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Did you receive cut roses? Try a simple homemade trick that will root them and you can enjoy it for months!
If you received a bouquet of roses and they are slowly but surely starting to wilt and lose their color, you can try a small home experiment. If it succeeds, the roses on the windowsill will root and later you can move them to the garden with the other roses.
How to do it?
Take a sharp knife and remove the top part of the rose. Also cut off the lower part and remove all leaves from the stem that remains. The cutting should be approximately 20-25 cm long.
To make the cut roses root, we bring you 3 best home methods. Don’t hesitate and try each with a different cutting.
Prepare a solution containing yeast. Use 1 mg of yeast per 1 liter of water. Soak the cuttings into the solution to about 1/3 of the cuttings and leave them in it for 1 day. Then rinse with warm water and transfer to a windowsill in a container with water so that it reaches at most ½ of the cuttings. Leave it in a sunny spot in the apartment at room temperature. Regularly change and replenish the water so that it always reaches approximately ½ of the cuttings.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of honey in 1 liter of water. Soak the cuttings in this solution so that the solution reaches approximately 1/3 of the cuttings. Then transfer to a container with clean water as in the previous case (no need to rinse with warm water).
Add 10 drops of fresh Aloe vera juice to a liter of water. Aloe accelerates root growth and strengthens the „immunity“ of the cuttings. The water should reach into the cuttings. We always top it up so that it does not fall below this level. After 10 days add another 5-7 drops of aloe juice.
When the cuttings release sufficiently strong roots, simply transplant them into a pot with substrate. When spring comes, move them outdoors and later transfer them to the garden among the other roses. Alternatively, you can choose to grow them only in a pot – the choice is yours!
A priceless trick from gardeners
There are many different experiences with growing cut roses directly from growers. The truth is that this method may not always work, but on the other hand you have nothing to lose. When roses are cut and lose their color, they end up in the trash anyway. This way you can try to preserve their color for a long time.
The most successful rooting is of petals of roses with red or pink flowers, while the least successful is rooting white, yellow, bluish or orange flowers and various varieties. Risk also arises when the rose is treated with chemicals against diseases and pests.
The greatest chance to root is in spring, in summer or in September. If you choose another time, it may succeed, but it will take longer and the success rate is not as high.
The most successful rooting is in the case of roses that have buds. Then the plant has the greatest strength it needs to push out roots. If the rose has been in a vase for one week or longer, it is no longer suitable for rooting. It should have stood for at most 2-3 days.
How to do it?
First we need the middle part of the rose – the top with the flower and the lower piece. The middle part is the strongest – the upper cut is straight, the lower is slanted. The cut should be just below the buds. Tear off the leaves and we can also remove the thorns, because we don’t need them for rooting. The exception are the leaves that are located just below the cut. If they are healthy, we can leave them on the stem.
Cuttings can be rooted in soil or water. In both cases it is more than desirable to use biostimulants. In the case of rooting in soil we use rooting stimulators or tablets with activated charcoal, which crumble and treat the lower part of the cuttings with powder. If we use a liquid stimulator and then place the cuttings into the soil, it is necessary that the cuttings be soaked in it for at least 12 hours.
When rooting in water it is necessary to change the water regularly and add biostimulants. When roots appear, simply insert the cuttings into the soil.
We need
As a liquid rooting stimulator we can use:
Aloe vera juice (20 drops per cup)
Honey (1 teaspoon per 1 glass of water)
Grower’s tip:
Mix a teaspoon of honey with a teaspoon of wood ash and 2 teaspoons of aloe vera juice. Let it stand for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Then mix this mixture with a glass of water (ideally distilled) and place the cuttings in it for 12 hours.
Then plant the cuttings into a substrate rich in nutrients mixed with sand and cover with a plastic bag or foil. Move to a sunny and warm place (cuttings require a lot of light). Our tip: it is good to place pieces of polystyrene at the bottom of the containers into which we pour the substrate – soak the soil and then place the substrate on it.
Don’t forget regular ventilation and watering. The substrate should never dry out completely. If the plants do well, at the beginning of summer you can transplant them into soil or larger pots and place them on the balcony. During the hottest days the plants must be protected from the midday sun.
At the start you can help the cuttings outdoors by creating mini greenhouses made from the top parts of plastic bottles.
Special tricks for rooting roses
Rooting with an aloe vera leaf
All you need is 1 aloe vera leaf. Interested in how to use it? Watch this and the result will surely surprise you.
Procedure
- Let’s bring the roses first. We can use roses from the garden, or try a small experiment with cut roses from the store. Cut the stem with a sharp knife and remove most of the leaves.
- Make shallow cuts in the aloe vera leaf at the edge. These are the places where we insert the rose stem.
- Then press the stem into the hole in the aloe leaf.
- And plant the stem into the ground as usual. So we divide the leaf with the stem into pieces and plant them so they are under the soil.
- Aloe vera has antibacterial and stimulating effects. It helps root the rose and protects it from diseases.
- The rose not only did not fade over time, but pushed out new leaves and became more beautiful. Soon you can transplant it to the garden or a larger pot!
- After 90 days the root system of the rose is already rich and healthy. You will not find a piece of aloe anymore – everything has decomposed and been absorbed in the form of nutrients. The root system is strong and self-sufficient.
Video tutorial
Rooting roses using potatoes
At first glance it sounds strange and looks equally odd, but this trick can be an interesting experiment. It’s because the potato provides the cuttings with enough moisture and nutrients to be able to successfully root and then develop into a beauty. To prepare the cuttings make an oblique cut below the lower buds of the plant. The cuttings should be about 15-20 cm long and as thick as a pencil. Insert the cuttings into the potato and plant them into the soil.
After planting it is advisable to cover the cuttings with a plastic bottle and water them regularly.
