Propagating/Grafting Roses

I do have to say that I enjoy working with the bubbler because I can see the progress of the cuttings. My tub is transparent so I can see how the bottoms as well as the tops are coming. Of course, the process is painfully slow and it usually looks like nothing is happening. I put some swedish ivy cuttings in the recently and within a few days roots were already showing. That is not the case with roses and many other cuttings. I have a top cutting of a clematis that has been in there since October 25 and still no signs of anything. It is a tip cutting and the leaf on top has stayed green all this time, but no root action. Maybe someday it will just take off.

I just got a new air pump and some tubing, so I may have to set up a bubbler this winter. Can I take cuttings any time for the bubbler, do you think? I know taking cuttings when it's cold might cause some tip die-back, but this climber is huge, so pruning off damaged tips in spring shouldn't be a big deal. I can take more cuttings in spring, of course, but this way I could have rooted cuttings ready to pot up or share sooner next year.

I would certainly try it. I have been told that hardwood cuttings will work in the bubbler. I just haven't had any experience with it. I expect you will have success. It is snowing like crazy here today, but I think I will follow your lead and try some more rose cuttings this weekend.

billg,
Question for you. My mother in law passed away this past weekend and we took a rose from the casket spray and it is still in good shape and I was wondering if you could tell me if it might root. I would love to get it to so we would have a memory of her. What do you think?

I would certainly try it. I would put it in a container with an airstone from an aquarium and a little H2O2. If you don't have an airstone, I would still try it in water with a little H2O2 and just change the water frequently. Of course, you would cut the bloom off and if it is a long stem, you may want to cut it into 6 inch lengths and have several cuttings. Some may not make it, but hopefully, some will survive. If there are leaves, you will want to spray them with water and put them in plastic or something to keep them humid.

What a great idea!

Goo luck with it.

Thanks alot am going to give it a try. I don't have system set up yet for the bubbler, I still have to get a container. I have an old fish aquarium somewhere but I don't think I want to mess with it ,so just will buy a container like you have.

billg here is that recipe for the willow tea for rooting your plants. I just happened to run across it again. thought you might want it just to look at if nothing else .
You can have greater success with plant cuttings by using rooting hormone. But you don't have to spend the big bucks to do it! You can make your own rooting hormone easily as long as you have access to a willow tree.

Any species of willow will work. You will need some of the small branches - pencil-thin seems to work the best. Cut them up into small pieces.

For an all-purpose rooting tonic, 2 cups of cut stems soaked in a half gallon of warm water for one or two days. For a stronger tonic, use more willow stems! To make the tonic faster, use boiling water instead of warm and soak overnight. This will work even if you are lazy (like me!) and just use cold water and soak the willow stems for a couple of days. Use promptly and make a fresh batch for each use. Or, put your willow water in a jar with a tight fitting lid and stick it in the refrigerator. It will keep about 60 days or so that way . . .

Using willow water is even easier than making it. Soak cuttings you want to root in it overnight. Or water your soil-planted cuttings with the willow water. Two applications should do it. Some cuttings will root directly in a jar of willow water. The stuff also works great when you are setting out transplants - just water them with it after you plant them! Try this the next time you get a bouquet of roses - you might get a beautiful rose bush or two!

I tried willow stems in the water recently with the bubbler and intoduced fungus all over my cuttings. I had to pour it out and start all over. Perhaps if I had boiled the stems it would have gotten rid of the fungus, but was afraid it would kill all the beneficial stuff too. I have been told that aspirin does the same thing and it has no alge problems.

I know that you had tried it but you put the whole thing in there and I just thought maybe you would like to see how to do it. I want you to know I am not making fun or anything. just thought maybe this would help if by chance you would want to try again or not. I have a willow bush and 2 willow trees and when they get old enough where I can take some cuttings I think I might try it myself.
I got 2 cuttings from that rose that I am going to try and root. also we had a green spider mum also from the casket spray and I got 2 out of it so I am going to try it too. I don't know how well the mum will do though but am trying anyway.

I probably over did it now that you mention it. I think I will try boiling the stems and pouring the water into the bubbler. I was just afraid that boiling it would ruin it.

You don't have to have a big tub for bubbling. You can see from the picture below where I have bubblers in jars with recent cuttings. There are to many, but I just put them there until I find a better place. At least the bubbler and water are keeping them alive.

My dad brought a bunch of limbs from several things I wanted form home. This is what he brought in his suit case.

This is most of the cuttings from the stuff from Texas plus the jars pictured above since I didn't haver room for everything.

Since oxygen is so good for roots, has anyone ever tried real oxygen? My dad is moving in with us and has an oxygen making machine. Would the cuttings grow like crazy if I put a bubbler on pure oxygen?

I'm not sure... but I think plants would be more impressed by bubbled CO2.

Bill, If you do happen to try the wiloow thing again don't boil the willow itself, just boiling water over the limbs, and let it set overnite and then use it..


My oh my! got a lot of cuttings there, hope they all do good for you

Searching on the internet, I ran across the Oasis Root Cubes pictured in the video where they were mass growing lettuce. They are rather expensive at $10.95 each.

http://homeharvest.com/seedstartingrootingmedium.htm

bill, I really don't think that is to expensive. Ya get the tray with it too if I understood it right. You get a 104 pellets for the 10.95, and the regular jiffy pellets are .9 cents a piece so if you figure that up your going to pay 9.36 for those. so really not a lot of difference.

G'Day
Bill you beat me to the gun on the oasis. I remembered the other night while in Qld what it was. My late wife was messing around learning flower arranging and they had to get blocks of the stuff to poke the flower stems in. I wonder if you bought blocks of it like the florists do then cut it to the size you want it might work out cheaper, might be worth your while asking at a local florist to see if they can supply you.
While I was away I stayed with my Sister and Brother-inlaw, he's the bloke I said was growing veges hydroponically. Funnily enough he had (like you suggested) 2 lettuces growing on a polystyrene slab about an inch thick floating on the hydroponic liquid which was contained in a polystyrene fruit box, which had to be changed each week (the liquid not the container), I assume any container would do. The lettuces were the leafy kind he tried the ones that form hearts (Iceberg) and they were no good so he took them out and put them in the soil, this box was just out in the garden but remember the climate is very mild there. He also has a proper hydroponic set up using a small polyhouse/hothouse. He gave me his book that he got the instructions from to build the system, it's called. "Hydroponics for Everyone" "A practical guide to gardening in the 21st century" by Dr. Struan K Sutherland. This is an Australian book first published in the 1980s so if it is no longer available you could probably get a more recent publication that would serve the same purpose.
He often uses bought seedlings in punnets and plants them straight into the hydroponics.
Regards

Stake, I am interupting again ,but you just brought up a subject that I had been wondering about my self. The floral stuff you are talking about we can buy it here in the states from a crafts store, or even our walmarts. I took some floral arranging classes years ago and we used that stuff to put live flowers in to keep them fresh, like for funeral arrangements, and for people that wanted live flowers and to be able to keep them fresh for a long time. Do you think it would be possible to do this and get a cutting to root? It soaks up a bunch of water, maybe twice it weight and last for a long time, so you wouldn't be having to change water that often, but then again , how long would you use it as it will start to deteriorate after awhile.

Stake, I guess we have more in common than I thought. I lost my wife to breast cancer in 93 and I have remarried. Life often takes different roads than you anticipated.

Did you bring the book home because you plan to try it? My wife thinks this is all a waste of time unless you grow something you can eat. I wasn't particularly interested in growing things in the house to eat. I just like the propagating part although I guess there are some things that will work. Of course everyone would like to grow tomatoes inside and that seems like a big order to me, but I may try herbs, small peppers, lettuce, spinich, etc. this year.

The thing that attracted my attention about aeroponics is you don't have to mess with nutrients. Once they start roots, you pot them or plant them outside.

I like the idea of the floral foam. Do you think that is what the Oasis is made of? As I remember, it does hold a ton of water and I wonder if it would be more prone to rot the cuttings.

After looking at your brother-in-law's setup, do you recommend it? Did you take any pictures of his? I just bought some net pots and some of the fired clay marbles (not sure of the name). Hopefully, this week I will get my aeroponics system built. I know some people go back to dirt after trying this method, but it seems like something worth trying. Dirt certainly has it's problems too.

Bill , I am thinking along those lines myself. It would be a great idea if it wouldn't as you say cause rotting. I think that would be about the only thing that could stop the idea. We could try it with something that really didn't worry us about losing. I don't thing the oasis stuff is the same thing, it looks more like the peat pellet stuff. One of the things that you soak in water and then it swells up and you have your potting mix right there.

G'Day
I never thought of taking photos I was too busy eating, it was my BIL's 70th. There was so much good stuff to eat I had trouble sleeping because my belly was too full. I'm sure BIL would take photos if needed but I just assumed that the info was in the book. I asked about getting some info for you and was told to take the book as it was no longer needed. His main crop is tomatoes (better hide this from your wife) he trellises them, also cucumbers, beans, Silver Beet and various others just to trial them. His best crop is the tomatoes as he couldn't grow them in the open ground Nematodes would kill the plants just as the first fruit was nearly ready for harvest. I can only recommend the system because BIL says it is very successful although he has had minor troubles while learning (is learning). A few years back I visited a commercial cut flower farm that produced roses hydroponically so perhaps you could have one red rose bush in the hydroponics and when ever the Missus cuts crook you just whip off a red rose and say "I grew this especially for you" or perhaps you grow the roses for yourself and have one tomato plant for her.
Flowerfantasy I tried the oasis to strike difficult cuttings like peach rootstock without success, although I never tried the easier to grow sorts they might be OK. I really prefer the well aerated media like the coarse sand, Perlite, Vermiculite or hardwood sawdust. I thought the suggestion of added oxygen a very interesting idea but would try just raising the natural level a bit at first because pure might kill the cuttings, it can have harmful effects on humans.
The photo is a Poinciana it is currently in full bloom around Brisbane Qld this is the first time I had seen it and was impressed to say the least. Can't be grown here our Winters are too severe.
Regards and Hope everyone has a warm but not too warm Very happy Christmas

That is a very beautiful tree !!! I don't know if somthing like that could be grown here or not cause our winters can be pretty bad at times too.
have a Great Christmas And New Year

Beautiful tree Stake!

With a little vacation, I have built my long awaited aeroponics system and got it running after several trips to HD. It involves plumbing and that always takes me at least 3 trips. I have put 35 cuttings in to see what happens. I built it similar to plans I found on this site. Since I never see any more postings about them, I wonder if they are still being used or not. I guess I will find out how it works.

I had a bunch of confederate rose cuttings and tried a new technique with them. I cut a long 8 inch strip from a black plastic bag, laid it out flat on a table and covered it with spangun moss (not peat, but the stringy kind). I wet it down good with a sprayer, dipped the cuttings in rootone and laid them on the top 1/2 of the plastic. I folded up the bottom half over the cuttings and rolled them up into a nice tight roll and secured them with some rubber bands. I will keep the moss damp and see what happens. The only thing I don't know is, should I cover the tops with a plastic bag to keep the humidity up?

Looks like a good idea to me. Let me know how things go. I am having a bit of trouble with starting things in water so I think I am going to stick with the good old soil way and use rooting compound too. Just seems I have no luck with the water thing and for what ever reason I don't know. Makes me wonder if I should even try the bubbler thing.

G'Day Bill. Yes I'd cover the lot. Something that might be of interest to you. Several years ago about 2004 we were short of plum rootstock cuttings and bought few thousand from another nursery. The cuttings arrived too early for us to plant (not the weather just too busy on other things) so they were placed in a cool room with some of our vine cuttings. Temp set at 0 to 4c and when we took the cuttings out to place in the striking media they had already callused and were ready to plant out. I was amazed that those cuttings had performed about the same as if we had them out in the media and the cool room was a lot colder on average than our ambient temp. Those cuttings were only packed in plastic with barely damp newspaper. In theory to stop them from drying out not for them to grow. Quite often if the storage media is too wet then the cuttings rot so make sure your Spagnum is not dripping wet but just damp so no moisture can be squeezed from it.
Regards

I have placed several cuttings in the garage and hopefully they will calluse over the winter successfully like your experience. Per your suggestion, I put a plastic bag over the cuttings in the spagnum moss. Again, thanks for your input. We will see how it goes.