Did you dip your rose cutting in rooting hormone before sticking it in the potato? I don't imagine the potato does anything more than provide moisture. Last year there was a thread on the Plant Propagation Forum about using florist's Oasis in much the same way. Same idea; different medium.

No I didn't use rooting hormone - the technique didn't say one needed to. I was under the impression that the starch or something in the potato contributed to the rose rooting somehow.

Old folk tales often have a shread of wisdom in them. I never got around to testing it when I had a greenhouse but I'm guessing it is mostly coincidence. Under ideal conditions the rose would root anyway.

My plan was to compare potatoes and a couple of others that we propagate with underground parts, perhaps iris and something else.

My mother-in-law recently passed away and I found a 1953
edition of Godchaux Sugars Famous Recipes from old New Orleans. Under useful household hints, it states " if you
wish to slip a rose bush cut off your slip and then stick the stem into a white potato. You will find that the slip will take root. This is the surest way to make it root."
I found this interesting, and I assume it is because potatoes are rich in potassium and B vitamins, plus hold mositure. I just tried a few slips to see if it works.

I read a long time ago - and tried - cut a hole in thepotato, fill with dirt, and plant a tomato seed in it and plant that- suppose to get potatoes and tomatoes. I forget what results I had.

In my unscientific trials of this method, I found traditional propagation techniques to work much better. There have been threads about the potato rooting method in the Plant Propagation Forum and just about everyone who had tried it found it less helpful than often claimed.

The story I heard was that sticking a rose cutting in a potato was a useful way to keep the cutting alive during shipment (in the days before airmail and overnight delivery). Presumably, the cuttings were then removed and either rooted or used for bud wood.

Willow water has been recommended by some rose "rustlers". Cut switches from willows, place them in the water over night, then put in the rose cuttings as they are collected.

Karl

Here is a link that might be useful: Willow Water for Roses