Question
i have been told that you can take a cut rose and stick in ground and place a green canning jar over it and it will grow.  is this true, do i need to do anything else to it.  i tried this last year and have not looked at mine yet, but my sister says her hasn't done anything.  someone also told me they have heard of putting the stem in a potato.  but then what do you do?  the rose has special meaning as it is my grandmothers funeral tomorrow.  last years were special too, but i guess i just need to keep trying.  thanks you!!

Answer
Hi Margie:

I'm sorry but I have never heard of the potato method.  The problem with the canning jar is that there is no air circulation and fungal diseases can then kill the cutting.

Well - there are several ways to do it.  If you get a rose cutting, make sure the cane you cut is about as thick as a pencil. Keep it in a wet paper towel in a baggie in the refrigerator until you are ready to plant it. Dip the bottom of it in water, then dip it in rooting hormone (can get it from Lowes).  (If you want to do the cutting indoors), use a soiless sterile potting medium, and use a pencil to make a hole, and plant the cutting.  Mist several times daily.  Cover with plastic wrap to make a tent - use sticks to hold up the plastic.  Open the plastic once a day for 30 minutes.  Resist the temptation to pull out the cutting to check the progress - you will destroy all the microscopic roots developing in the process.  In about 6 weeks - you should see a set of new leaves, then put it outside for 2 hrs per day - increasing 2 hrs a day until it is outside 24 hrs per day, and it is acclimated to the outside.  Put it in a shady spot with bright light (no direct sunlight).  Water regularly. After it has been in the garden in a pot for about 2-3 months, then plant in the garden.
Another way you can do it is through layering.  If a rose has a long cane, bend it down, and on the end of it (about 4-6 inches from the end)cut a nick in the cane, then dip that part in rooting hormone.  Dig the soil and bury that part about 3 inches deep.  Cover with a brick or rock.  In about 6 months check back and see if roots have grown.  Sever the plant from the mother plant, and replant it in its own spot in the garden.

This past November, I took a cutting, and used the above method with the rooting hormone etc. and planted it in the ground outside (used good potting soil).  Then I cut off the bottom of a large soda plastic container, and screwed off the top.  I put the plastic soda container and over the cutting, and pressed it down in the soil, and put a little soil around it and pressed it down so it would stay put.  I watered around it.  Remember to leave the cap off.  When the temperature started to get in the 80's, I took off the soda bottle.  Now - they are doing well and blooming.


Thanks,
Carlene
aka the Flowerlady