Propagating old garden roses

This coming Monday will be 4 weeks since I started propagating roses again. This time I started with an old garden climbing rose named Cecile Brunner. I planted this one at my Mom's house and it has nearly taken over her whole front porch, and since it needed a trim I figured I'd try my hand at propagating this one first.

I decided to use the tub and florescent light method and move the rose propagation setup indoors where the temperatures were more controlled...and mostly not too hot! After much research I determined that I needed temps between 70 and 75 degrees for optimal rooting, and that is exactly what I have indoors. I purchased a large, clear storage bin from a local store, and had a set of florescent lights in my garage that I took down for this purpose. The containers for each cutting I already had from previous growing and propagating so I was set there.

For the propagation medium I used a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite. Then the cuttings were trimmed so that there were still two sets of leaves and leaf buds. The bottom area of the rose cuttings was scored and dipped into a mix of Dip N Gro, then put into the containers filled with the propagation medium, then each container placed into the storage bin. All told I had room for 45 rose cuttings in the tub.

After misting the rose cuttings the bin was then covered and placed under the florescent lights, with the lights being above the clear lid about 9 inches. I continued to mist the rose cuttings daily and they were under the lights between 12 and 16 hours per day. After almost 4 weeks I have lost just one cutting, and I also just found out that I put one in upside down...not good. Otherwise many of the rose cuttings have new roots coming out the bottom of their containers and new growth appearing. I'm anxious to truly see how many new plants I get form the method, and after vacation next week plan on expanding my operation with another set of lights, more tubs, and numerous cuttings of the other old garden roses in my backyard.