Mornin'

I am not an expert either, but I do pretty well with my cuttings on climbers and OGR.

When I take cutting wood, I try and take it after a good rain, within 2 days after a rain, and try not to take it when it is extremely hot day. I have taken cutting wood in the afternoon, but I make sure that it is below 80 degrees.

What I do is around May-Sept I look for new wood, wood that has grow this year and has hardened off some, that is from half the diameter of a pencil to the diameter of a pencil, and cut the wood off of the plant. Then cut in lenghts of about 4 to 6 inches, leaving at least 2 buds on each piece of the wood (more buds than that are fine). If you are rooting the cuttings right then, I use an average potting soil with slow release fertilizer, and I scrape the green off of the cutting with a razor all the way around for about a third of the length (try not to cut into the white layers of the wood, the cambiam layers). I dip it in root tone and put it in a small pot of soil. I do make a hole with my fingers in the soil, so that the rooting hormone won't get rubbed off, then I pat down the soil well. I keep watered, not soaked, and don't let it dry out. I set them outside under a tree so that they get filtered morning sun, and I shade them from the harsh late afternoon and evening sun. I live in south GA, so it will be hot during that time of year.

If you take the cuttings and cannot do them right then, I wrap them in wet papertowels, and then in a Ziploc bag or a plastic bag so that they will stay moist, and put them in the fridge so they will stay cool.

I usually have a 75 to 90 percent live on my roses that I do this way. Some varieties are harder than others to propagate, so keep trying. I took cuttings last August of Dr. W. Van Fleet from an abandoned house (I had permission from the family) late in the evening and I ended up with 144 cuttings, and as of this morning I have ALL but 8 of them living. I usually don't take that many cuttings of one kind, but the families wants some of the cuttings, and I have a few friends who I send them to.

I hope that I have helped you, and like I said earlier I am no expert but this is what works for me. Feel free to email me with any more questions.