...or you could send the cuttings to me and I could propagate them for you.... and then I could keep a couple rooted cuttings of each for myself??? I'm not sure how the regulations stand for shipping plants between the US and Canada right now, though.

No such thing as too big to move. Roses are shallow rooted and have a surprisingly small amount of roots, making them easy to move. Cut the bush back as needed to make it a manageable size. You can root the cuttings. Give it lots of water in it's new spot for about 2 weeks.

If you'd be willing to send me cuttings of each rose, I would be very grateful and pay for the shipping. Let me know if that's a possibility.

I gave a large Knockout to a coworker and pruned it back about half. Then wrapped a sheet and tied it with a rope around it to make it more compact so it would fit in my trunk and to keep from getting stuck. She took it home and took the sheet off, but never planted it. It has been about 10 years and it is HUGE now. The main cane is bigger around than my arm and you can still see the pot where it cracked open as the rose got bigger. As someone else said water well before and after.

Tony, I'm interested in hearing more about your mix. I use ziplock baggies too, but don't put them under lights. I've always used a coarse potting soil, lightly moistened, so I can see the roots when they start forming, but for some reason this year have not had a lot of luck. Some are rooting, but many are rotting and dying. I've cut back on the amount of water I add to my medium, but now I am curious about what you do.

Can you see roots forming in the ziplocks with your medium?

Thank you

Mindy

Hi Mindy!

I've had similar problems with rot in the past, so through the years I've made my mix lighter and lighter, meaning less and less moisture retaining, which means a higher and higher percentage of perlite.

When the cuttings have rooted well enough to be potted up, you'll see the roots at the bottom of the bag at first, and then at the sides when they're really well rooted. I think you'll see that they get to this stage faster with a mostly perlite mix.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Tony

Many Thanks Tony. I'm going to give it a try!

Tony,

Another question. Do you find that you need to open the ziplock baggies and add moisture ever?

I made a medium out of your suggestion, but I find it does not clump very well inside the ziplock (to hold the cuttings upright). I just lightly moistened it, so that tells me either the sand/perlite mix just doesn't hold together too well, or I don't have enough moisture included. Perhaps it's just so different than what I'm used to, I feel I'm doing it wrong!

Thank you!

I would get it thoroughly wet and then strain most of the water out before you put it in the bag. I usually have it in a bucket with water and then scoop it out with a 4" pot that has drainage holes so I can let most of the water drain out. They usually root without needing water added, but it's possible that some cultivars might take longer to root, and the media could then dry out. You could add a little water so that there is a little bit of standing water at the bottom of the bag, but that shouldn't be necessary. You don't want them too wet or they'll rot. Keep an eye on them and add water if you think it looks dry. I know what you mean about it not holding together well. If I ever use the bag technique, I usually push on both sides of the bag to make the media cover the cuttings well, or even use a couple heavy objects to put on each side of the bag(s) (like bookends...) to hold it in place. Or put the media in a square 4" pot and then put that in the bag. I think you can fit two of them in a one gallon bag.

I have tried so many different methods and found that for me, pine bark fines work the best. (sold as soil conditioner at Walmart for $2.99.) I have just recently put some in sand. (another poster said that was what he used. I do not cover mine, but leave them against the side fence, in dappled light. Someone else, on another thread, mentioned the temps need to be rather warm. I agree. It's been in the 90s here. I have lost some leaves, but we have had a lot of rain. I don't sweat it, new leaves pop out!