Growing beauty in winter: how to cut roses when the window is cold?
Propagation of roses by cuttings is a reliable option, since this method is simple and does not require special skills and knowledge from the grower, and is also quite effective: under all conditions, the percentage of rooted cuttings is quite high.
In addition, this method can produce reproduction at any time of the year, even in winter. This will be discussed in this article.
What is cuttings?
Cuttings are an artificial method of vegetative propagation of plants, in which parts, cuttings, separated from the mother plant, are used. When grafting, young plants with their own root system are obtained, which retain all the signs and properties of the maternal specimen.
reference. The following rose varieties can be perfectly grown from cuttings: all miniature and polyanthus, most semi-climbing and climbing, hybrid tea varieties, excels roses, Iceberg and Rosalind varieties. Repairing and park roses are cut with great difficulty.Suitable time
Cuttings of roses can be made at any time of the year. Often, gardeners root cuttings cut in the summer. But the most successful season for grafting is considered autumn: Cuttings cut from rose bushes during autumn pruning are planted in the ground for rooting.
But there are situations when such specimens fall into the hands of a lover of these flowers that he had long dreamed of acquiring. And it’s already winter outside, and there can be no talk of a complete rooting of the plant. Therefore, it makes sense to keep harvested shoots until spring.
Distinctive features of winter cuttings
The meaning of the cuttings before winter is to preserve the cuttings until spring in a state capable of vegetation and rooting. This is equivalent to the fact that roses will be alive until spring. There are several options for saving:
- preservation of cuttings in the basement;
- in the fridge;
- on the glazed balcony;
- on a cold windowsill.
And it is possible, as the many years of experience of flower growers shows, to create a semblance of storage for cuttings directly in the ground in the open air. They can simply be dug in a specially dug hole, and you can also create a special structure - a cuttings ("cold greenhouse").
The essence of the method of storing cuttings in the refrigerator is to place chopped cuttings in a moistened cotton cloth or paper (as an option - moss-sphagnum), into which they are wrapped, and then packed in a plastic bag. Storage location - a compartment in the refrigerator for vegetables.
reference. Cuttings can also be placed in a moistened substrate consisting of peat and sand, which is poured into a box and stored in the basement.You can store chopped cuttings on the balcony:
- put them in a bucket;
- put a plastic bag on top;
- it is good to warm with blankets and jackets;
- putting packing foam under the bucket, leave to winter.
Landing instruction
- Preparation of inventory and materials. To carry out the cuttings, you will need a sharp alcohol-disinfected garden knife or secateurs, iron arches, covering material (agrofibre, lutrasil), a plastic film.
- Soil preparation. For a cuticle, it is necessary to dig a pit or trench 30 to 70 cm deep. The land that has been excavated must be mixed with peat and sand in equal proportions. Peat will provide looseness of the soil, its breathability, sand will contribute to drainage (outflow of excess water).
In this mixture, you can add humus, compost. The bottom of the cuticle must be covered with a layer of coarse sand (5 - 10 cm). As an option: the bottom is filled with dry branches, grass (20 cm), then a layer of peat (20 cm), then a layer of compost soil (20 cm).
- Cutting cuttings. The stems from which the cuttings will be cut must be straight, strong, without visible damage and infectious diseases.
Their thickness is about a pencil (4 - 5 mm in diameter). Each of the stems is cut into lengths of 20 - 25 cm.
An important condition: on each of these segments should be 3 - 5 developed kidneys. The upper part of the shoot is better not to take, as it can be unripe.
The upper cut - a straight line - is made 2 - 3 cm above the upper kidney, and the lower - at an angle of 45 degrees - directly under the lower kidney. All leaves and thorns must be removed.
Attention! Through leaves and thorns, the plant can lose moisture, which puts the process of rooting safely. - Cutting Processing. It is advisable if the cuttings before planting will be treated with root formation stimulants ("Kornevin", "Roots", "Heteroauxin"). Some gardeners recommend pre-shoots of roses for a day to put in water with a stimulant diluted in it.
- Rooting. The substrate in the cuticle before planting the cuttings must be well moistened. Each stalk is buried by 2/3 in the ground, 1/3 part remains above the surface. Deepening is carried out at an angle of 45 degrees to increase the area of contact of the handle with the ground. The substrate around the seedlings is well crushed in order to prevent air from entering the cut. The distance between the planted shoots is 10 - 15 cm.
- Landing. In spring (May), rooted cuttings must be transplanted to a permanent place. The best place for a rose is an open bright area, without drafts and groundwater close to the surface of the earth. Seedlings must be carefully removed from the cuticle along with an earthen lump formed around the roots, and planted in a prepared planting pit.
Further care
Branches or spruce branches are placed on the seedlings, arcs are built from above, on which covering material is poured, then a plastic film and then on top of the branches and spruce branches. Seedlings insulated in this way will be able to overwinter calmly, and by the spring they will already have root tubercles.
In spring, similar cuttings should be opened gradually: first remove the snow, then, as it warms up, remove the branches and spruce branches, and later open the covering material. Once young plants adapt to the new environment, they can be planted in permanent places.
Problems and solutions
There will be no problems and difficulties with grafting if all conditions are met. And the most important of them is high-quality insulation for the winter. If the grower is too lazy to cover the cuttings with either covering material, or polyethylene, or branches, then young and immature seedlings simply die.
Another important factor is the filling of the cuticle with a substrate. Rose is a finicky plant; it needs nutrients to root. They will be provided with humus, compost. But the additional heat will give grass, branches thrown to the bottom of the cuticle. It is believed that with slow decomposition, organics will release a small amount of heat.
And finally, so that the future plant is strong, viable, without infectious lesions, healthy cuttings must be selected for cuttings, and the tool with which they are cut into cuttings should be treated with an antiseptic.
Despite the fact that in winter most plants survive a dormant period, life is raging under the warm shelter of the cuticle, the results of which can please the gardener in the spring and even more in the summer, during the flowering and fragrance of the long-awaited pet roses.