I gently tug. Some pots have obvious extra bands. Others do not. I leave alone those. I have had success.

I usually separate them.

I wait until the appropriate time of the year for weather (cooler, damper, hopefully rain) and tease them apart. Unless you're dealing with a wimpy type which demands multiple plants to produce something worth growing, why not? Some producers put multiple cuttings per band to produce a salable product faster, or to hedge against the loss of one, so the other (s) remain. Others insert only one per band. Either way, they consciously provided you with the quantity of potential plants you paid for. If you desire separating them and can successfully do it, why not? Kim

In the beginning I use to try and separate them. I ended up killing most of them. I leave them alone now.

I leave the multiple band as-is & pot it up into a gallon to grow on. Then I divide the individual cuttings when it's ready to be potted into a larger pot again. My thinking is the new bands are fairly fragile & I want the roots to expand with more maturity to hedge my bet before dividing. I use a large non-serrated sharp knife to cut the individual plants apart with a down to the bottom & slowly but cleanly across stroke while they're still in the gallon pot. New pots & soil already at hand, each goes immediately into its own gallon before the next is cut & lifted. They're watered gently & well & set in shade for a few days before going back into more sun - dependent on the time of year, heat & weather - like any pot transplant. The ones with this treatment have done well, seemingly relieved to have room to grow after a cramped beginning.

This Spring was my first order of gallon roses from Chamblee's, and each had at least two cuttings, with a couple showing 3. They all went together into larger pots & were in turn divided & repotted after they'd grown on. They didn't seem to miss a beat. One that appeared to be 4 cuttings turned out to be only 3, when I discovered one set of roots had thrown another stem - upon meeting resistance to the knife which barely knicked it. Young roots cut easily, but an undersoil stem will stop a knife when using little pressure. That one's done as well as the others & grown another cane where I believe the knick occurred.

So for me, it's a thoughtful assessment & gentle operation, usually done on an overcast day when the weather signs are with me. Keep in mind these roses were all climbers or plants expected to reach a minimum of 3' with maturity, since minis are often grown as multiples. But I've divided those, too, with the thought that plants deserve their own "room" to grow to their full potential.

Contemplated this long & hard before deciding on this approach. Knowing that climbers will throw multiple canes, wondered if it mattered in the long run if they originated from the same set of roots. Recalled observing over the years that plants too closely spaced seem either to mutually dwarf or slug it out with some claiming dominion, whether in cultivation or nature. Figure with ample root room in all directions, likely not to be an issue with these roses. But still, I do like to direct the garden, whether the individuals who comprise it respond to cues or go their own way. If I plant 2 Westerlands in such close quarters, will the result be an impenetrable barrier rather than graceful growth as both vie for alpha status, or would they cooperate & act as one? With a rose known to sucker, guess you know going in. With the Westerlands - good-sized shrubby climbers - the thought of possibly dividing them down the line was sobering, while the ease of doing so in babyhood proved enticing in comparison...

And where I ordered pairs of climbers, I now have doubles & more. Also 5 of Julia Child instead of a couple, and on it goes. Not complaining - an unexpected serendipity of roses - but what to do with them all? Nowhere near out of room in this garden, so revised plans opening to mind & thoughts of gifting, though preparing new areas with deer protection wasn't originally in the cards. Good thing I have a stash of arches in reserve from a long ago whale of a sale! In gardening, as in life, nothing's so sure as a change of plans.

This post was edited by vasue on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 13:20

I will be testing this shortly since a few of my bands had two cutting with one not being what I ordered I plan on going just what Vasue described

For a long time I never really gave it any thought. Then when I realized that sometimes there were two or more plants in a band, like Seil, I thought it was best not to mess with things and just pot the whole thing up.

But now I'm wondering what happens in the long run if you have two plants so close together trying to grow up to full size? Do they make a bigger impression sooner? Or do they ultimately interfere with each other?

Like Kippy, I think this time I will try vasue's approach and pot up to a gallon as is, then look into separating them later on.

Luckily both of mine have bloomed, and they're both the right plant.

P.S. vasue, after looking over this thread again, I remembered that my new Souvenir de St. Anne's came from Chamblees so I went out to take a look at it. Sure enough, there could be up to 3 cuttings in that pot.

This post was edited by bellegallica_zone9 on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 20:30

I have sawed them apart with a serrated knife as well. This was a well rooted band, and as vasue did, they went immediately into their new pots. A new rose to share....

I have sawed them apart with a serrated knife as well. This was a well rooted band, and as vasue did, they went immediately into their new pots. A new rose to share....

I never tried the sawing method. I tried to gently separate the roots. That usually resulted in losing some roots, of course. In the end I would lose both plants. So now I let them grow on together. I've never noticed that they suffered from being too close together.

I don't think plants really have as much of a problem with crowding as we think. Things in the wild grow willy nilly and all over on top of each other with abandon. So I can't think two roses grown together in much better conditions, and under a lot of TLC, would be that big of a deal. In spite of the general rule of 3 feet on center for planting David Austin always suggests that for a better, bigger display to plant 3 together at only 18 inches apart. And a lot of his roses notoriously get giant size in the US.