Planting Rooted Rose Cuttings
The rose cuttings have rooted and it is now time to pot them on. Planting rooted rose cuttings is easy enough for anyone.
Planting rooted rose cuttings into pots is not hard but it is necessary for your roses to grow into healthy shrubs.
You want the roots to have space and the nutrients they need to grow even more roots. Healthy roots, healthy plants.
Have you seen the post on Rooting Roses from cuttings?
It will show you how to take cuttings and root them while this article shows you what to do once they have rooted.
Though the cuttings in the photos here are small, they are recommended to be much more robust before planting them up.
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Want to see the latest video and cutting planting? Just click here.
Remove rooted rose cuttings from medium
You will often be able to see the roots in a clear or translucent container, but if rooted in a terra cotta pot, you will need to test for rooting. (or wait until you see roots coming out of the drainage hole in the bottom)
Gently tug on the cuttings to see if they may have rooted. If they are holding fast they will most likely have roots. You see me doing this in the video located at the bottom of this post.
Use something to loosen the potting medium, I love this new mini trowel I bought myself this past year, it works great!
Using your tool poke it down into the medium and under the cutting roots, gently lift and loosen the medium as you pull out the cuttings.
(the full-length video will show it much better)
Planting rooted rose cuttings
Fill 4-inch pots halfway with good potting soil. Today I am using Ednas Best by EB Stone Organics. I have had great success with this potting soil but any good brand of potting soil will work.
Related: DIY potting soil you can make
Gently set the roots on top of the soil. Don’t press them down, they are delicate and can be easily torn off.
Carefully fill with more potting soil until there is only about 1/2 inch left to the rim of the pot.
This next step is optional but there are many benefits to doing it.
Give the cuttings a topping
Sprinkle some horticultural sand on top of the soil to about 1/8 thick. This can discourage fungus gnats and it will help retain moisture.
Or use Mosquito Bits and mix a pinch into the potting soil. Sand is also good to keep the soil from splashing up onto the new rose plant, leading to mildew.
Where to locate planted rooted rose cuttings
These will be kept on a shelf in my unheated greenhouse. I will check them daily to be sure they are still healthy and moist.
They were planted in late Fall but the rooted cuttings that get planted in Summer are placed in a bright, shady location that receives some early morning sun and then afternoon shade until they have leafed out much more.
They will be transplanted into larger 1-gallon pots when they have matured.
What if they haven’t rooted?
If you take the cuttings from the medium and there are no roots, simply place them back into the medium and let them root.
In the video, I show you one that I have to toss out and I show you why!
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Happy Gardening!
Yes, definitely give it a little more room to develop further!
Are the roots growing out of the bottom? Does it seem cramped? You can go ahead a repot it if it is necessary but you don’t have to. I hope this helps!
Hi Pamela
I have grown a young rose plant with a cutting from last July. I have done this all indoors in a pot that is about 4″ deep. the plant is about 10″ high now and growing despite it being winter.
Should I re-pot into a bigger container?
thanks
Cathal
To be perfectly honest with you I have not ever tried to overwinter rooted cuttings inside. And I have not ever dealt with those types of temperatures so I can’t really speak to that. Wish I could be more help. Let me know how it works out for you.
I rooted some cuttings in the fall. I just potted them up, but we now have -15 temperatures outside and oodles of snow. Should I grow them on in the house till spring, I think the shock of going outside is probably going to kill them. Do I make them go dormant inside and if so how do I do that.