Propagating/Grafting Roses

I just watched a video clip of a company grafting roses that has no words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSKFHUtRZQk

Could someone tell me if they have ever been successful at grafting by putting a plastic clothes pin on two stems like this before? This company obviously knows how because they do them by the thousands. Also, any idea where to get grow pots like they are using? This is a very impressive operation.

Well for sure I couldn't tell you as I am new to this kind of thing, but I went there and watched the film and was amazed at the way the were doing it. I knew just a bit about grafting but hadn't ever heard of the clothes pin thing. Really looked simple though. I think it would be worth a try.

The method used here is usually referred to as "Bench Grafting" and because of the need for extreme disease control and the controlled environment it is not very practical for gardener/hobbyists but could be tried by using a PVC cover over the plant to maintain humidity.
A more practical method for the hobbyist would be to graft towards the end of Winter or early Spring and cover the grafts with damp (not soggy) Vermiculite cover with PVC and place in a warm position or apply bottom heat with a low wattage globe and it should callus and root in about 2 to three weeks. It would be far simpler to strike the rootstock cuttings and when growing strongly either bud or graft the scion on to the stock and tie firmly with PVC tape or use Buddy Tape if available this works like "Cling Wrap" and does not need tying to keep in place. Photo shows Grape Vines graftlings after 14 days using the Vermiculite, heat and wrapped with "Buddy Tape". Notice the callus at the unions and not shown are new roots about 1" long.
Regards

This is a very interesting video. Why not just leave the cutting longer and not bother with the close pin?

Garyt

OK, now you really have my interest. I hate to sound dumb, but I don't know what PVC is. Do you mean some type of plastic? I assume the reason you wrap vermiculite with the graft is to keep it moist for awhile. Is that right? Interesting you show grapes. I am planning to take concord grape cuttings this winter to start a 75 foot grape arbor in my new garden. I guess you do lots of grapes.

I assume in the rose video, they are grafting two different roses together otherwise they would just stick the cuttings.

G'Day All
When I said with PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride)I meant PVC budding tape which comes on rolls similar to sticky tape and is available from some Garden Centres or Hardware Stores. Actually any thing that you can wrap and tie will do the job. Rubber bands are often used and I have used boot lace, fishing line or just string, these all have to be removed after about 3 weeks or they will strangle the growing plant. Rubber usually perishes and falls off and sometimes the PVC will break other times it needs to be removed and the Buddy Tape just stretches until it breaks and is soft enough for the bud shoot to burst through if need be.
With the vermiculite I meant for the new Graftling to be placed in a container and covered with vermiculite but I can see nothing wrong with wrapping the graftling in a plastic bag containing the vermiculite. Any moisture holding material can be used like sawdust etc but vermiculite is in some places easier to get than sawdust but more importantly it is sterile thereby reducing the risk of rots. The answer to question of why not make the cutting longer and avoid the neccessity of grafting has several possibilities.
First the bottom piece is called a rootstock the top piece a scion. In many cases the desired plant will not root or the roots that are formed are so weak that the plant never becomes a healthy well grown specimen. In other cases the rootstock is used to over come soil born diseases or soil conditions such as water logging/ poor drainage or in some cases a drought tolerance that the desired plant does not have.
Re growing lots of grapes I'm now retired but yes we grew a fair number of vines for the commercial growers and interestingly, where a rootstock was needed, they were selections of your American native varieties that are either immune to or very resistant to a lot of diseases that the European vines are not.
The photo is of a patch of young grafted Table Grapes on one of the American Rootstocks.
Regards Stake

Well, Stake, you are way out of my league. You have thousands of grapes there. Absolutely amazing. I assume you sell them wholesale. After watching the video again and reading your post, I assume they are grafting the roses on a different root stock for some benefit. If you are grafting all of your grapes in the picture, it appears your system works just as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I plan to try grafting this year. I don't know why, but it is something I have always wanted to do. There is something about plant propagation that intrigues me. I can't explain it. It is just there.

G'Day Billgrubs
Several suggestions on grafting/budding. Get as much info as possible on the conditions and techniques needed for successful grafting. Depts of Agriculture often have pamphlets available and there is a lot of stuff on the Internet.
Other than the knowledge of when to graft and how, the next most important things are the tools. You need a very sharp knife, as close to razor sharpness as possible and good sharpening stones to keep the knife that way. Any knife will do but it is probably easier to buy a grafting knife or knives, there are numerous different types of knives, I suggest you buy a "Budding" knife because you can use that for grafting as well but some grafting knives are not suited to budding.
Another suggestion is to practise the grafting techniques using readily available material, it doesn't matter what type of plant it is as long as it's dispensable.
A good starting point is to cut through a stick or twig using the type of grafting cut that you have chosen, if the cut is not smooth and clean your knife is not sharp enough.
Take the two pieces that you have just cut and place them back together, they will of course fit perfectly, this is what you want to achieve or close to it as possible when you make two cuts from different plants. Practise this until you are satisfied that you have it right then all you have to do is wait for the right time to graft the chosen plants.
To be successful your Rootstock and Scion must be compatible this means they are genetically able to form a union. With your vines the easiest starting point is to take parts from two different plants but the same variety i.e one piece from your "Concord" and the other piece from your neighbours "Concord" or if you like take a scion from the neighbours vine and graft it to your already growing vine. This just tests your ability to graft successfully if you already know the compatibility of your plants then jump this first action. If possible visit your Dept. of Agricuture or local nursery to see them grafting and budding the Dept might even let you have a practise on their plants and then you are ready to start.
Even after 50 plus years I am still learning and I get a great sense of satisfaction when I achieve successful unions and see them grow on to produce flowers and fruit.
Go for it mate and if I can be of any help at all don't hesitate to contact me.
The photo is of a new grape variety that wasn't compatible with its rootstock, at the end of the growing season there were only two alive in that row.
Regards Stake

This message was edited Dec 3, 2008 6:48 PM

I didn't explain but I mentioned your vines because that is what you said you were going to grow but what I wrote applies to any plant you want to graft, the timing may be different but the principles still apply.
Regards

I have to ask about the grafting. If you graft one rose to a different rose do you come up with something different or do you have to wait thru this ones growing time and then take a cutting from it and have an entirely different rose? I know some about how to do the grafting but don't know what the end results are cause I have never tried it just seen it done and read about it.

G'Day
When you graft a scion onto a rootstock that scion remains the same except that the correctly chosen rootstock can provide vigour or stunting, if desired, improved quality of the fruit and alter the flowering time or ripening of the fruit but if a "Peace" rose is grafted onto a red flowered rootstock it will not become a red "Peace" and scion material taken from that "Peace" will always be "Peace". I have had people argue on this point but if they have something different it is because a sucker sprouted from the roostock not because the scion has changed. A great deal of enjoyment can be gained by using existing plants in your garden and do as suggested put different coloured roses on the one bush or different fruit trees on the one stock but remember the stock and scion have to be fairly closely related botanically. You can put Peaches, Nectarines and when you gain confidence Apricots on the same plant or Plums (both European and Japanese and American) and Apricot on the same stock but you cannot put Apples or Oranges on the stone fruit or vice versa. The budding or grafting is done either when the plant is starting to grow in early spring for most grafting, and budding when the plant is in full growth. Scion material can be saved from winter prunings by wrapping in barely damp newspaper (any paper) placing in a plastic bag and put in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator if you are in a very cold area the scion material can be treated as above and buried in the ground deap enough that it won't freeze.
That scion material can be used for early season grafting or kept until the plant is in full growth and used for budding when the new seasons growth is starting to mature green scion material can be taken and used straight away.
To test if your rootstock is ready for budding see if you can lift a piece of the living bark away from the stem with a finger nail, it should lift easily and underneath should be quite juicy or slimy in appearance if it does not lift or comes up but has a furry look it is not ready. This test is not needed with the earlier grafting.
The photo is of an Apricot of a different variety budded onto a limb of an existing tree after a seasons growth, the dead stub is normal and can be cut off at pruning time.
There are quite a number of different methods of budding and grafting I prefer whip and tongue graft and T bud for small limbs and chip bud for limbs more than 1" in diameter but you will find people who prefer a different method. Listen to all, try all methods and use the one that suits you.
Regards

Hi,
I knew about the apricot and plum thing beacuse I bought some of the yummiest pluats this summer and didn't know what they were so I started looking and found out that they were a cross between a plum and apricot. OHHHH! they are so good. So how would a person go about crossing to get something like that? Taking the pollen from one to the other? I am hoping to get a pluat tree this year. I planted a few seed so hopefully they will come up. Just hope they aren't sterile cause I know somethings can be and the have to be done another way.

Thanks again Stake for this information. These are techniques that have been done for thousands of years. It is neat to see a picture such as yours of the field where hundreds or thousands of plants have been grafted. I am going to try your suggestions.

bill I didn't mean to take over your conversation with Stake but this was interesting to me too as I have learned something too! I want to try to get something new out of something. Like maybe a new type of rose or such. I just love the thoughts of making something new don't you?

G'Day All
Flower Fantasy you are a little of line with the Apricot/Plum = Pluot this has nothing to do with grafting but as you suggested the use of pollen to fertilize a plant from a different genus and produce a hybrid, that's what the Pluot is. As explained in the earlier message if you graft an Apricot onto a Plum that Apricot will be exactly like the mother plant that you took the scion from. Having said that very rarely (perhaps one in a million) a bud mutation may occur then you will have a new variety but you can't cause this deliberately, certainly not in a home garden perhaps in a radiation lab. and the results would still be unpredictable.
If you want to create a new plant then sow some seeds each seedling is unique genetically even though in some cases they may look the same as the parent i.e. tomatoes or petunias etc. If you want a new rose then collect the seeds from the rose hips extract the seed, after cleaning place the seed in your refrigerator or leave out buried in the snow (I think you have plenty) until next spring then plant the seed in ordinary potting mix and wait for the results. You will have to wait some years for the flowers and most will be inferior to the parent some might be as good as the parent and every now and then you will get something better but as stated up the page a bit each one of those plants is a new variety. If you want to increase the odds on getting a better plant then choose as parents roses that have characteristics that you would like to combine into one plant, you will need to emasculate the plant that is going to produce the seed then take the pollen from your male parent an place it on the stigma of the female flower. You will have to read up on all the things you need to do in breeding roses because to produce better plants is not a simple thing, to produce a different one is reasonably simple.
Don't let my diatribe stop you from trying get in and give it a go because it is fun just trying and the photo shows you can be lucky, the double deep pink flower is a seedling that came up under the parent a fairly old variety of double pale pink dwarf peach. The new one is also dwarf but I think it is quite a nice plant although no nursery was interested propagating it for sale still it's mine and I like it. I did post this some where else on DG so you may have seen it before.
Regards

Thanks Stake I am going to give it a try when my roses bloom this year. Where would I look to find the info on breeding ? I know I have searched for things like that and I never come up with what I am looking for. Matter of fact I had been looking for things like that when I run across this for thread that you had going. The things you had told bill about the grafting is what attracted my attention.
This all has been so informative for me. I hated that I jumped in and took over bills' conversation with you but when I seen it I just had to !

G'Day
The first place I would look is the rose section of DG then a local rose society along with your botanical garden (if you have one). Usually people who have the knowledge will share it even a commercial rose breeder might be willing to share the basics. I assume you know the sexual parts of the plant and the functions of each if not a simple botanical book will show you the parts or ask a kid that has botany as a subject at school. Bill will have to answer for himself but I see no reason to offend because the info is for all and Bill can still ask his own questions and better still you might ask a question that he forgot or hadn't thought of.
The photo Bill is of some of my knives. From top to bottom, My budding knife, Grafting knife and a combination budding and grafting knife. The brass piece on the back of the top knife and the bump on top of the blade of the bottom one are for lifting the bark so the bud can be slipped under it in a T bud operation, some times in the right conditions the bark will lift when making the T cut and the bud will slip in without the extra effort. Professional budders from the US do not use the lifting pieces whereas Europeans do and I found here that sometimes yes and others no. Must be climatic conditions affecting the plant, I think
Regards to All particularly Billgrubs

I don't know if we have a botanical or not? Thats kind of dum it's it. Live in a state all you life and don't know something like that! Just put it this way I have never heard anyone talk about one here.We have nature preserves wild life and those kind of things but just don't know about the other. Yea I have a basic idea of the parts of a flower. I know what a stamin is LOL.
I don't know where he went but he hasn't been back on here. I just hope he doesn't feel like I have pushed him out.Thanks so much stake I have printed out everything that you have told me so I can go back when ever I need too and look at it.
Hope you have had a good week end !

I am still here. Just busy the past few days. Thanks for the pictures of your knives. I am looking for one here, but looks like I will have to order one online.

I find this Internet such a wonderful tool for learning and gathering information. Who would ever think someone in Salt Lake could be learning about grafting from someone in Australia? It is a wonderful thing! Thanks Stake for your help!

G'Day
Flowerfantasy I don't really know where you would get the info you require but try the University of California site that might get you started the other thing you could try is Google "Roses +breeding" or the other way around or since the principle is the same for all plants see if you can call in and see one of the plant breeders at your University or other place where plant breeding would take place. Also search DG because a lot of hobbyists like to try their hand at breeding (like you want to). We have a pretty good Dahlia breeder here I'll see if he is willing to pass on his knowledge to you or he might already be on DG I'll check.
Regards

G'Day Billgrubbs
Something that I haven't warned you about. The way to make a good grafting cut (Contrary to all safe practise stuff) is to hold the the scion or rootstock stick (plant) firmly in one hand and slice towards your body but, this is crucial, use your fingers to control the knive NOT YOUR ARM, if you do a practise run with something in your hand to simulate a knife and move the knife towards you using your arm you will see that if you make a mistake you can stab yourself in the stomach or chest and that won't be any good either for you or if you hit a bone the knife because that will blunt it. If you hold the knife with your fingers and the thumb supporting the piece of wood and move the knife with your fingers it can only move the distance of a hand span which at the very worst will only cut your thumb. You can cut from left to right or vice versa but that way the cut will be away from you and you can't see what you are doing.
If you want to practise to see if you have things right the vine on vine is OK but even better would be if you have access to Apples or Pears they are easy to graft, Apple on Apple or Pear on Pear not onto each other because in most cases it won't work.
With your knife remember any knife will do as long as it is sharp but the special knife is better if you can get it, some of the best knives I have used are Tina or Kunde, Tina was by far the best but also the most expensive. I'm not sure now whether I have answered all your questions from the other thread just give me a yell if I've missed something.
Regards

in case anyone else was following the thread about the botanical gardens here, I just wanted to post this site. They have a good list of BG's if you search by state. Going to one if invaluable, and if you live near one, you are blessed! The classes and info they offer can be great. I'm hoping my local one will be doing a class on grafting soon.
http://www.gardensandnature.com/botanicalgardens/botanicalgardens.html

Good info Stake! I see most videos of someone grafting have tape around their thumb to prevent cutting.

I checked out the grafting/budding knives on A.M. Leonard.com and they are priced from $20 to $100. I think I am going to try a few with a sharp pocket knive a few times before I invest. Per your suggestion I have also looked up the local county extension service and find they do offer a class on grafting but there aren't any coming up any time soon.

Perhaps there aren't many others interested in grafting, but it has always interested me. I will soak up anything you have to offer on grafting. If you would like, I will start another forum and ask you some basic questions and you can share your knowledge and experience if you would like. You also seem to have pictures to clarify your comments which makes it all that much better. Referring to the video in the very first post on this subject - It shows them cutting the scion and rootstock at the same time. It looks like doing it that way you get the same angle on both pieces of stem. Interestingly, the rootstock is also a cutting and the whole piece is then set in some type of medium to root. I am just amazed they can graft those pieces with a clothes pin. What an operation. They probably ship roses all over the world. Do you have any videos of your grafting process?

Do you think it is OK to go ahead and pot up the cuttings that have callused or should I wait for them to develop roots?

G'Day Billgrubbs
The cost of the knives is pretty well right the $100 one would be a Tina with genuine Buffalo horn handle or one similar a really beautiful knife that you give yourself for Christmas after you have mastered the operation. I bought some cheap knives one time a few years ago $A5 made in Poland ugly as hell but very good steel and not a bad knife to use, if you could find one of them it would suit while learning. If you have a bit of a workshop you can make your own knives using power hacksaw blades and put the roughly shaped knife into a piece of plastic by heating the non blade end and just pushing it in (guide holes can be drilled to help) after that is done then back to the grinder to get the blade roughly sharp and finish of on an oilstone, the two white handled knives in my photo I made but put more work into it and made them folding pocket knives.
In the video that started this the new graftling is held together with the clothes peg and placed in a controlled environment so both the Graft and the bottom of the cutting callus at the same time whereas if the stock had roots they would get going quicker an create handling problems. If a good whip and tongue graft is made the clothes peg is not required it will hold itself together.
When the controlled environment is not available the graft can be wrapped (tied) with the earlier mentioned plastic tapes.
If you want to start another thread go ahead I'm happy to help if I can, as far as the photos go I only have a couple of the nursery operations but if anything needs illustrating it is easy enough to do with the digital camera not like the film cameras where you had to wait a week to get them developed. I don't have any videos other than just general stuff.
As I have said before I know little about your winter but I wouldn't plant out until Spring, if you are potting them and placing them in a hothouse then go ahead and plant it is better to plant just before the roots are visible then they won't break off in the handling process. The best guide is if a couple of cuttings are showing root growth then the others won't be far behind.

As always, Stake, your suggestions come from years of experience and work. I have read a lot about rooting cuttings and there are several basic ways to do it:
1. Stick the cutting in a pot ofdirt or soil less mixture with plastic bag over it
2. Use a bubbler/hydroponic system
3. Use an aeroponic system
4. Sticking in the field with some type of intermitent spray

There are many variations of the above, but I just wonder if anyone has tested these options and can tell you which one works best and the pros and cons of each system. I don't want to be wasting a lot of time and money on one approach if others work better. I am inclined to believe your approach of just sticking them outside in dirt is the easiest, but does it have the greatest success rate?

G'Day
You wouldn't believe this but I spent half an hour typing a reply to your last statement and before I could send it the cat jumped onto my keyboard and I lost the lot. I said "Oh my gosh what an unfortunate event" or something along those lines.
With any propagation if you want the best results you have to do a bit more than stick them in the dirt.
Although cacti and succulents root reasonably easy, if you just plonk them in the dirt you will not get the best results. First make the cutting with a nice clean cut, treat the cut with fungicide and rooting hormone allow cut to dry out and for callus to form then plant in well draining soil or potting mix. For most home gardeners the fungicide and rooting hormone can be missed out but don't miss the clean cut and dried surface or you will have very high losses.
There are other plants that are easy enough to strike but the clean cut is important and in the case of these don't allow them to dry out also if the plant has a long internode make sure that the cut is just below a node not through the node but just below about the old leaf scar is ideal. Why? Because there is a concentration of hormones at the bud and some help with the formation of roots.
Grape vines are considered fairly easy but there is a procedure to follow. For the best results dormant cuttings should be taken between leaf fall and mid Winter (this will vary depending on your climate) when the food starches are still in the canes after this most are returned to the roots so they can get ready for the new growing season and then the cuttings are short of their tucker. The cuttings must then be put through a process of pre callusing, this can be done by burying the cuttings completely either upright or horizontally it doesn't matter to the vine so what ever suits you. If you wish the cuttings can be coolstored until spring then given a period on a heat bed for about ten days then planted out. This is of course handy for the areas that have snow and the coolstoring can be done by putting the cuttings in a situation where they won't dry out (plastic bags) and covering with the snow but don't allow the cuttings to freeze. My experience has shown that the grape vines of European ancestry (Vitus vinifera) are a lot easier to root than the American ones of which there are a number of species and some of those are reasonably easy and others almost impossible.
Propagating also includes growing from seed and like cuttings some are easy, some not too bad, and others difficult, some need careful cleaning, some need a period of rest, others the opposite and have to be sown almost immediately, some need a treatment that in nature is achieved by time or fire. A lot of seed particularly Australian dryland plants either require a Bush Fire (Wild fire) to release the seeds from the fruit or to reduce the thickness of the seed coat. In the case of the gardener the bush fire is not very practical but a blow lamp will open fruit like the Banksia, Hakeas etc once released the seeds are ready to sow but other seeds the actual seed coat is so hard that it has to be worn down somehow, fire can do this but more often in nature it is just time spent being blown around on the ground by wind. This same result can be achieved by nicking with a knife, rubbing on a brick or sand paper or by putting the seed in a container and pouring boiling water over them then leaving in the water until swollen, if they are not swollen with in a couple of days repeat the process. I am not keen on the nicking with a knife because it is easy to slip and cut yourself or worse still damage the seed, I have successfully treated Acacia seed by wiping them across an electric hot plate small seeds held with a pair of tweezers big ones in the fingers don't hold them on the plate just wipe across.
Soft wood cuttings are taken during the growing season and place in a rooting media in a controlled environment at home this can be a plastic bag over a pot or a striking bed covered with plastic or glass. In the case of these cuttings the hygiene is even more important than with the dormant material as the controlled environment that is ideal for the plant material is also ideal for disease particularly fungi and bacteria (Rots).
Having said all that with the home gardener most times if you can take ten cuttings and get one to grow that is all you wanted and that is only 10% but if you only have one cutting of a hard to get plant then you want 100% and this is when the extra care is justified.
As you will appreciate this could go on and on to fill books in fact it (propagation) has filled books so I better give it a break, if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Regards to all


This message was edited Dec 12, 2008 8:15 AM

Stake, Thank you so much for your feedback. I took about 100 red twig dogwood cuttings Saturday and am going to overwinter them in the garage which is plenty cold along with several pots of daffodils I am forcing for early bloom. The adventure continues.

I stumbled across this video clip last night and was blown away at the lettuce produced in this operation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kngl6oo1I3M

I am not interested in growing lettuce in such quantity, but was impressed with their process. If they can grow lettuce successfully in such large quantities, surely I can grow a few things floating on a piece of styrofoam. They say they never change the water. Any ideas how they would manage such a large volume of water and keep this process going? I am going to see if I can find where this place is. I would love to take a tour of their facility.

Bill
Tell me what was the medium that they were using to start the seed in?
Something similar to the peat pellets?

G'Day
I don't see how they could not change the water eventually because of the build up of salts over time, even rainwater contains some salt. Perhaps they distilled the water then used it again but I would not have thought that economical and that is changing the water in any case. I noticed that it was back in the 1970s (unless I read that wrong) and they might have found out that they did have to change the water eventually. My brother in law has a small hydroponics system in which he grows most garden vegetables inside a small poly house about 6ft by 8ft or perhaps a little bigger. So you can do it in the home garden and the big advantage is that you avoid most soil born diseases as long as your plants are healthy to start with.
You've got one up on me. What is a Red Twig Dogwood?
Regards

It is just a nice decidious shrub that gows good here. I think it will root pretty easily. We will see next spring.

I didn't notice a date on the video. If it were the 70's I wonder if they are still in business. This video was posted on UTUBE was about a year ago.

Flower, I have no idea what that first seed tray was made of. It was obviously something that could be broken up and planted in the next pot. I would guess it was made of peat moss or mix of peat and other material. It said something about the seed being coated in clay too which was interesting. The vaccum to fill the trays was really neat.

Stake, Just want you to know that I have saved my rose cuttings from the bubbler. I have potted most of them as their roots were just beginning to appar. They seem to be doing fine. Thanks for your suggestions. The snow is coming strong here and I am constantly looking for plants I can take winter hardwood cuttings. Who said gardening can't be exciting in the winter?

G'Day
Well done Billgrubbs your nursing paid off with the rose cuttings.
I have been thinking about your fish tank bubbler propagation systems and can see how they could be an advantage particularly where temperatures are very variable and quite low. The bubbler supplying extra oxygen makes sense, extra oxygen is a real advantage in the callusing and root formation on cuttings, that is the reason for striking in course potting mixture like sharp sand or the man mades like vermiculite etc. Most plants root better at around the 25c mark and if that temp is maintained continuously the cutting will root much quicker than if the temp. varies between say 10c and 25 or 30c.
I suspect that the even temp is more important than the extra oxygen but starvation of oxygen in a too fine or too wet potting mix would be disasterous.
Regards

billg
It was an interesting video Just watching it made me understand how hydroponics are done and that was something I had always wondered about. I would just have to figure out what mediun I could use to start with to keep the plant out of the water after they started forming.

I have read everything I can find on bubblers and aeroponic systems and it appears to me that if more oxygen is better for the rooting process, then an aeroponic system would be better than one where the roots are constantly submerged in a bubbler. Even with the airstones creating lots of bubbles, it is still no where near the oxygen they would get hanging in the air with water spraying on them either continuously or every few minutes. I love the idea of rooting in sand and plan to build an intermitent misting system this summer and start rooting cuttings in sand, but this aeorponics system described on this site caught my attention. It just looked like something I need to try.

I wonder if the people who were building these bubblers a few years ago and discussing them on this site still use them or if they have gone on to other adventures. I have included a picture of my bubbler that is sitting on a water bed heater. You will also see plastic shoe boxes where I have put the rooted rose cuttings. I felt they still needed a sheltered environment until they become established in the dirt.

I also have several rose cuttings in a plastic tub turned upside down so they stay covered, but get light.

Since it is nice and cold outside, I am going to attempt some hardwood cuttings to see if they will work in the bubbler

I found an aquarium pump that has a venturi effect where it mixes air with the water it is pumping and wondered if anyone has ever tried one of these for propagating plants. It would mix a lot more air in the water than the little bubbling stones. I found a picture online that shows what it looks like.

Has anyone ever used one of these for aerating their water?

So... if I took dormant cuttings now of my Zephy D. climbing rose (which is way out of control again), what's the best way to go about rooting them for an own-root plant? Do I put them in a bubbler, pot them up when they get roots, and overwinter them by the basement window? Can they stay in a bubbler until spring like some folks do with brugs? Or do I put them in moist perlite or sand in a container and leave them somewhere cool like the garage to callus up before sticking/potting them in spring? Or something else entirely?

Please advise! Thanks!

I am no expert in this, but just experimenting like many others. I would suggest if you have plenty of material to work with that you try several different methods. I read where people are successfully rooting with everyone of those methods. I tried the ziplock bag method, but had problems with rot. If I had used steralized soil, it may have worked. I like the bubbler method and have had good success with it this fall. About 2 months ago, I took about 20 rose cuttings. After about a month, I added some willow stems in the water and introduced a lot of problems. I started getting a jelly like substance on the cuttings. I didn't know if it was good or bad, but rinsed them off with a hard spray of water and changed the water. I also tried adding some miracle grow and it caused the water to go cloudy. I am learning that the best thing in the bubbler is just good clean water and 1-2 teaspoons of H202 per gallon. I change the water when it starts to get cloudy.

I paniked and started potting up the roses that had good callus, but wish now I had kept them in the bubbler longer. I potted them up in small cups of potting soil and put them in a transparent shoe box with another one on top to keep the humidity up. You can see them in the earlier post on my light stand.

I think it would work nicely to put the cuttings in a cold garage wrapped in a damp cloth or something to keep them from drying out and sticking them in the spring. However, it may be better to wait until spring and take your cuttings then if you can wait that long.

Good luck and let me know how yours turn out.