I'm so sorry!~ Is there anyway to get more cuttings?

I realize that we are in two very different climates, but I'll share with you what works really well for me for rooting. I use clear plastic drinking cups, drill holes in the bottom and fill them with straight perlite and water well. I take my cutting and dip them in Dip N Grow (yeah, it's kind of pricey) for maybe 5 seconds or so. I use a pencil to push a hole into the perlite so the cutting will fit in. Then I tamp down the perlite until it is tight against the cutting. I then put the cuttings under my large patio table. The get some light, but not a lot of direct light. I mist them when the perlite starts drying out and just wait. I've had some start rooting in a week and others have taken about a month. I keep them in the cups and start moving them into more sun when they have a lot of roots winding around the cup. I then transplant them into a small pot, but transfer the majority of the perlite into the pot as well and just fill in around the perlite with potting soil. I think it may be difficult for the roots to go from very airy perlite to soggy potting soil, which is why I transfer the perlite with them, the roots eventually make their way out of the perlite and into the soil. I probably have about 90% success. My biggest issue is getting them to survive winter.

Alana I can get cuttings of most of the roses, except the ones from Mom's house. But I think I have at least one of each that made it. The others of my own roses I can keep trying. And the florist roses, I can always get again too.

Hcarnevale, thanks for explaining your technique for rooting. I have used Dip 'n' Grow many times in the past. Doesn't work very well for me. I might have to try the perlite alone tho. I've just always used regular old potting soil... not one like Miracle-Gro tho with fertilizer, just a basic potting mix I get from our Ace Hardware store. I put the pots inside those Hefty 2.5gal plastic zip-lock bags. I'll just have to keep trying different methods.

Hey, that's a pretty good rate. I've only had one rose propagate, and I had 4 of those. I think it does depend on the rose or the condition of the cutting.

On a lighter note, I have a fortuniana plant. I want to bud some of my rose on fortuniana. So I cut one of the branches and just stuck the cuttings into a pot and left it by the rose. That was a few weeks ago and most are still alive. Go figure.

I haven't tried rooting any florists roses so I can't say how my method would do on them. Also, just to clarify, I do not cover mine with anything (soda bottle, plastic baggie, etc....) I just make sure the perlite doesn't dry out by misting it and the cutting.

Buford I have found out that anything that you don't care about roots and you can want something else to root soo bad and it fails, atleast that how it happens for me :)

Beth I wonder if all the moisture in the air from our crazy weather in CA affected your cuttings and made them rot. Try again now that it's drying out and I bet you have good success!

Beth, I have never had any luck enclosing the cuttings in a bag or bottle to raise the humidity. They rotted for me when I did that. I don't know if your climate is much dryer than mine or not. I just use gallon or larger pots of play sand. I take the cuttings just after the stems bloom. Remove all but top few leaves or cut in half any very large leaves. Take a knife and scrape lightly through the green bark layer for about 1/2 " to 1" on two sides of the base of the cutting. Usually I dip it in Rootone or the root powder you can get at Walmart. Schultz's maybe. Tap off excess. Make a hole in the damp sand for each cutting. Stick cutting in and firm sand around it. Crowd cuttings of same variety in the pot. I read somewhere they seem to give each other the message to root when crowded in a pot. Usually I water them in . That might wash off the rooting powder, but anyway it works. I find you don't really have to have rooting hormone but it might speed things up. Put pot of cuttings in dappled light. Too much light fries them, too little rots them. Keep moist, not soggy. I don't mist them or do anything to raise humidity except if it's really hot I might spray some water on the ground around where the pots are . Not often! Don't tug on cuttings to check on roots for maybe a month. As soon as they root I pot them up. When I first tried to root roses I had no success. Seems like if you persist, then you will have your method and it'll be pretty reliable. At first it can take some repeat attempts. I know you have had some luck, but sounds to me like it could be too much humidity.

Oh yeah, I also stick each cutting for about 1/2 of it's length into the sand. I suppose that raises humidity around the stems but sand doesn't stay as wet.

Also, most potting soil is not sterile. This adds to the rotting factor....

I think cuttings rot because they are dying not the other way around. If cuttings dry out even just for a little while they rot, if they overheat they rot.

I'm trialing some cuttings that were started in pots that I removed rotted dead cuttings against cuttings in the same size pots with fresh soil.

Oh, I wish I would have read this two weeks ago. Thanks, Beth, for bringing this up. I'm trying to root what I believe to be x centifolia from an old farmhouse in Idaho. My wife brought home the cuttings and everything I had read until now encouraged to cover and so I have them in large Ziplock bags but I'm getting white mold on them now - one cutting not looking good but the other two look fine. I was considering misting with GreenCure fungicide. Any suggestions?

I never had any problem using potting soil yrs ago when I first started trying to root. Had almost 100% success. Maybe it's just the climate up here is different. It was hotter and dryer at our old place. I might try the sand and no covering idea. Thanks Erasmus. I will keep trying tho. I just lost a couple more roses I can never replace.... Bummer... I did manage to get one of the florist rose GELATO to root, which is really exciting. And it appears that 3 CHERRY BRANDY cuttings rooted. All but one of the SUMMER SONGs died. And I'm so afraid I will end up with none of the SPICE TWICE that I took from my mom's house before we sold it. Only one remains and it is not looking good. That really upsets me.

Dave I have had the best luck putting them in bright shade and covering with a large opaque plastic tote - I think it's 24"? X 18"? Anyway you get the idea - big enough to keep the wind off them, but not so small to trap humidity. I feel like the bags hold too much humidity. I use cups with drainage holes placed directly on the ground, and coir for the medium. I've seen other people have success using all or mostly perlite. The spot I use is under a big limbed up spruce tree, so they are sitting on a bed of old needles - not sure if that matters or not :). You are probably in a somewhat similar environment to mine, but you may have more heat/ humidity than I do. I have used the rooting hormone too. Good luck! It's fun to experiment, but frustrating when one that you really want to root croaks on you!

Thanks, Dingo! I'll try that - There is an area in my yard with bright shade where I think that'd work. Definitely a new venture but it'll be fun to figure it out.

Best of luck, Beth, with all of those!

There are videos on utube of how to root rose cuttings. One guy uses a plastic tub covers it with seran wrap but leaves a corner of it open. Says they only need something to hold in a little humidity. He mists them with water too.

Im trying to root a minniflora i have. I put a bag over it but left a small hole in it for some air. Its on my patio table in mostly shade. Will see what happens.

Well, here's the one and only SUMMER SONG that made it:

I only have any luck when I use pine bark fines (sold as soil conditioner at Walmart). I just stick the cuttings into the bark, wet them with the hose, and put them in dappled light along my fence. I may lose some leaves and some wilt for a day or so, but then they take off. I have to add that most of what I root are roses that tend to root easy. lol The cuttings in this picture are already potted up into individual pots.

I did put the long planter on bricks because the only drain holes were on the bottom. Didn't want the leaves/ground to block them. The other pots have holes on the bottom sides. I did loose some a few years ago when I started. The bark would look dry on the top and I would over water. Now, I water every couple of days with the hose and let it run out. South Ga is an oven this time of the year and dappled light is a must!

They like it 80º and a little humidity to root i guess. Its been two weeks mine still has green leaves. Its in its minni green house (bag over it) i left a very small hole in bag. I read where they only need a little humidity. The soil still looks damp. So guess its doing its job. Weather has been cooler but is warming up again now.