Encouraging basal breaks on my austin?

10 years ago

Hi everyone,

Hope all is well. I have a question. How would I encourage basal breaks on my (last year planted) Chamblees eglantyne? During our terrible winter, I lost all its canes but 2 -which are 2 very far canes. After removing all dead wood, I literally have 2 canes around 9 inches apart from each other that are leafing out now because it's spring, but it looks so weird because the plant looks so oddly shaped. Will it get better?

Also, I don't know if it matters but I didn't prune out the dead wood completely, just to the soil line. In other words, if I removed more soil from the plant more dead wood would be there. Is that bad?

Thanks for the help guys!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
10 years ago
I found it isn't necessary--I've accidentally damaged basal breaks cleaning out that dead wood.
henryinct
10 years ago
Sometimes the rose sends out horizontal basals that make right angles to become new canes. The rose forms a wider base which is what you want. Be careful digging around the graft because it probably has buds that will become basals and you don't want to injure them. If you planted the rose well and it looks good and is leafing out and you are taking care of it then you will probably see some basals pretty soon.
Related Discussions
Fall Basal Breaks
Q
Comments (10)
Fall basals will happen, regardless of fertilizer or none. We never have a situation when the soil is nutrient-less. The roses tend to make basals when the temperatures are right for them (it does vary some within the different classes of roses). But by not fertilizing late, we are trying to minimize new growth. Water soluble fertilizers that don't dissolve early and thoroughly, time release fertilizers that are for longer time periods than our gardens-grow-time, late fall rain storms with lots of nitrogen in the rain ...... all these can spur growth. The most mis-managed garden I've seen in this part of the country had been pruned heavily in September and then fertilized. The growth in October and November was large and all killed in December. That the maestro had cut back the canes in September meant that with the lost healthy canes, the plants hadn't stored enough energy to make it through the Oct-Nov grow AND through the spring spurts. Our summer droughts make it harder on the plants when the rains come late in fall. This is why we try to get growth on the plants in spring (and why waiting till May to plant isn't the wisest method.)
...See More
Basal breaks on deep planted grafts
Q
Comments (13)
Richard, of all the roses I have grown in my lifetime, I have never grown a one cane wonder. If I had a rose that didn't perform well right out of the chute, I brought out the shovel. I have never wasted my time on a rose that was not up to my standards. Some roses do well in some soil and areas of the country, others do not. In my small city, we have clay, rocks, river bottom and loam, all in different areas (I'm the fortunate loam lady). Others are just better plants. My point is, there are reasons roses become one cane wonders and some of it has to do with the plant before it ever gets to your house. Some roses are just weak to begin with. You can dump whatever is supposed to promote basal breaks on that rose forever, and it will not respond. The rose on the left in my photo in my post above has never been as good as the one in the middle. Same rose, different plant. I have 10 of these Johann Strauss planted in this bed. I take all of my cuttings from the rose in the middle. It is my strongest, best specimen of the group. It was the biggest, strongest rose of all when I planted it, and that hasn't changed after 14 years. Even though some are own root, some are grafted... He is still the big heavy because he started out the big heavy. If you are in a cold zone and want care free roses, plant them deep. Rebecca
...See More
How do You Basal Break?
Q
Comments (7)
I use shear luck & wishful thinking! But in all seriousness, I was always under the impression roses would have basal breaks if they were in good fertile earth, happy, productive & thriving. My garden is only going into it's 3rd season; so some of my roses are just starting to really get going. But last year I had basal breaks on quite a few of mine. Abraham Darby had 4 basal breaks, turning into over an inch thick canes! I do have pretty good soil, loose & loamy. I water a lot if there is no rain. And I also added compost & use mulch. My mulch is just the regular shredded or chipped. Not sure of the contents - hardwood or softwood mix? And on another note we had a seriously hot summer last year & I watered. So all of the roses saw huge growth for here.
...See More
Madame Anisette and basal break promotion
Q
Comments (7)
I find that if a rose leans to one side, the plant will likely produce a basal break to fill in the space opened by the branches no longer covering the center due to the lean. This is why I don't like to straight my plants when they start leaning. I have seen rose bushes in decline from lack of new basal cane and then they start leaning and they start producing new basal growth. I have never tried to intentionally cause a plant to lean in order to promote basal breaks. I'm not sure why leaning would promote basal breaks. Maybe the base of the plants is hotter due to lack of foliage and that is what stimulates the basal breaks. Branching occurs at leaf buds produced at the ends of stems, seldom in the middle. To encourage more branching stems climbers are trained horizontally or pegged. A basal break is much like a leaf bud produced at the base of the plant or just below the soil. These are just observations of a long time rose grower and not something that I have read.
...See More
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
10 years ago
I agree not to dig down into the soil even if everything to the soil line is dead, since it's really the rose roots (or graft) that you want to be actively growing and you have some active growth going on that you don't want to interfere with.

Something that might help and can't hurt to encourage more basal breaks is to scatter some alfalfa meal or hay (no added salt) around the base of the plant and cover it with a little extra soil and mulch to discourage the critters. Normally you could scratch in the alfalfa to the soil, but again you don't want to mess with the roots, and frankly I'm too lazy to scratch it in anyway. Alfalfa has a deserved reputation for encouraging rose growth and new canes, and being organic plant material there isn't the same danger of "burning" a plant that can occur with synthetics if overdone. I'd still keep it away from the base of the plant, and mix it into the new soil/mulch a bit as it can clump up in the rain if it sits by itself.

Have fun, and it sounds like it'll be fine - just water it and don't mess with it too much.

Cynthia
seil zone 6b MI
10 years ago
I think you've done everything you need to do. Now it's up to the rose. It's often thought that giving a rose some epsom salts will encourage new basal canes. I've tried it but really can't say I noticed any difference. I think the rose just needs to do it on it's own.
susan4952
10 years ago
agree with all of above. i also like the alfalfa and epsom salts.
cambel
10 years ago
I put in a diluted mix of epsom salts and water.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
10 years ago
Or use some organic Plant-Tone or Rose-Tone (available at HD)--it has some alfalfa in it (may have some Epsom salts in it too--I don't remember right off hand). Spread out to the drip line, but not too close to the base. Water in well with a strong spray of water and cover with mulch.

Don't know about where you live, but in my area, you have to buy a 50 lb bag if you want alfalfa--so I started using the --Tone fertilizers instead since they have some alfalfa in them. Not a lot, but some.

I do believe alfalfa promotes basal break growth.

Kate
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
10 years ago
Kate - for what it's worth, if you ever want to give something a shot of pure alfalfa and want a smaller quantity, go to the small animal section of a pet store. In the bags of Timothy Hay for guinea pig/rabbits, there will also be small bags of Alfalfa hay. They run about $7-8, which is relatively reasonable for adding alfalfa to small gardens. I'd estimate those bags could supplement 7-10 roses depending on dosage.

Of course if the "tones" work for you, you're getting the alfalfa and a lot of other good stuff. Just wanted to clarify some options.

Cynthia

Encouraging basal breaks on my austin?

Comments (8)

zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian

henryinct

Related Discussions

nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska

seil zone 6b MI

susan4952

cambel

dublinbay z6 (KS)

nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US