Detailed Explanation of the Planting Methods and Technical Points of Rosa damascena

Rosa damascena (scientific name: Rosa damascena Mill.): a shrub about 2 m tall; branchlets usually with stout hooked prickles, sometimes mixed with bristles; leaflets usually 5, rarely 7; leaf blades ovate or ovate-oblong, margins singly serrate, eglandular, glabrous above, pubescent beneath. Flowers 6-12, arranged in corymbs; sepals ovate-lanceolate, apex long acuminate, glandular-hairy outside, densely pubescent inside; petals pinkish; styles free, hairy. Fruit pear-shaped or obovoid, red, often with bristles.

Cultivation Techniques

1. Watering: it varies with the season. During the winter dormant period, keep the soil moist, just not dried out completely. When the branches begin to sprout in early spring and the branches and leaves grow, appropriately increase the amount of water, watering once in the morning and once in the evening each day. During the peak growing season and flowering period, the amount of watering needs to be increased. In summer, with high temperatures, water evaporation increases, and the plant is in a weak semi-dormant state, so dryness and dehydration are most taboo; water once in the morning and once in the evening each day and avoid exposure to the blazing sun. When watering at high temperatures, each watering should have a small amount of water seeping from the bottom of the pot, indicating it has been watered thoroughly. When watering, do not splash water on the leaves to prevent disease.
2. Fertilizing: roses like fertilizer. The base fertilizer should mainly be slow-release organic fertilizer, such as decomposed cow dung, chicken manure, soybean cake, oil residue, etc. Add liquid fertilizer water once every half month, which can keep the leaves thick, dark green and glossy. Before sprouting in early spring, a relatively concentrated liquid fertilizer may be applied once. Take care not to fertilize during the flowering period. After the flowers fade in June, apply liquid fertilizer once more. In September, when the fourth or fifth axillary buds are about to sprout, apply a medium-concentration liquid fertilizer once more. In December, during the dormant period, apply decomposed organic fertilizer for overwintering.

3. Pruning: after each season's flowering period ends, comprehensive pruning must be carried out. Generally, light pruning is suitable; promptly cut off the faded spent flowers and thin, weak, crossing and overlapping branches, keep stout, young branches with only 3-6 cm retained from the base, keep outward-facing buds, and prune into a natural open-center shape to make the plant shape attractive and extend the flowering period. In addition, for potted roses, choose varieties that are dwarf, floriferous and strongly fragrant. 

   

1. Watering: for field-planted roses, the main point is to water sufficiently during summer drought, especially ensuring an adequate water supply during the bud-forming and flowering periods, while also taking care that water does not accumulate during the rainy season.
2. Fertilizing: in winter plowing, human excrement and urine may be applied or decomposed organic fertilizer spread on, then turned into the soil. Roses should be fertilized frequently during the growing period. After the flowers fade, apply topdressing with quick-acting fertilizer 1-2 times. In high temperature and drought, apply thin fertilizer. Apply the last fertilizer before the onset of winter. Before fertilizing, also take care to remove weeds promptly.
3. Pruning: summer pruning of roses mainly consists of cutting off the suckering branches and flowers of the grafted rootstock; after flowering, cut off the spent flowers together with leaves and thin out excess flower buds, reducing nutrient consumption and creating good conditions for the next flowering period. To make the plant shape attractive, long branches may be cut back by 1/3 or half, and medium branches by 1/3, making a slanted cut 1 cm above a leaf. If pruning is too light, the rose plant will grow taller and taller, the branches longer and thinner, and the flowers smaller and smaller. Winter pruning depends on the variety and cultivation purpose. When pruning, retain branches and pay attention to the overall form of the rose plant. For large-flowered varieties, it is suitable to retain 4-6 branches, at 30-45 cm choose a strong lateral bud, and cut off the branch portion above it. For trailing or climbing varieties, the main tasks are thinning out old branches, cutting off weak and diseased branches, and cultivating the main trunk.