Advantage of
root-grafted roses
1. You
only use a 1 node or 2 nodes rose stem. This is a saving
on disease-free rose materials
2. The
technique creates a new plant rapidly because the root
segment will automatically grow feeder roots in 3 days,
and the rose part will produce callus to form the union
within 1-2 weeks.
3. This
technique overcomes the fact that some roses are very
hard to root. So it allows the new plant to start a new
life as a grafted rose.
4. The
mature root segment stores much needed reserve energy to
help the rose
part to
grow quickly
The only
disadvantage of this method is the size of the plant. It
cannot be big to start with because the union is
unstable. The root segment will probably break away
in the future months after the rose part grows its own
roots and turns into a completely own-root rose. For
this reason it will take longer for it to become a
mature rose. And that’s probably the reason why they are
best for low wind growing environment inside a hot house
for cut flower production. However this would change
after 2 years when they are big enough to survive strong
wind.
The method
cleverly solves the most difficult problem which is the
rooting of all kinds of roses in the same environment
(low strike rate). This is achieved by using a very
simple operation to graft the root segment and the rose
cutting.
Root grafting
procedure
The
procedure is similar to the softwood rooting procedure,
and misting is required to get the highest success rate.
Softwood cuttings are used at all times.
The slow
way is to do it in cool autumn weather with a misting
system. There is not enough leaves to create enough sap
flow for the root and the rose cutting to unite quickly.
This is why we need some morning Sun light and misting
to counter the drying effect of the Sun.
1. Prepare
a rooting medium with 80% sand and 20% peat to help
retaining moisture
2. Harvest
disease free softwood rose cuttings, small in diameter
and with completely healthy leaves. Keep only 1-2 leaf
set(s) and trim it back down to about 4 leaves on each
leaf set.
3. Harvest
roots from any rose type, but roots from a rootstock is
the best. Cut the roots into 3cm segments.
4.
Grafting: simply slant-cut (with a razor sharp knife)
the base of the rose cutting and the top of each root
segment. (a) Make sure you know which end of the root
segment is supposed to be the top end (closer to the
trunk of the original plant). This top end must be
grafted to the rose cutting. (b) The slant cut must be
in the same direction of the stalk of a leaf set. This
is important for the cut to get as much sap flow from
the leaves as possible. (c) Also make sure the diameter
of the rose stem and the root segment are as close as
possible.
5. Bind
the two using a cotton yarn for best result (cotton yarn
will rot naturally in the soil after a couple of
months). Using a strong cloth peg is a possibility but
it’s unreliable.
6. Use a
pencil to dip a hole in a medium about 5cm deep, lower
the root-grafted rose into the hole and firm up the
sand.
7. Protect
the location by using chicken-wire net and clear plastic
sheet making a high fence surrounding the rooting bed
(create a windshield).
8.
Frequent misting is required to keep them fresh.
