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sutekesh

budding versus grafting

s
9 years ago

Sorry that should read budding versus rooting
Hi,
This is my first post. I am new to this forum, only just register this month, but have been following it for quite a while now, ever since I first got bitten by the bug:), so please excuse me for elaborating a little.

I started experimenting with propagating about four years ago after I lost a standard (amongst others) to an extremely cold winter. The rootstock survived and sent out a lot of shoots which got me thinking. That was when I discovered this forum, amongst others. What to do with them? So I budded a couple with some of my own roses as well as florist roses. To my surprise, nearly all of them took. From then on there was no stopping me. I wanted to try my hand at everything; air layering (100% success), cuttings (30%) and doing my own crosses.

Last autumn I decided to try winter rooting indoors because I thought that under a controlled environment I might get a better success rate. I did, with the cuttings from my own garden - 75%. I also took one cutting of a particularly nice seedling (germinated extremely late) which flowered under my lights. It rooted in just under three weeks and is actually about to bloom!

So I thought I would try rooting some florist roses. I got myself a couple of long-stem hybrid teas from a florist on a Saturday morning early December as well as a bunch of striped floribundas from the local supermarket.

The result - all of the floribundas rooted but only one of the hybrid teas - the others all turned black. I don't know if I was just lucky with the floribundas but I have read somewhere that florist roses are somehow treated to make them last longer and this also makes it more difficult to root them. I cannot think of another reason for nearly all of them to turn black. They were treated just the same as the cuttings from my garden.

From my experiments, it seems budding florist roses is more successful than trying to root them.

So now to my question: has anyone budded florist roses and then tried to root cuttings from them once they produce soft wood? Would it be more successful than trying to root the cut flowers from the florist? I want to try myself this season but would be grateful for any comments and pointers.

This post was edited by sutekesh on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 13:54

Comments (11)

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi seil, thanks for the comments. My main reason for trying to grow the florist roses is to crosses them with some of the hardier roses which I have although I might change my approach now and root (or buy) some rootstock to bud. I intend keeping them in pots because I'm not to sure how winter hardy they are seeing as most of them are grown in warmer climates.
    This one, budded in 2013 survived the winter to flower again in 2014.

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    don't know how to upload multiple photos

    This is a bouqet from the same rose taken in Sept 2013

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    here another rose - no idea what its called - the first photo is of the original two rose bought in May 2014, 2nd photo shows the grafted rose (I did three grafts on one cane) and the 3rd the crop taken end of June. I air layered the cane while the graft was growing and now it is potted up and over-wintering in our store room.

    {{gwi:2131436}}

  • bethnorcal9
    9 years ago

    Sounds like a good idea.. budding that is. I tried last winter to root florist roses also. Not one of them took. I recently decided I might just try rooting some DR HUEY or Multiflora and see if I can bud some florist roses. I have a couple roses that have gone to rootstock, and some others that keep suckering, so I can find plenty to root. We'll have to compare notes later.

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Beth, you’re right - I think budding is definitely the way to go. Not only have I had more success budding but it is also more economical. I only got 2 to 3 cuttings out of stem and all except the floribundas went black. With budding there are normally between 5 to 7 viable buds on a stem. And then you can always do some late budding with the new growth.
    So far I have only done T-budding and had to wait until the bark was slipping but I would like to start earlier this year and try chip budding as described by Burling Leong.
    Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you - roll on spring!!

  • kfoxxed
    9 years ago

    sutekesh, I am with you. Chip budding florist roses just seems like it is more interesting to master. Nothing against rooting the florist rose - own root roses have become the trend. Regarding Burling, I have watched all her videos and even got an email response from her. As you know she suggests you get the rootstock from UC Davis. It's very cheap but be aware that unless you live in California, they hit you with a PHYTO fee. I ordered 50 fortuniana canes for $25.00 but ended up paying an additional $37.00 for shipping, handling, and fee. My goal is to learn how to "stent," that is, chip bud and root at the same time. I have seen a video and it looks deceptively easy. Let me know if you give chip budding a try. I will try again. It's on my bucket list! Good Luck!!!


    BTW: Do you use a chip budding tool or a budding knife?

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    kfoxxed, I'm in Europe so will be getting my root stock (Rosa Canina Pfänders) from a grower in Germany. Stenting does sound interesting - I might just keep one of the rootstock to grow canes to experiment.

    As I said - I have only t-budded up until now. Chip budding is new to me - so far have only practiced with a budding knife on some willow canes which are very similar to roses and you don't waste any precious budwood. Especially when you are buying florist rose to bud with:)

    This photo was deleted from my post above on January 30, 2015 at 2:03PM

    the first photo is of the original two rose bought in May 2014, 2nd photo shows the budded rose (I did three grafts on one cane) and the 3rd the crop taken end of June.

  • kfoxxed
    9 years ago

    Sutekesh, I am truly envious of your success. Those specimens look gorgeous. Do you think you could give us a primer on your set-up and procedure? I for one would be very grateful.

  • s
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Kfoxxed, I have to give credit where credit is due. ‘My’ set-up
    and procedures for T-Budding and rooting cuttings are based on what I have been
    able to gather from the internet and books. Also my interest in propagating
    roses only started four years ago so I am actually rather inexperienced.

    Forums like Garden Web (Houzz) and HMF have been an invaluable source of
    information! Members like mgleason56(Michigan
    5b), goerge mander, seil and roseseek, to name just a few, are so knowledgeable
    on the subject and I am so grateful to all of them for sharing their experience.

    I root my cuttings 99% according to George Mander’s
    ‘Own Root Cuttings Setup’ which you can find here as well as on Help Me Find or on his website George
    Mander's Roses of Excellence . I say 99% because I use coco coir as
    suggested by mgleason instead of sunshine mix.

    I also found what I think is a very good article
    by Dao Mai called ‘Rose Propagation for Home Gardeners’ (originally distributed
    by http://roseexchange.biz/roseexchange) which I basically follow to the letter
    for T-Budding.

    You will often read that there are many factors
    which influence success or failure when it comes to roses that I think it is
    just a case of experimenting to see what works best for you – and that’s the
    fun thing about it:)

  • mary_rockland
    6 years ago

    Has anyone else made use of suckers of other roses as the rootstock for a graft, especially a lollypop (standard type) short rose tree? I'm interested in giving it a try but don't want the bother of trying to order or find Dr. Huey or other appropriate rootstock. Is there perhaps any other hardy rootstock that I could use from say the explorer roses series or Hansa or other super hardy roses?

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