Root stock comparison

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

June 16, 2014, I budded Grey Pearl to Pink Clouds and Malcolm Manners' VI Fortuniana. My remaining Grey Pearl was going downhill quickly. There were only five buds on the final remaining cane, so it was a definite "kill or cure" operation. I have allowed them to flower a little as I wanted to see how the color varied in the new climate, but mostly, I've kept the flower buds pinched off to push growth. I am thrilled by the results. Grey Pearl will root, but it won't make anything resembling a decent plant, own root. The photo perfectly illustrating that I posted to Help Me Find several years ago.

Here are the two, five gallon plants, budded from the same bud stick, at virtually the same time, grown in the same soil/water and no feeding regimen, and grown side by side. To be fair, several weeks ago, I harvested nearly 40% of the Pink Clouds plant to send as bud wood to a friend.

Budded on Pink Clouds.

Budded on VI Fortuniana.

Side by side, Fortuniana plant on the left.

The hole on the lower left of the Pink Clouds plant (lower left of the plant on the right) is where bud wood was cut.

This should well demonstrate two ideas... budding varieties which are not strong own root can make decent plants of them. Dis budding, preventing roses which flower at the expense of growth, can help push them into producing decent plants. It appears Pink Clouds has produced the larger plant under these conditions and in this climate, where they have grown for the past ten months. Perhaps, if they were in the ground and maybe in a hotter climate, where Fortuniana could more easily "push", that plant might out perform the Pink Clouds plant.

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Comments (5)

ozmelodye
11 years ago
My Grey Pearl never got that tall or looked so good in its ( short) life, Roseseek. It was budded on either Dr Huey or Multiflora, so Fortuniana might have worked, even though it is mainly used in Western Australia?
roseseek
Original Author
11 years ago
You could bud it to virtually any other rose and it should have worked. There are many reasons it may not have performed well for you. Do you know if multiflora performs well as a root stock in your soil/water/climate? Each one has its own preferences and all can find conditions where they aren't well suited to be detrimental. If the plant had been too dried out in storage prior to planting, that can also cause it not to perform well. That's a common issue here with bare roots with strong Foetida back grounds, such as Peace, Sterling Silver, Angel Face, etc. If Fortuniana is suited to where you are, yes it could work. If it isn't, it might perform as poorly as what you experienced. If the performance was due to mishandling prior to being planted, and if the Fortuniana plant suffered the same mishandling, it might also perform poorly. As long as the scion and stock are compatible; the plant is handled and stored appropriately after budding; the stock and scion are suitable for the end climate and conditions and it's planted and cared for properly, the plant should succeed.
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User
11 years ago
..if I saw those two plants for sale in a garden centre, I would pick up the one on the left, as it looks a bushier plant...yet showing plenty of vigour...

...I know you've removed budwood from the one on the right, but it still looks rather lanky to me... I find it less appealing...
ozmelodye
11 years ago
Roseseek, thank you for the information. I have roses on both Dr Huey and multiflora and don't usually have problems with them so maybe GP just did not like me:-) I have never found it again, so will never know.
roseseek
Original Author
11 years ago
I understand what you mean, Marlorena. It could be Pink Clouds pushes more in these conditions or in a more restricted root zone, but Fortuniana may explode in the open ground and more heat as it does really begin pushing when it's hotter and it is, eventually, a significantly larger plant than PC. Who knows? It's going to require more open soil than I have currently to find out, but I will eventually find it out! Thanks. Kim