Encouraging buds and shoots on roses is not a competition, and care cannot be done haphazardly

Recently I've seen a lot of people talking about forcing buds, and many gardening experts are also discussing how to force buds. Actually, I'm not very keen on forcing buds myself, but I don't reject it either. It's just that I personally don't use this method much. When I grow roses myself, I think blooming is wonderful enough, and I generally won't do things haphazardly, after all, forcing buds and shoots is not a competition.

Many people are quite opposed to forcing buds. Actually, forcing buds is just making the original plant lose its apical dominance and stop growing. It's a bit like forcing it out. I once saw an opinion saying that forcing buds is no different from pulling up seedlings to help them grow. If the roots aren't well developed and the fertilizer isn't adequate, what's the point of forcing out buds? For example, if you can only carry fifty jin, and now you're carrying fifty jin, wanting to carry another one means you can only put down what you're already carrying. In short, when the nutrients absorbed by the root system exceed what the existing plant needs, it will naturally produce buds and shoots. So being careful, patient, and keeping a calm mind is all you need.

So, if you can fertilize your roses in time, using organic liquid fertilizer specially made for roses, diluted 500 times to water the roots, once a week, the rose seedlings will grow strong and the root system will be robust. Then no matter how you fuss over forcing buds and shoots, there won't be any big problems.

There's another viewpoint saying that forcing shoots isn't just random fussing. Although if you're not in a hurry, letting nature take its course will also bring results naturally; but artificially forcing shoots can accelerate the formation of young plants, especially for climbing roses, though the prerequisite is strong roots and vigorous seedlings. Although I'm not very keen on forcing buds, actually strong roots and vigorous seedlings don't contradict bending branches to force shoots. If you don't pinch the tips of young seedlings, they can't grow strong. If the seedlings aren't strong, how can you develop the roots? This is a mutually reinforcing process. Bending branches to force shoot buds and pinching tips are both for eliminating apical dominance. It's the same principle, both are for making the seedlings stronger.

And for some plants with poor or lopsided shapes, you can tilt the pot, break branches, or bend branches to make them bud at designated positions and increase branching. By then the plant shape will also look good. After the shoot buds grow, subsequent pruning or training into shapes will be much more convenient, and they won't grow wildly in all directions as before, hard to control.

But have you noticed that sometimes no matter what technique you use, shoots won't come out, and sometimes without doing anything they come out on their own? This is also quite frustrating. You're always one step behind, changes always stay ahead of plans, and at times like this you're just bewildered.

I think, since shoots have already come out, just pinch the tops to make the shoots grow stronger and let them grow. Otherwise, just let them do as they please. It's not like you're selling them or competing with others. Who cares, as long as they bloom.

The purpose of forcing shoot buds is to shape the plant as quickly as possible, and it doesn't conflict with what we said above about developing roots and strengthening seedlings. If your roots aren't good, then basically don't even think about getting shoots. At most you'll get a few basal buds.

Regardless of whether you use external forces to force buds, strong roots and vigorous seedlings are the way to go. Otherwise, even if you force shoots and buds, later growth won't be much good either. Develop the roots first, don't rush to force buds. Once the roots are well grown, it'll be hard not to get buds and shoots. As long as the root system is well developed, none of these will be a problem. Similarly, only after the root system is well developed can you force out buds, otherwise it's all futile effort.