If you want to multiply your roses then June is the right time. We explain how you can take cuttings from garden plants and cut roses and why potatoes and honey are the best root aid for the young plants. We also offer you an alternative to the potato – the banana peel can also support root growth
Propagating roses from cuttings: potatoes and bananas promote root growth
June and July is the right time to propagate roses from cuttings. You can grow the new roses from garden plants as well as from cut roses. The cuttings are then stuck into potatoes or wrapped in banana peels. The trick is very simple and actually works great. The potato or banana peel, often in combination with honey, promote root formation and then provide the young plants with the necessary nutrients and moisture. The potato or banana is gradually decomposed by soil life as the new rose grows.
Grow cuttings from cut roses
Do you have faded cut roses and just want to propagate them with cuttings? Proceed as follows: first remove the faded part, then shorten the stem from below. You then cut the stem diagonally with a very sharp knife to get a cutting. The cutting should be between 12 and 15 cm long.
Grow cuttings from garden plants
You can also get new roses from garden plants. If you have a shrub rose in your garden, you should start growing it in June. Woody old branches sprout very slowly, so it is much better to cut off a young shoot. The sloping cut is very important because it allows the cutting to absorb moisture better. Cut off the shoot tip diagonally above a leaf bud. Remove all leaves from the cutting – it should only have 4 pairs of buds and be around 12-15cm long.
Use potato and honey as a rooting aid for the cuttings
In order to pull the freshly obtained cuttings, you still need seed soil, liquid organic honey and potatoes. Check the potatoes first for rot, black spots, or cracks. You need healthy, medium-sized potatoes.
If you want to grow the rose as a container plant, first fill a suitable pot up to the middle with seed soil. Poke a hole on one long side of the potato – it should only reach the middle. The hole should be big enough for the cutting to fit in and not wobble in the hole. Then briefly dip the lower end of the cuttings into the liquid honey and then stick them directly into the potato. Place the potatoes in the middle of the pot and cover with substrate. The cutting should be covered with soil up to the second leaf bud. Then you wait until the new plant forms roots and sprout. Watering can be omitted – the potato gradually provides the necessary nutrients and provides even moisture for the new plant. Roses need a nutrient-poor soil, so the nutrients in the potato are sufficient in this first phase. You can water the young plant after it forms leaves.
Propagating roses: support the cuttings in rooting with bananas
Bananas are proving to be a good alternative to potatoes. Banana peels contain a lot of nitrogen and therefore promote growth. Even more so – the shells strengthen the young plants and make them more disease-resistant. You can use the banana peel for cuttings and also for young plants that are already rooted and that are repotted from the nursery pot to the bucket.
- For the cuttings you need one banana and one banana peel per plant. The peel is cut into small pieces so that it decomposes more quickly in the soil and releases the nutrients. It is given directly into the plant lot. Then insert the cuttings into the banana and place them in the ground. Then water the soil well to encourage plant growth.
- For young plants, take three banana peels per rose. Cut them into small pieces and put them directly into the planting hole. Put the plant in the hole and cover its roots with soil or substrate for roses. Water the young plant slowly and from below to speed up the decomposition of the banana peels.
Propagating roses with potatoes or bananas: summary
The right time to propagate roses from cuttings is in June and July. In midsummer, however, the soil is dry, pests particularly like to attack young plants and diseases are spreading. To support the roses in rooting and to strengthen them, you can stick the cuttings in a potato. It will release moisture and nutrients evenly over a longer period of time, thus promoting root formation. Banana peels are rich in nitrogen and can also strengthen the young plants and make them more disease-resistant. Simply cut up 2 to 3 peels and work them into the soil in the root area.