How to Do Leaf Cuttings With Roses

Growing roses in the home garden can be expensive if you do not propagate your bushes. To keep the rose variety pure, use cuttings to clone the plants you already have. This is an inexpensive way to grow new rose bushes from a single stem. Making cuttings requires sharp, clean equipment and the proper know-how. With a little practice, you will be able to propagate any rose variety in your garden.

Pruning shears
Rooting hormone
Sand
Peat moss
Shovel

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a 6- to 8-inch-long stem from the rose bush. Cut at a leaf node at a 45 degree angle, using a sharp knife or a pruning shear. Do not use a dull pruning shear, which could crush the cutting.
- 2
  Remove the leaves from the bottom 2 to 3 inches of the cutting.
- 3
  Dip the bottom 1 to 2 inches of the cutting into the rooting hormone.
- 4
  Prepare a a potting mixture of sand with 1/3 of the total volume of the mixture being peat moss. Put the potting mixture in a pot.
- 5
  Place the dipped portion of the rose into the potting mixture.
- 6
  Water the cutting after planting and every other day to keep the mixture from drying out.
- 7
  Transplant the cutting in the early fall after the plant has developed by removing the cutting from the potting mixture and digging a hole at the same depth as the cutting was planted. Place the cutting into the new hole and bury the roots.

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