Rose Single-Bud Cutting Method and Experience Sharing

I tried ordering two rose toothpick seedlings from Taobao. They were quick to bloom with their first flowers, and they looked pretty good. I regretted buying so few, so I decided to try single-bud rose cuttings myself. But since they were only two-month-old seedlings, there were no branches for me to take cuttings from. I gritted my teeth and cut off a flowering branch. It was so short, wasn't it? So I divided it into 5 segments, each with one bud. I hastily crammed online for all kinds of cutting methods from the experts, like vermiculite, various fancy soils, but I had none of that. All I had was garden soil dug from the roadside by my front door, and it was very sticky. So I came up with the crude idea of laying river sand at the bottom of the cutting box. This way, the garden soil on top could retain water, and the river sand below could provide air permeability.

With all the materials ready, I began the cuttings:

After inserting them, I watered thoroughly and placed them in a cool, ventilated spot, watering every night. The rest was just patiently waiting. Three weeks later, they sprouted.

By the full month mark, I gently tugged the branches. If they couldn't be pulled out, it meant roots had grown. I prepared to pot them up. The root systems were quite good. 4 out of 5 survived.

Even the one with the worst root system looked like this.

Actually, they all should have survived. I couldn't resist meddling. One of them I pulled out to check three times midway. Although it had also grown roots, in the end it still developed black stems. This is how they looked two weeks after repotting. After repotting, I just threw them directly under the sun for full exposure, because since they were soil cuttings, I couldn't be bothered to acclimate them.

The new branches were very robust. The advantages of single-bud cuttings are obvious. Besides being able to mass-propagate more seedlings in a short time, all the nutrients go into developing this one bud point. Later, when it comes to pruning and such, it's also very convenient. Since this was my first time growing roses and my first time doing cuttings, I only tested one variety, Balzac. I didn't have the conditions to test the rooting situation of various varieties. You might as well give it a try.