DIY Wealth Creation

If your home gardening efforts have been modest thus far, and you’d rather not just plunge straight into rose growing without easing in gently, you might get some experience in how to grow roses by starting with cuttings. If you have a friend with some roses, perhaps they’d be willing to give you a few stems so you can try to start some in this way. This could be an enjoyable experiment, both in growing roses a bit differently than most people do, but also in gauging whether you have a knack for rose growing.

You’ll have to pick your roses carefully, though, because not all types of roses grow well from cuttings. It’s likely some expert gardeners have managed to do it even with the difficult varieties, like hybrid teas. But if you still don’t know much about how to grow roses, or you’re not very experienced, then you will find varieties that simply will not grow by this method. Of course do some research to get specifics, but you can be fairly confident trying this with varieties like floribundas or miniatures.

You should do the rose pruning in early spring, taking three or four six-inch stems (or for miniatures, three-inch stems). Cut them on a slight diagonal, in the morning before the stresses of the day. In the past, people knew how to grow roses with cuttings protected by Mason jars, and the practice still works well. So once you have your cuttings, take off the bottom leaves, with just a few at the top, and dip the stems into a rooting powder. Then set them either into your garden soil or into containers of potting soil. At this point, place a Mason jar over each stem and water now and then over the next few weeks.

In milder climates, you may be able to grow rose bushes from these cuttings just by putting them in your garden soil during the summer and forgetting about the Mason jar. On the other hand, in cooler regions, you might start them in containers indoors with a heating pad beneath them to help stimulate the roots. There are some general tips for how to grow roses from cuttings, but these need to be adapted to your particular situation. If you can induce your cuttings to root and start growing, then it might be a good, gradual way to start your rose growing hobby.