how to grow roses from cuttings place rose stems in water
Place Cuttings in Water
Immediately put your cuttings into a container of water out of direct sunlight. Or wrap cuttings in damp paper towels and place them in a cooler. You want to keep the cut stems as hydrated as possible.
Slice Bottom End of Cuttings
Rooting is part of a wound response for roses. Encourage increased rooting by vertically slicing through the green skin on the bottom inch of the cutting. Do this two to four times spaced roughly equally. Or you can gently scrape a strip or two of the green skin on the bottom inch (just don’t remove the skin all the way around the stem). If the variety has large prickles, ripping them from the base also wounds the stem enough to encourage roots to develop.
Dip Cuttings in Rooting Hormone
If using rooting hormone, apply it to about two inches of the base of your cuttings. If you’re trying to grow roses from cuttings without rooting hormones, steps 1-4 are even more important.
