Further Warmer Weather Wraps

As I explore and experiment with this method of rooting, I'm impressed how crucial the level of moisture in the newspaper is. It must not be wet, but DAMP. You need to squeeze as much of the dripping water from it as possible or your chances of rot are significantly greater.

I've also found that the apparent optimal temperatures to hold the wrapped cuttings under is in the sixty degrees F range. Hotter and they will attempt to sprout leaves instead of callusing and rooting. Other than to use refrigeration, I have no way to test colder temperatures, but the success rate in the sixty degree F range is sufficient to not encourage me to try colder.

I wrapped two burritos of unnamed China roses three weeks ago. After two weeks, the first wrap was callused and it has been planted. Today, three weeks after wrapping, this bundle came out. Remember, you may click on any image here to see the larger version for better detail. Click on the enlarged photo for an even higher magnification.

The storage room where I'm keeping the bundles now is slightly warmer due to the increased temperatures outdoors. It is still well within the sixties optimal temperature range, but it is warmer than with the original results. You can see the range of callusing to actual root formation. These were planted this evening and watered in well.

Two weeks ago, I wrapped this bundle of the climber Shadow Dancer to see how it responds to the method at this time of year. These were the results tonight after two weeks at the slightly warmer temperature. Notice the best root formation is on the actual flower cluster. I had been taught that the actual flowering cluster wood wasn't suitable for propagation due to the lack of growth buds. However, I experimented with my Annie Laurie McDowell and several floribundas before testing this variety and have found throughout the initial experiments, this "unsuitable" wood is the fastest to form calluses and the most likely to actually form roots in the wraps. And, from experience, they DO have growth buds and will make use of them once sufficiently rooted.

With varieties such as polyanthas, most of the available wood for propagation ARE these flower clusters. Most polys don't form that many nor that long shoots with growth buds and foliage to cut without taking large sections of the plant. By using these cluster shoots, too, you increase the quantities of the plants notorious for throwing these growths you may propagate in a season, and you will likely find these are the ones to propagate fastest and easiest.  To illustrate, this is an earlier piece of a climber I wrapped and which rooted quickly. Traditionally, this is the type of wood I was taught wasn't suitable due to lack of growth buds. As you can see, it has buds.

As a further experiment, I treated and wrapped cuttings to send to a friend in another state. She wouldn't be ready for them until after June 9, so I prepared them in time to mail them and have them ready for planting a day or two after receipt. She emailed to say the thicker cuttings were nicely callused when she opened the burrito. The thinner ones weren't callusing, but turning black. It appears this method may be better suited to thicker, heavier growth with some varieties. As you can see from the above photos, at least for China roses, the gauge doesn't seem that important.

Warmer Weather Wrapping

To begin exploring whether cutting wrapping is successful as the weather warms and material awakens from dormancy, I wrapped two sets of cuttings two weeks ago today.

The first bunch were accidentally left soaking in a bucket of water for one week before wrapping. The bucket received half day sun for that week. As you can see from the photo, half of them rotted, while half callused.

The second batch was a large bunch of Mutabilis, freshly cut and wrapped within an hour of cutting. Two weeks from right off the plant to this.

A few are planted here while the rest are being sent to a friend for rooting. I love Mutabilis, but, realistically,  how many can I possibly use?

Wrapping cuttings

If you haven't already discovered it, The Rose Hybridizers Association and its Forum are great places to learn about many things concerning roses. The site is populated by a very nice group of people from across the globe and all have great imagination and experiences. One very interesting "discovery" I've gleaned from the RHA and from Paul Barden's Rose Blog concerns wrapping cuttings to callus.

I formerly lived in a hotter, more arid climate, and I had figured out how to root roses there with little difficulty. I have since moved to a more humid, a bit less hot, area and I have sacrificed MANY cuttings to rot before hitting on this wonderful advance. The initial introduction was made by Simon Voorwinde , an Australian member sharing what George, another Australian member had shared with him.  Rose Hybridizers Association Forum
Photographic instruction and mention of the method was further shared by Paul Barden on his great Rose Blog. Paul Barden's Blog  It looked and sounded simple enough!

I'd discovered part of my problem was it is too humid here to enclose rose cuttings in anything. The air is sufficiently "close" for them to root without rotting as long as they are protected from extreme wind and too hot sunlight. Using this wrapping method further increased my chances of success by keeping them moist while they callus and begin forming roots, greatly shortening the time required for them to actually become plants.

I "streamlined" the proceedure shared on the other two sources and found it worked! I took cuttings as I would normally, removed all the foliage and processed them with my rooting hormone of choice. Several sheets of plain old newspaper were thoroughly soaked then wrung out as dry as I could get them. Here is your first chance of failure. There should be NO dripping wet paper. Wring out as much water as you possibly can. The cuttings are going to be securely wrapped in this paper. Soggy paper WILL cause them to grow mold and turn into slime. You want moisture, dampness, not soggy, so squeeze out as much water as you possibly can so the paper no longer drips when squeezed.

I placed the pile of cuttings all together in the center of the paper, then wrapped them as you would to make a burrito. It looks something like these, though the longer ones shown are actually longer than traditional cuttings. More about those, later.

Instead of wrapping the "burritos" in Saran Wrap and rubber banding them as Simon's method suggests, I found simply wrapping them in plastic shopping bags then tying them tightly, kept them sufficiently damp for the callusing period. As long as the bags are sealed to prevent the loss of the dampness, it will work. I placed the bags in a drawer in a chest in the garage where they remained cool and dark for the required two weeks.


At the end of the two weeks, this is what I found in the "burritos".

I removed them from the "burritos" and potted them individually in 16 oz. foam cups with drainage holes poked through the bottoms and placed them where they would receive half day, morning sun, surrounded by other plants where the humidity remains fairly high. I deliberately planted them deeply, as deep as possible in the cups, to provide them more protection from moisture loss until they rooted.
I kept them watered so the soil remained damp and within a few weeks, new sprouts were growing from most of the cuttings. I had gone from 100% failure, to over 80% success with 135 cuttings. This was with a variety of different rose types, from polyanthas, climbers, species crosses, HTs and floribundas, not just a few varieties which root fairly easily. I am certain pre callusing the cuttings in the dark, damp, cool newspaper before planting them was more than half the key. This was accomplished during our rainy period, so temperatures were lower than "normal" and there was higher humidity, so everything stacked the deck in my favor.


Next installment...Longer wrapped cuttings for standard trunks, and in warmer weather!Paul Barden's Blogspot