You don't need MUCH bleach. Less than 10%. A splash will do.
I personally like to soak the whole plant. Do you have something like a 32-Gal. trash can?

Jeri

No but I have an extra bathtub in the guest room that nobody uses, lol. I will put it in there for tonight. Thanks.

Kristy..I've been known to soak bareroot roses in my Bathtub..LOL..especially if I bought several...Jeanne

I don't use that bathtub anyway so who cares right, lol. I was kind of upset. When I opened the box and saw the roots were dry I immediately put it in the bucket to soak and didn't look at it in good light. Last night after I moved it to the bathtub and inspected the canes better a lot of them were broken. They are supposed to send me a replacement. Hopefully it will come better wrapped.

Oh Sowwyyyyy to hear that hon..goodluck with your new one..Jeanne

sorry for the newbie question, but what does the bleach do?
Thanks! Keith

Helps to keep the water clean. I don't use it, I just change the water if I need to soak them for more than 7 days.

I'd go ahead and plant it anyway. I had a rose order get lost on the way to me and spend several days in Texas. The rose roots were completely dry when the roses got to me. I planted them and they all grew and did well. I already had replacements by then which also did well. Trim off the broken canes and see what happens.

I use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach... You can cut a couple of the root tips off and see if they are white inside... that will tell you if the roots are still alive

Thanks. I will check that. I just bought a big pot for it and was in there checking it out. It appears to have some bad spots on most of the canes that are down pretty low. I will make a new post and ask about that.

The bleach is also supposed to kill any fungus spores or diseases that the rose may have picked up along the way. I've never tried it myself. I do soak the entire rose, canes, roots and all for a while before planting.

I hate to be the downer of the group but that is to be expected of Gurneys. They are not the best place to buy roses from. I learned this lesson a long time ago. You did not mention if the canes are green and if the pith inside the canes is white. If the canes are brown and crunchy they are dry and it will take an awful lot to get it to grow, if it grows at all. If the canes are green and the pith inside is a nice white( you might need to make a cut on top of one of the canes to see the inside) then by all means put it in your bath and soak it for 24 hours. When you plant it give it some Vitamin b-1, which can be found at most garden centers. In the future you would be better off buying from Home Depot or a creditable nursery in your neighborhood, or better yet from Jackson & Perkins, Heirloom, Hortico etc then from Gurneys. At Jackson & Perkins you can get one rose with shipping for approximately $23.00.
Sorry I am the doubting thomas of the group but most of the knowledgable growers here would agree with me about Gurneys.
Good Luck and let us know how it goes,
Carrie

I checked and 3 of the canes are green with white inside. The bad parts near the bottom I showed my neighbor who grows a lot of roses and he said he thinks they had wrapped it with wire down low or something cut into the canes where the damaged areas are. I trimmed some of the roots and most of the big ones looked alive so I planted it. I could not find any of the lavender roses around here anywhere and Gurneys was the only place I saw it but I won't order from them again. They totally messed up my order. I ordered 3 roses, the Blue Girl and a buy one get one free deal of their choice which I figures would be ok since they only offered a few for sale and I liked all of them. Well somehow they sent the blue girl and changed my order to dwarf daylilly and orange butterfly bush instead of roses but didn't ship them. I paid for the 3 roses and shipping. I emailed them and never heard back so I called them and they said my husband canceled my order for the plants that weren't shipped. I know that is crazy since he has nothing to do with my flowers. I told them it was wrong and the order was wrong and had to go look up the order number since they said they didn't have a buy one get one fee deal on the hybrid teas and I had to show them on the website so they said they would fix it. Then I got an email saying they charged my credit card again. I have to go to the bank Monday and see if they refunded the first mess up. I will not order from them again.
Kristy