Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
cjaneh_gw

question about rootstock

cjaneh
14 years ago

I'm wondering if r.multiflora is still used as a rootstock by commercial growers? I know it's considered an invasive plant in some states. I'm giving a presentation to a local group on roses and don't want to give out inaccurate information. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Comments (12)

  • diane_nj 6b/7a
    14 years ago

    Yes. Mostly from Canadian sources (Palatine Roses, Pickering Nursery, Hortico) and a US source, Wisconsin Roses. It usually doesn't sucker (revert) as badly as Dr. Huey, and in many places (my area, for one) it is a desirable rootstock. Most roses sold in the US (available from nurseries and most of the bareroots) are grafted on Dr. Huey rootstock.

  • anntn6b
    14 years ago

    Multiflora is also used by Bailey Nursery in Minnesota.

    You are going to talk about the millions of multiflora bushes already established in the MidAtlantic and about Rose Rosette Disease?

  • wirosarian_z4b_WI
    14 years ago

    anntn6b----where did you here that Bailey's use r. multiflora root stock? All of their Easy Elegance roses are "own root" as far as I've ever heard or seen.

  • anntn6b
    14 years ago

    I had called Bailey's three or four years ago to try to find a source for their roses (they'd sell to me if I'd buy a thousand) and I think I read the multiflora bit in Combined Rose List which was one of the reasons for my interest in them. They produce (or at least used to produce) a lot more roses than just their easy elegance line.

  • michaelg
    14 years ago

    Multiflora does fine in heavy or light soils but strongly prefers an acid pH. In Florida it is highly susceptible to the southern rootknot nematode, such that plants on multiflora roots are only good for one season.

    For your region, you can confidently recommend the Canadian-grown roses on mf. They are a good value, too.

  • michaelg
    14 years ago

    I should have said you can confidently recommend Pickering and Palatine, not the third Canadian supplier.

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    14 years ago

    Until the multiple discussions over the years of root stock on this forum I never really thought about what I might have growing here. Since I've been buying roses since 1985, I'm presuming that most of them are grafted on Dr. Huey as that is the dominant root stock from retailers. I may be lucky or doing something right without knowing it, but I've never had a suckering problem, so I would hesitate to say all or even most roses grafted on Dr. Huey sucker....Anyway as an experiment I purposely sought out and planted a rose on multiflora a few years ago to see how it would compare to the previous Dr. Huey grafted occupant of this space which had succumbed to RRD. The spot laid fallow for 3 years before planting another rose there just to make sure that no RRD roots were left to sprout. Then, the spot was amended with new compost/fertilizer etc before the rose (Tiffany) was planted. Michaelg reminded me of the difference a root stock can make. On the old Dr. Huey rooted rose the leaves were always a nice healthy green (the rose was in ground for 10 years before the RRD struck). With the multiflora rootstock the leaves almost always have a slight to moderate amount of Chlorosis going on. Our ph has tested at 6.8, apparently not acidic enough for the multiflora rootstock to be overly happy......And now Michael makes me aware of another thing - the nemotode situation. I know that roses in Florida are very susceptible to root knot nemotodes, but I assumed all rootstocks except Fortuniana were equally at risk. Now he says that multiflora is the rootstock of choice for the little buggers. This year, much to our amazement and for the first time ever, my DH pulled up a tomato plant heavily infested with RKN - and I mean heavily. It sat not 20 feet away from my multiflora rooted rose. Florida's soil is sandy and RKN easily spread, but in our heavy clay soil they have never appeared. Thanks for the info MichaelG. I'll be on the lookout for more problems.

  • berndoodle
    14 years ago

    Rootstocks are thought to have varying resistance to different nematodes. While all roostocks apart from Fortuneana are susceptible to the nematodes in Floridan, R. multiflora rootstocks have superior resistance to other nematodes found in other soils and in other parts of the world.

  • rain2fall
    14 years ago

    Here in the Willamette Valley, multiflora is a good rootstock; better than Dr. Huey. I like it. Heavy clay soil, acid.

  • cjaneh
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you so much for all the good information. My presentation went well and I felt confident that I was giving out correct information.

  • jont1
    14 years ago

    Multiflora is my choice of understock for roses I grow. I get most of my roses bareroot from Palatine, Pickering, and Wisconsin Roses all of whom use multiflora. The multiflora Steve Singer uses on his Wisconsin Roses seems to be particularly agreeable to my soil.
    I have tried several J&P roses both own root and grafted surely on Dr. Huey. For the most part I don't know that I see much difference in the own-roots roses and the Dr. Huey grafted ones. A good example is my Veterans' Honor bushes. I have a grated on that is 5 or 6 years old and then I got an own-root the next year of it. My own root is actually better as it is taller, blooms more, and gets through winter with less issues so it takes off quicker in the Spring by several weeks. I have a few others the same way.
    Lastly and luckily I guess is that I have not had any suckering problem ever.
    John

  • wirosarian_z4b_WI
    14 years ago

    John---interesting observation on your VH. My experience with VH is just the opposite. My own root VH is much smaller & less vigorous than my Dr. Huey rooted VH, as a matter of fact I plan on shovel pruning the own root one & replacing it with a grafted one next spring. I have acid, sandy soil so I've found it beneficial to give each Dr. Huey grafted rose a heaping Tbsp. of lime every even numbered year with the first spring feeding. Larry