you're letting it overwhelm you, don't! You want a moisture retentive soil which doesn't remain soggy. They need available moisture and good air circulation in the soil to prevent rot. Which brand specifically is not a good thing for me to suggest because our climates are too different. I need something which retains a lot of water for a long time, like a moisture retentive soil with Coir. You may not. You get rain, we're not getting any. Your humidity is a lot higher than mine, while my temperatures are probably a lot higher than yours are currently. We're also getting a lot of arid wind, both cold and hot, so things are drying out very quickly. That's probably not the case in Virginia now.

Use whatever you've found good to pot roses and other plants in your garden. Preferably without a fertilizer in it. Callus takes up water and, like new, young roots, can be damaged by too much water and too high concentration of salts. I don't fertilize with anything until there is a good number of roots visible at the bottom and/or sides of the soil balls. I would not use anything organic, either. Seaweed, blood meal, all of it requires heat and time to break down into the salts which plant tissues can absorb. You're probably not going to get that heat, nor keep them in those pots long enough to have any real benefit yet, and you CAN experience rots due to other bacteria and fungi required to digest the organics. It is much safer to use a quality, sterile potting soil and allow the nutrients already stored within the cutting, and any photosynthesis the green parts of the cuttings accomplish when exposed to light to feed them until there is a good set of roots under them. THEN you can be much safer giving them dilute feedings of the fertilizer of your choice.

Personally, I want more "bang for my buck" with the newly rooted plants. I want them to push growth as safely, as quickly as possible, so I can move them along into large enough cans so when the real heat hits, they don't fry as easily. Last year, it was quite late before we had any real heat, so keeping them in 16 oz. cups for weeks to months wasn't an issue. We've already had nearly ninety several times so far since December. If it keeps up, we COULD have triple digits by next month, which has happened before. 16 oz. cups of potting soil with roots in them won't last a day here in triple digits, so I need them in two gallon cans to play it safe. And, I need to pass the extras along to others before then so they have a chance to carry them forward.

Once I am comfortable with the root development, I will give them Miracle Grow at houseplant concentration. For outdoor use, they say to use a tablespoon per gallon of water. For houseplants, due to smaller root balls, higher evaporation rates, greater salt build-up, you use a quarter to half that strength. I want to encourage them to grow as safely and as quickly as I can without burning them with too high salt concentration, and I do disbud them to encourage growth at the expense of flowering. It makes a world of difference in the plant development.

Of course, you may do as you wish as far as fertilizing, or not, as well as disbudding or not. I'm simply explaining what I practice and the results it's given me. Organics are wonderful and in the garden, I agree they're great. At this stage, however, I want growth NOW so I can produce a more mature plant more quickly so it can either be canned into a larger size or planted out before it gets HOT and quite dry here. If you aren't expecting those kinds of conditions, or not as soon as I am; if you can more easily keep them watered, either by irrigation or rain; if you're dealing with fewer small, own root plants and can be more attentive to each one, your mileage and what you choose to do with /to/for them is going to vary.

If you're using a "potting soil", which is a soil replacement, and it provides the appropriate water retention, drainage and other conditions potted plants in your climate and conditions require, nothing else is needed to mix with it. If what you have available is too dense/heavy, or too light, you may need to mix in the appropriate material to tailor it to your needs. Many commercial nurseries mix their own so it suits their humidity, watering methods, heat or lack of it, etc. Sequoia and EuroDesert used a very light mix with a high level of perlite. Both used automatic irrigation with a lot of water flowing into and over the plants so fast drainage was a requirement. If that describes your situation, you'll need something similar. When I've brought home plants from both, I've had to repot them immediately or I'd lose them due to drying out in a day. Their mix was far too light, with drainage much too fast and not nearly the moisture retention my conditions require. Not that theirs were "bad", just not suitable for MY climate and conditions. Had I a greenhouse and automatic irrigation set to the levels and frequency theirs were, it would have been fine.

A number of people are using clear cups so they can see any root development. Light usually inhibits roots. Nature put that in to play to prevent roots from wanting to grow out of their environment where they would fail. If you use clear cups, I would position them so that they are protected from strong light to encourage root growth.

As for where to put them, again, your conditions and time are strong influences there. Mine are grown outside in a walled, sunken area on the east side of the house where they receive full, direct sun from about 10 to 1 daily. Right now, in this weather we've been having and in my climate, that works perfectly. If your humidity is higher, temperatures lower, with more regular, frequent rain, you may benefit from giving them more direct sun exposure. No matter what your conditions are, I would suggest morning sun would definitely be preferable. Morning light is 'cleaner', less 'hot', more suited to growth at less stress to the plant. Afternoon sun is usually hotter and can inhibit growth because it generally 'cooks' the plants more. Many shade preferring plants will tolerate more hours of morning sun than afternoon. Take cues from that. I think your success rate will be greater with morning light, if at all possible.

If your situation is not suitable for outdoor planting, a terrarium or green house may be better. That depends upon all the factors mentioned already and what resources you have available, but in general, these seem to succeed much better NOT being covered. They aren't "soft" like recent growth. If planted deeper so more of the cutting is below soil than above, usually what is available from humidity and watering is more than sufficient to keep them from drying out and failing. If it is REALLY dry where you are, keeping them in a "closer" environment like a terrarium or green house, under a bottle or covered by plastic may be beneficial, but if the humidity levels are relatively high, you're likely to experience much more rot if covered or enclosed. That's been my experience here, even though this is considered an "arid" climate, and what's been reported by many who have shared their experiences with me.

Watering frequency is also totally dependent upon the type of soil used; aridity and rain or lack of it; heat levels; wind; amount of sun and what time of day (later is hotter, therefore more likely to demand more irrigation), etc. Like a recently planted bare root or transplant, you want them moist, not muddy or soggy. As long as the cups have sufficient drain holes and the soil used retains sufficient moisture without remaining too wet for your conditions, just water them when they appear dry. Not totally dried out, just when it appears there isn't enough moisture in the soil to allow for uptake by the roots.

Since I use the foam cups and firm the soil in well when planting, I can easily place the cutting between my fingers, turn the cup upside down and gently tap out the soil ball to look at the roots and soil to see if it seems too dry. If they do, I water them all. If they don't, I leave them alone. I don't check every one, but with two hundred or so cups going right now, and since the are all together in flats in the same place, I just spot check several through the flats so I am comfortable I've taken a properly representative sampling to see how the average one is. Some will vary more or less moisture, but if the average appears to need water, they get watered. I use a rose from the end of a water wand so they get "rained on" so it doesn't wash out the soil or knock over the cuttings. I wet the leaves, canes and everything. Nature does IF it rains, so I can, too. Mine are outside where they get direct sun, wind, any level of air moisture available so the excess water dries out just as it does on the plants in the ground. Wetting their leaves helps to hydrated them and wash off dust, dirt and any opportunistic insects which may have decided it was a good place to set up "home".

I guess, if they're covered or inside a green house or terrarium, you'll probably not want to wet the foliage for fear it may remain too damp/wet. But, out in the air and sun, raining on the entire flat to fill the areas in the tops of the cups works just fine in my conditions. If it ever rains, I can stop watering and let Nature take care of it for me as I did much of last spring.

Have I missed anything, or not thought of something you may have thought of when reading this? Is so, ask! Someone will have suggestions for what's worked for them where they are, and theirs may be closer to your conditions and situation than mine. That's why I try to tell you why I do what I do, so you may tailor it to what your conditions are. Too often, we either demand or are given a recipe about how to do things. As long as your conditions are nearly the same as where the recipe was written, that's great, but few are. Knowing the "why" behind what has been done permits you to know what should work best for you so you start off with a greater level of success and only need to tweak a few things a bit to make them work perfectly for you. Much better to be "taught to fish", isn't it? Kim

The one big thing I'd like to add is,

Cuttings can smell fear.

If you can convince them you know what you're doing, even if you really don't, it will make a big difference.

AMEN! LOL! It's like most things, if you can be nonchalant, act as if you own the place, that you have every right to be where you are and be doing what you're doing, no one will think twice about it and you can get away with MANY things you otherwise wouldn't. Same here. Familiarize yourself with the 'why' and then just do it confidently. You will succeed, even with just one, and that opens the flood gates. Then, what WILL you do with the glut of own root plants you'll pump out of your garden every year?

To mad_gallica's suggestion, I would also add, if you want one plant and you process one cutting, it WILL fail. If you process a dozen of them, you'll come out the other end with thirteen plants. Happens all the time. Murphy is alive and doing quite well propagating rose cuttings! LOL!

I live nearer to you, in the Shenandoah Valley in Western VA. I tried the Burrito Method last year wood with spent blooms and had really excellent success with the cuttings developing calluses. Most of them died before forming roots,though. Yesterday, I burritoed about 60 cuttings and have high expectations. Last year I used a mixture of 1/2 perlite and half spagnum moss for rooting. This year I'm going to try half perlite and half regular miracle grow, because that's what I can get. I'm going to try different potting methods. Some will go into the styrofoam cups and some will go into cut off half gallon milk jugs and be covered with a clear pop bottle which has had the bottom cut out. I will keep the lid because I'm going to use it to gradually accustom the cutting to the outside air. I'm combing Kim's (Roseseek) and Connie's (Hartwood Roses) suggestions. You may be near Connie at Hartwood Roses in Fredericksburg, VA. A very worthy nursery to visit. The link takes you to her homepage and you can click on the "How To" tab to see her instructions for rooting cuttings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hartwood Roses Home Page

I want to note here that I have had practically zero percent success with burrito-wrapped cuttings. I tried three times last year, using the same roses at different times of the year, following Kim's directions as closely as I could. The only variety that I can honestly say succeeded (barely) was Marchesa Boccella. (Only 2/3 of them died.)

The best time to take cuttings in our area is early June, when the first flush of flowers is fading. The next best time is after the fall flush. Any time other than that, and it's a crap shoot.

Connie

Cool. If I bomb with most of these I have two more opportunities! If I bomb with most of those, well, I will have to do something else more successful for a while and come back to rose rooting later. There is always something else to try in the garden.

I guess I should add that using Kim's instructions I have had almost a 100% success rate and have 40 cuttings that are leafing out. It is very humid here and maybe that's what has made the difference, I don't know. Also, perhaps some roses are more prone to rooting using the burrito method. I have no facts other than the cuttings I wrapped callused and rooted.

I also subscribe to the stick them in the ground and put a jar over them method as well, too, as that is how I usually root cuttings.

Yes, I do believe some are more easily rooted than others by each method. There is no reason to believe that every variety is going to root absolutely identically, period, much less from one location to another, season to season, nor even year to year. Even the best proven methods we have all found don't produce identical results with all varieties, in all seasons, every year. Too many things can vary and some, in combination, can make or break the success.

Add to that the idiosyncrasies of varieties and it becomes a real crap shoot. For years, "he who shall remain nameless" stated that in his nursery, he could only root Mermaid in September, though using mist and hundreds of miles south of him where it was much hotter and quite a bit more arid, I could root Mermaid almost any time I put it in the mist propagator.

Some are going to have to cover their cutting to keep them going until they fully leaf out and root. My experience here is that spells disaster. They WILL rot, period. I have had zero success with any kind of cutting of any plant enclosing them here, no matter what the genus or species, no matter how I treated the cuttings nor what time of year. Conditions and pathogens in my climate or even micro climate, are just right for attacking enclosed cuttings.

This time of year, even with this odd weather, I CAN prepare cuttings of Hibiscus sinensis, Althea and Hibiscus species and root them, uncovered on the north side of the house and consistently get a better than 90% take. The same goes for Azaleas, too. Treating roses exactly the same as the Hibiscus resulted in total failure. Covering them with anything did, too.

Yet, using what I've shared, has permitted me to root nearly every variety of rose I've tried with extremely high success rates. If it doesn't work for you, it simply means there are still variables which need fine tuning with your roses, in your climate and conditions. If you have methods which work acceptably well for you, by all means use them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But, if you haven't hit upon that just-right combination to get things to root yet, keep tweaking to find it and get going.

Last year, Apricot Bells rooted perfectly, but Patricia Beucher refused completely. This year, Apricot Bells refused completely, while Patricia has better than 80% take. Go figure.

I received cuttings from a friend of her seedlings and one I'd been wanting to grow for several years created by a mutual friend. Hers are rooting right down the line. The one I was really waiting for, failed completely. (More "Murphy" at work! And, as has been suggested above, it "smelled" my apprehension at it failing.) But, her seedlings were healthy, vigorous, actively growing plants which went into "dormancy" healthy and vital, probably with all the stored nutrients necessary to make wrapping a success. The long sought after variety suffered last year and was nearly lost. It wasn't vital nor vigorous because of what it endured all last year due to the extreme weather conditions it suffered. All of them turned black and died, much like the Arizona bare roots Arena Roses had difficulty with some years back which all died due to the 'Creeping Black Death" as Syl called it. His theory was due to a very mild winter, they went 'dormant' without the required levels of stored nutrients necessary to permit them to be harvested, stored and break dormancy. Sounds VERY much like what these cuttings did and potentially for the same reason.

I can't wrap material here and expect good results once they are leafing out, forming flowers and actively growing, nor when daytime temps hit the mid to high nineties. Too little stored energy, too active growth, too hot to hold callused cuttings until they root. Too much water stress on them until they HAVE roots to "drink" with. Yet, those are prefect conditions for complete success using soft wood cuttings under mist here. The right kind of material, at the right time, for the right method.

When I rooted cuttings in the Santa Clarita Valley, I HAD to put them in baggies, place them in a terrarium (which prevented them from being blown around in the ever-present winds) on my north facing balcony where they received very strong, indirect light or they were guaranteed to dry out and fail. Anything with greater light burned them outright. The sun was significantly more intense; the air significantly more arid and heat much more extreme there than here in the hills of Encino. I did exactly the same things that produced a hundred percent success there. Here, they failed a hundred percent of the time over several years. No one method can be exactly repeated identically in every place, in ever year and produce exactly the same results. Too many things vary from year to year, season to season, location to location and even variety to variety. But, with practice and experience, you quickly develop a feel for what works, when it will work and why. With just a little repetition, that comes fairly quickly.

I found that instead of enclosing them, here it works excellently to bury them as you do freshly planted bareroots, and for the same reasons. Keep them from drying out; prevent the heat and light from triggering them to use their resources to leaf out, grow tops and flower at the expense of growing roots UNTIL they begin producing swollen growth buds indicating they are rooting and ready to grow. No rot, no mold, no need to harden them off gradually other than to take a couple of weeks to gradually uncover them, exposing them to hotter, drier, brighter conditions SLOWLY so they can get used to it gently. Or, if very lucky, be able to do it just before a rain, which accomplishes all of that very quickly and efficiently.

The key to all of it is to understand the "WHY" of it so you may adjust the "WHAT", "WHEN" and "HOW" to fit your conditions. In years and where roses never stop growing and flowering, you really don't have "hard wood" because they keep actively growing, so hard wood (which wrapping is best with) cuttings aren't something you'll have much of. There, soft wood (under mist, plastic, bottles or bags), actively growing wood, is what you have and what determines what methods will work best for you. Hard wood treated like soft wood cuttings often fails miserably. They CAN root, but frequently take many, many months to do what soft wood cuttings can do in a few weeks. In the 80s and 90s when I volunteered at The Huntington propagating roses in their mist propagator, most roses would root from soft wood cuttings in the high heat of summer in seven to ten DAYS. They would then require many weeks of acclimation as they were gradually moved farther and farther away from the mist over spray to harden off and continue growing. Cuttings taken in late fall through the end of winter and treated precisely the same way required three to four MONTHS to callus and form roots.

What wrapping does is to speed up what took months to do when the cuttings were given both rooting and growing triggers, replacing them with only rooting triggers, encouraging them to 'focus' on producing below ground development instead of trying to do both at the same time. "Division of labor" and "resources flowing to their highest valued use" resulting in tremendously more efficient and speedy production. As long as all the necessary resources are provided and conditions are met within their tolerance ranges. Kim

I was talking to my 83 year old Mom today and she suggested the stick them in the ground and put a half gallon glass jar over them, too. That must be one method that works across the country! I wouldn't have to worry about what soil to use, either . . .

Scent of fear . . . Murphy, they both love my garden! LOL

Kim, you must be one speedy typist. I love your complete answers! Or do you have that speech recognition software?

Thank you Grandmothers rose. I WISH I had speech recognition software, but it would probably be as horrible as the OCR software I've tried. I had to virtually retype everything I scanned with it.

Yes, your mother is right. With the right kind of material, in the right conditions, just poking it in the ground and putting a jar over it works like magic. It worked here ONCE, with a flower cluster piece of Pookah, over winter in a rainy season, and I didn't have to cover it. The thing just rooted by itself after I accidentally broke it off the plant while pulling a weed. Hasn't worked with anything since, not even more of Pookah.

You will also hear from those who just stick the stems in a vase of water and they root. My mother did that in Alabama, as did my grandmother, but not here! Not enough humidity, too alkaline, salty water. Salts (alkalinity) inhibit root formation, but people who live in the mountains above this area and who are on more neutral, even slightly acidic well water, report it working for them.

Yes, ma'am, "Murphy" and "scent of fear" are both alive and very active, here, too! Kim

Thank you for all the responses. I had tried this last year and some had calluses and had roots but life happened and it never got much further.
Kim, do you use the same method for azaleas and at what stage of growth pls? Before they flower, etc?
Thank you!

I haven't wrapped azaleas yet because they rooted as easily as the hibiscus, the same way I rooted hibiscus. I have wrapped lilac and it callused. So far, there are still four pieces of lilac pushing new growth, but no visible roots in their pots. They're fresh and appear to be growing. I won't know for a while if it's going to work. Laurus noblis hasn't callused, but it also isn't deteriorating once planted (three weeks).

I did the azalea out of curiosity, using various size and thickness cuttings. They took easily. I don't know if they flowered this year or not as I really don't have anywhere suitable to grow them except where they already grow and that's full. They were pieces which grew where I didn't want them to grow, so I tried rooting them instead of just throwing them out. They were cut in October of 2010 and rooted by spring/summer 2011.

All I did for the hibiscus and azalea was to fill two gallon cans with Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil, firming it in very well by hand. I cut the various cuttings and stripped of all but the top leaves. I used Dip'n Grow diluted to between the 10 and 15X levels (probably about 12.5X), just because that "seemed" right, soaking the newly cut cuttings for about six seconds before jamming them into the moistened soil. Once all inserted, I watered a second time and left them in the shade of the house, north side, where they received strong, reflected light and all the rain which fell. It WAS a wet year and spring lasted until June. This year, there hasn't been any rain to speak of and "winter" hasn't happened. It's supposed to be nearly ninety here tomorrow.

I gave away pots of hibiscus and azalea last year because they rooted SO easily. They were all varieties I already grow and I didn't need more.

Thank you, Kim, for the instructions - it helps a lot. It's good to know that acidic water roots easier. It's too cold here for root-cutting, but I'll try the outdoor soil-layering and water it with rain-water mixed with diluted Miracle-Gro fertilizer.

I tried to root some exotic herbs indoor with our alkaline tap water, but it didn't root well. I'll make sure to acidify the water. Thank you, Kim, for that tip.

You're welcome Strawberryhill. Of course, the plant type influences the success, too. Many, many years ago, I rooted cuttings of Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) in the same, nasty, salty alkaline water by putting them in a large glass jar, wedging it between nursery cans in my pot ghetto so the jar wouldn't overheat or blow over and keeping it full when I watered with the hose. They received the same full summer sun the roses did. The water was solid algae and even had mosquito larvae in it, but nearly every Althea cutting rooted. I hope the algae and larvae made good fertilizer when poured out on the ground!

Every time I've tired that with roses here, total failure, whether they've been soft or hard wood and no matter what time of year, sun level, direction, etc. Perhaps a deciduous type when dormant might, but I haven't tried that variation yet. Kim

My DH uses Dragon Naturally Speaking speach recognition software. He said it is 90% accurate and helps him write his numerous papers faster. He's pretty computer savy so it probably is a good program. I've never tried it.

Thank you, I'll have to check that one out. I sought a copy of The Fannie Farmer Cook Book a few years ago for a friend who loves it. Their copy was threadbare. Barnes & Noble could "print" it for me using their OCR software. Took them about three days for a brand new copy.

EXCEPT, the software didn't recognize most symbols for measurements. It also didn't line up the quantities with the measurements so there would be a column of numbers, followed by a column of senseless symbols. "c" for Cup came out as @. "Tsp" some other odd symbols and letters. Totally senseless and useless, but they printed and shipped it! Great service, questionable quality control. No one ever looked at the thing, but they did take it back without issue. Kim

Well, at least we know Barnes and Noble has great customer service! Technology still has room for improvement. Where is their good ol' photo copier?

It would have been nice if it had been that easy. The paperback edition was small, the reprint was large and very easy to read, just not to USE. The old one literally fell apart. Kim