Good job!

Yes, they should be able to take more sun now that they are in larger pots. Move them out gradually. When I pot mine up, they usually have a little Osmocote in the soil mix. If you do give any fertilizer, it should be very dilute. Weak Neptune's Harvest or the like is an OK choice to use once. I would not push the growth much since it's so late in the season. You could just mist some on as a foliar.

You can start your RdR cuttings now. I've started cuttings as late as Sept. 1, but I have a coldframe to grow them in. That gives them a couple extra months to grow. It might be challenge to keep a tender late rooted cutting alive in Z4 in an unheated garage, but give it a try anyway. RdR is really hardy.

Isn't that the coolest thing?

DH came in yesterday with a container of about 6 "Setzer Noisette" cuttings.
Roots all through there!

Yes, at this stage, lighter shade, but I still like them to come along slowly.
If they form buds at this stage, you should pinch those off.

Jeri

I have some RoseTone. Would that be a good thing to dilute and use as a foliar?

I wouldn't try diluting it. If it made you feel a lot better, you could put a TBSP of RT on them and it should not hurt them. :-)

If they are just as well without it, I will leave it out, especially at this stage in the season.

I am WICKED excited, though!!! Now I feel like the sky is the limit, for some reason. Wow!

Jeri, how do you know when yours are rooted? Do you use a see-through container? Karl taught me how to use a peat pellet set in perlite and kept moist. he said when the roots came out the bottom of the pot I would know they had grown roots. I got impatient, and since both cuttings showed really good new growth, and I was potting some bands today anyway, I went ahead and checked the 'pellets.'

Roots!

So, how do you know when yours are ready to pot up?

What medium are they in now and what is the root mass approx? It wasn't clear if you have them in potting soil or not.

Mine after they have rooted sufficiently, I pot up in Miracle Gro potting soil in 1 gal pots. I don't know if I'd put them in the ground in MN yet or not, they do better the sooner you can get them in the ground, but my newest ones have been in over a month already, they have to develop sufficient root mass and some top growth first in the pots. Last year's when I hardened them off in the spring, introduced them to full sun gradually, not for very long, then moved them back into dappled shade (or back inside) for about a week.

I have a detached garage, too cold, and no cold frame. So I overwinter mine in the sunroom and harden them off in the spring. I was using a mister for colds, but ended up setting out four buckets of water to keep the humidity higher and kept them UNCOVERED in the east windows, not south. This year I just set them out on the front porch which is part shade to harden off. But usually they are either spring cuttings that root some time later, like yours are now maybe, or more usually fall cuttings that I root in the house under lights. And my track record isn't all that good, but transplanted successfully.

Two rooted over winter the leaves all gradually frizzled after I hardened them off (something got them, spotty), third one much better, but they had good root mass so I planted them and kept watering well after planting, one has put out a basal or sucker and lots of new leaves, and the other is putting out lots of new leaf growth, all up and down the healthy green canes.

I wouldn't keep mine very long in any medium other than potting soil after they have rooted no matter what time of year. And I've been afraid to feed or spray them at all the first year whether in pots or ground. I did mulch well, that helped a lot.

If anything I said is way off, somebody please correct me. Different people do much of it differently; there isn't any one absolute way I don't think.

"Different people do much of it differently; there isn't any one absolute way I don't think. "
************

This is a very true statement, I think. I am very new to roses, but not as new to gardening and planting in general, so it ha sbeen easier for me to weigh the advice folks give me and make appropriate applications.

I DID forget to mention the potting medium. I mixed a bag of cheap, heavy potting soil with some more peat and perlite. I hope that will be okay. The root mass is pretty insubstantial, the roots were poking out of the peat pellets-turned-clumps, but that is still pretty small. I am DEFINITELY not putting them straight in the ground! I don't know if they would stay dormant if I overwintered them inside.

I tend not to move a small plant from one pot to another until I can see good
root growth at the bottom of the pot.

In my experience, when the roots are starting to come out the bottom,
the root ball is sufficiently developed to hold together when moved.

I have not started roses in peat pellets, but I HAVE started them
in chunks of Oasis.
In that case, when the roots were growing out the sides of the chunk of Oasis,
I potted the whole thing up in a 1-G pot.

Jeri

I don't know what Oasis is, but I did move the whole peat pellet clump into the new pot, so whatever root system it has remained intact. That's good, right?

Oh, hey! I have a pic I took this morning before I planned to pot them up. You can see the tops of the peat pellets above the perlite.

{{gwi:309175}}

I did move the whole peat pellet clump into the new pot, so whatever root system it has remained intact. That's good, right?

*** Exactly right.
:-)

(FWIW, Oasis is that foam stuff that soaks up water and is used by people
who do floral arrangements.)

Jeri

Ahhh...I knew I would know what it was, I just didn't know the name! Thanks, Jeri.

Wish I had snapped pics of the rooties sticking out of the peat; but I wanted to get them straight into their new pots and not stress those roots.

I forgot to congratulate you on your achievement. It's tricky business with so many methods and variables and so exciting, especially on what sounds like your first try. It took me 2 or 3 to get my first one rooted, each time I learn what to do better, just do NOT recommend the baggie method. Some people swear by it. For rooting medium, I can't get what George Mander recommends (he has a website cuttings from cuttings from cuttings and roots under lights only much more elaborate setup with near 100% success rate, don't have the link handy). But he specializes in minis.

Still he told me to use peat and perlite. So I did, my first mistake was to use peat and vermiculite. Then I got some rooting medium from a place several miles from here which is almost equivalent to what he uses, Sungro something, said it would be fine, and it is. I can't get the Rhizopam rooting powder which is supposed the best unless I order way more than I need online. So I use Rootone powder. A lot of people swear by coir. And misters outside. Some root in 4" pots like in your photo. I personally like the see-thru Solo plastic cups because I can see the roots forming with 2 drainage holes cut in the bottom and don't tug on the cutting but a little sometimes like some do. I was using the 16 oz ones but now have decided the 12 oz ones are better because it takes too long for the roots to start poking through the drainage holes in the larger cups. I also root some outside and bury the cups in the ground (didn't work too well), one rooted sticking it directly in the ground and covering with a mason jar, then got it off just in time in the spring because it burned a little already, then you have to cover it again on cold nights, used something I could vent in the top then. If I ever do that again, it will be on the north side and not with mason jars, just wanted to try it. I won't go into how I set up my lights and what else I do because I started a thread about that in the propagation forum some months ago, now I need to tweak that a little and should up my success rate.

I DID forget to mention the potting medium. I mixed a bag of cheap, heavy potting soil with some more peat and perlite. I hope that will be okay

For now, it should be ok. Like Jeri said, wait until you see roots in the bottom before you change pots. You don't want to tear off any new roots and the soil holds the roots better for me in Miracle Gro rather than something looser that can fall off exposing roots or tearing some off. The rooting medium does fall off when I transplant, so I have to be VERY careful. I hope an expert will weigh in on how long your medium will be sufficient to nourish your roses. Maybe I just got lucky going full potting soil, which is pretty rich, works fine for me. I have lost a few transplanting, a delicate process, I worked out the safest method for me.

I am DEFINITELY not putting them straight in the ground! I don't know if they would stay dormant if I overwintered them inside.

Fair enough. I'd have to wing it on that, and may give mine a little winter protection which I don't normally do with rose cuttings that have flourished in my zone outside. No, in the house they will not stay dormant, but it hasn't hurt one of mine yet, but yours are a different variety from mine.

There was a lady who was interviewed, rose expert, found it, Lily Shohan, in Thomas Christopher's book, "In Search of Lost Roses." She roots and has roses blooming inside in her west windows (also plants outside). Reading about the "Texas Rose Rustlers" is also fun.

My daughter did give me a Chicago Peace that was too heavy for me to plant in a huge styrofoam pot. My other daughter got it into the sunroom for me for the winter, corner SW windows. It bloomed in January, then not again, then set it back outside when it warmed up enough, was fine. But I wanted only Austins and OGR's types so gave it to my son. He probably let it die. It was beautiful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Excerpt interview with Lily Shohan, Taconic Mtns, upstate NY & more

FWIW, For potting soil, we use both Miracle Grow potting soil and Supersoil.
Used them for years, for roses of all sizes, with excellent results.

Jeri

Thanks, aliska! It was actually my second try, but I followed some pretty vague directions last year, and didn't follow them well, and then neglected the poor things. It was so dismal a failure and I KNEW it was going to fail.

I forgot to say I also used Rootone powder, and scored the bottom 1/4 inch of the cutting before dipping it in the powder.

I wish I had the courage to bring at least one of them in for the winter to compare results. I have little faith that the cats will leave them alone, or the kids or hubby will not knock them over or I will water it sufficiently. I don;lt know why I think my chances are so much betetr with them protected in an unheated garage. Probably unreasonable, but sometimes I just go on gut. Like not putting them in the ground. I definitely didn't mean that to be a slight against you, I was just so alarmed at the thought of those ultra-delicate babies going into the heavy soil. I certainly think they need plenty of time in a looser medium to get bigger and stronger. It was hard enough for me to think about putting my HR bands right in the gorund, lol!

Thanks for the link, I can't wait to check it out!

Jeri, missed your post while I was typing..since aliska uses the Miracle grow potting soil too, I have to ask: the kind without the slow-release fertilizer, right? Or yes? I have always looked for the non-supplemented kinds so I don't inadvertantly over-feed.

Plus I like to feed organically when possible.

I put my rooted cuttings in a fine grade potting soil and a 5" square pot where it'll grow until the spring. All that survive the winter in the cold frame are transplanted into one gallon pots in mid March. They are grown in the one gallon pots until late spring when I transplant them into 3 gallon or larger pots where they stay until sold. Allowing them to grow in each pot longer means the root ball will have grown well and will hold together when up potted.
Bands that others want are sent as soon as the cutting has strong enough roots and will survive shipping, unless the person has enough patience to wait until they are one year old.

greenhaven, no slight at all. The mir gro says potting mix, feeds plants up to 3 months, so there is something in it. Before I used Canadian Gold, doesn't seem to matter, this brand and size is usually drier where I buy it so can load it up and carry it into the house more easily.

I think some people have good luck by putting them along the wall joining the house of an attached, unheated garage, but it may go dormant which is more natural, but I wouldn't know how much water to give it. I'd be open to that if I had one, basement is too damp, drier in winter, but my gut tells me not to try it in mine. Now I have the option of putting them under my lights, but sunroom works and toughens them up a bit more.

My cat jumped all over stuff in the sunroom but never bothered any of my plants. Any get knocked over, it's usually me, hasn't happened with any roses, and I don't have little kids, just visitors. And my dear cat is gone, used sit on the table w/no plants to scratch on the glass if she saw something outside in the night :-).

Since this is the regular rose forum and that book and interview was mainly about OGR's, maybe you won't be that thrilled with it, but some very basic knowledge & tips there but not a walk thru on everything to do. I don't know if my old rose friends know about that book, but I loved it, and don't read many rose books, much cross talk between the two forums so don't worry about it any more. I do try to get a heel when I take a cutting if I can, have scored, scraped and started by not scoring, some cut straight, some on diagonal, see, so many ways, dampen, roll in Rootone, tap excess off, make a hole w/pencil, stick, firm. Jury is still out on that, but I think it might help scoring or scraping the lower 1/2" or so, especially if you wound at the node where you have removed the leaves. My rooting medium is primarily a seed or tender plant starter and think it has an anti-fungal in it to help prevent damping off.

The ones that have rooted the fastest retain all their leaves. As long as the canes stay green, and sometimes I have cut off parts that are starting to rot successfully, some not, but never give up unless the obvious, sterilize all my pots and pruning shears, everything, they still root. Losing the leaves is more stressful for them but some will make new ones, root and pull through. I go for healthy cuttings, but don't always have a choice in the spring or fall with found roses people let me try cuttings from - usually, one I did the no no, it was on a vacant lot but I sensed the owner would say no. I don't feel good about it but have a real beauty now, and like I thought, he ruined his, it's back now but is probably destined for destruction when they build on the lot and clear things off.

You're doing fine, yours are very delicate yet, so I think you are choosing what is right for you. Hope that is my last long post for awhile, people don't want to wade through too much.

No, that was great, aliska! I missed a whole day on the forums yesterday, so it's nice to do a little readng. My kids aren't little, but they are teens. Boys. You do the math! ;o)

Thanks for the tips, Karl, and for stopping in to share with so much going on at your house.

Boys, only had one of those. Yes, mine were pretty rambunctious and a handful, and I didn't have the time, energy, knowledge, nor luxury of indulging my love for flowers much in those years, did get all my trees planted and growing. I think it is wonderful when parents of even small children manage to work that into their lives. You know you are getting old when trees you have planted start to die off, was advised not to replace my cherry trees (in a well-meaning way), but I couldn't stand it whether I use much of the fruit or not so planted some replacements last year.

I think it is good to be doing what you can with your obvious enthusiasm for roses when your boys are still at home. My children do remember watching and helping some when I planted all those trees, a few roses and one common lilac. It may not make much of an impression now, and some of mine could care less about my interests, but you never know what memories you have given them and perhaps fostered a love and respect for living, growing things and the natural world. They are far more than just "consumer items" you pick up in local nurseries and stores; the variety and wonder (and difficulties) are endless.

My only regret is that I didn't get into the botanical/scientific end of it when I had the chance in my college years, but so many who have made great achievements and contributions for the betterment of humanity, started with lives going in entirely another direction, too. And we do what we do because we derive such satisfaction from the love and beauty of it despite the difficulties even though we don't expect to be remembered for any of it. For some relative very few, that does happen, but that is not what drives most of us. We are indebted to those who have gone before and paved the way to the marvelous variety and almost endless choices we have now - and mailorder and swapping :-). You can get plants you could never find any other way even though I still buy a few locally.

I have to chuckle when my sister visited briefly. She wasn't much impressed with a sprawling once-bloomer I successfully rooted, pretty ratty right now; it will bounce back. But she didn't see it bloom nor smell the fragrance, and she does like plants, too. She marvelled at my lilies and grabbed some pieces of iresine, liked the color and the way it trails from my window box to take home and root. She liked my Sinbad begonia leaves, too, huge now in a 5-gal pot, was just a tiny thing last year, overwintered that in my sunroom, too. And the windowbox with the geraniums and iresine, won't survive winters here, have to bring that and my plumbago in, too.

"I think it is good to be doing what you can with your obvious enthusiasm for roses when your boys are still at home"
*************

ha ha! I have too enthusiasm for about anything that catches my fancy at the moment. I am what I think is "passionate." Other use words like "reckless," and "impulsive." ;o)

I am toying with the idea of taking some college classes toward a short degree in landscaping deisgn or plant propagation. It's never too late...but this year my DS1 is a senior in high school, and I wan tot be very, very available to him this year, so we'll see.

Landscaping design might not satisfy you. It's all about design, and very little
about plants.

Maybe a Horticulture course might be more to the point.
But, by all means, do it!
Take some Botany courses, too.

Jeri

I am sure you are right, Jeri! I think each as degree program is also offered as a certificate program, so it is really very doable. I would love to do ti, I really would. At least one class. At least get the ball rolling. I have hardly any college credits, a few gen. ed. classes and some darkroom photography.

Greenhaven
Does your county offer a Master Gardener program? That may give you the horticulture knowledge you want. It's not as expensive as school and takes less time.
I learned a lot about how and why plants grow by taking a Purdue University sponsored MG program in Lake County, Indiana several years ago. The program taught about soils, pest management, various plants, and pesticide safety. At the time I also took a Master Composter course and gave composting programs in our county. I returned a few years later to give the MG lesson on roses.
I've since accumilated over 5,000 hours of volunteer time with the Master Gardeners.
Illinois has a great MG program.

Karl, already did that, this Spring! ;o) My husband accuses the program of setting of a wildfire of plant-mania...but I assure him it only fueled an already-lit fire, ha ha!

The program was great, and I learned a lot, but they cover so much information in such a relatively short time that it is not enough. I need more! More!

I have only a few hours of vol work so far, but I only finished in April! I get to sit in the MG booth at the county fair this week. Yay.