You're welcome, Lyna! Yes ma'am, each one HAS its own personality. It's observing them then determining what other "personalities" you want to mate them to that's part of the fun of breeding. If your cuttings are rotting, they're too wet. Whether that's due to too heavy soil, watering them too frequently or having too high humidity due to covering them, something is keeping them too wet, so they rot. If they shrivel, they're usually drying out. I'd not had success rooting roses in my new climate until I ran across the wrapping method, which I termed "Burrito Method" and detailed on my blog below. Like all the other methods, it requires tweaking to get it set just right for your specific conditions, but once you get the hang of it, the method works! A few months ago, I received bud wood of a rose I'd sought, from a lovely lady in Northern California. The wood was quite thin and I didn't know what exactly I could do with it. I had stocks rooted, so I tried budding it, then took what wasn't really suitable and tried a modified method of rooting. It was actively growing, and it was warm, so the wrapping method wouldn't work. I treated them as I would any cuttings, then planted them very deeply in seed starter mix, in gallon cans and placed them under other potted roses where they would have higher humidity, some filtered sun, but protection from the real heat and extreme sun. Most failed, but a few ARE rooted! Many of the buds also failed, but some are remaining green after a few months and appear to be successful. I figured by planting them deep, so most of the cutting length was immersed in cool, damp soil, they wouldn't dry out. It's what I do with callused cuttings out of the wraps, and it works perfectly with them. With only an inch or so of cutting poking out of the soil, and only a leaf or two remaining on them, they could provide some photosynthesis to help carry them along until roots formed. Once it begins raining, I will transplant them from their communal pots, lifting them to the level I want them to grow. Until then, I'll let them continue forming roots. The rains will help to harden them off so they won't be lost to being subjected to too high heat, too brilliant sun and too dry conditions too quickly. I'm also getting ready to break the tops of the root stocks so the foliage will remain attached to help keep them fed, but much of the sap flow will be interrupted so it is directed into the inserted buds, forcing them to begin growing. I use both the traditional "T" budding method and Burling's Chip Budding Method on several different root stocks so I hedge my bet with whatever I have and want to insure takes. Using several methods helps spread the risk of loss so chances of success improve dramatically. I use VI IXL, Cardinal Hume and Sequoia's Pink Clouds. I should also obtain some VI Dr. Huey and VI Ragged Robbin. I had the Ragged Robin VI from the Heritage Rose Garden, but lost it. I also have Dr. Manner's VI Fortuniana. It's finally put out enough thicker growth to provide some decent stocks next spring, so I'll probably start messing with budding to it then. If I have material I want to reproduce in the appropriate window here for rooting; I know it roots OK and grows OK own root; and it is of the appropriate condition for wrapping, I will wrap it. If it's summer, hence hotter (too hot for wrapping) and the material is actively growing, I'll try budding it. Whatever remains which isn't suitable for budding, I'll strike as cuttings to see if something works. But, if you wait until you have what you've been looking for, forever, to learn how to make the methods you want to use, work, you're guaranteed to fail. Murphy assures that. It's like waiting until the day before you take your world cruise to buy your new, elaborate camera you have absolutely no idea how to use. You're doomed. Rooting and budding are about equally as easy to learn. The hardest part is determining you are NOT going to allow it to overwhelm you. If it doesn't work, don't get frustrated. Put on your diagnostician's hat, figure out WHY it didn't so you can fix the problems, then get back on that horse to show it who's boss. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Wrapping cuttings

Now is a good time for you to contact your local chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers. www.crfg.org will get you to the chapter in your area. There you will get information on rootstocks suited to your area and species and where they are to be found. In January each chapter puts on grafting demonstrations open to the public,membership not required. Scion wood is also offered for many varieties of fruit trees. Some member grown rootstocks may also be offered. All this is offered free or almost free by people passionate about growing fruit. Al

Cool! Go for it! Budding, rooting, layering are all skills we're losing daily. Add to them baking, weaving, needlepoint, knitting, bread making, canning...we get farther and farther from doing anything for ourselves and more helpless every day! You will find the bark on the multiflora easiest to lift and separate from the cambium layer when the sap is flowing freely. That's when new growth is pushing from the plant quickly enough to almost SEE it grow. That isn't going to happen under grow lights inside. You may try your cuttings indoors, but to have the greatest success budding, get them outside and actively growing. Again, not to sound condescending, you are familiar enough to know to take the cuttings approximately the same gauge (diameter) as your bud wood? You can't bend the bud much and expect it to succeed and you can't have it sticking out of the "T" cut and have the cambium layers knit together. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to cut six or so inch long shoots the approximate thickness of what you wish to bud to it. Take a sharp knife or a razor blade and cut out the growth buds at the leaf axils, remembering there are three buds there, even though you can only really see the middle one. Remove all but the top one or two from each cutting. From there on, you strike them using whatever method you've had success with previously. I won't dare try to tell you what to do because you very likely know what works where you are a whale of a lot better than I would! I just wanted to make sure the odd things you would do for a root stock would be covered to enable you to succeed your first time! Take the mystery out of it and it is SIMPLE! Good luck! Let us know how you do! Kim

A lot of research goes into rootstocks, but I thought most of the research was done on state-funded dollars and therefore they should be quite transparent with the information. Quite often when we see grafted plants up here, the rootstock is listed on the plant label. If on the other hand the rootstock was created with private funding, and it's successful, then I could see why a corporation might want to keep it secret. But I would think all commercial orchards demand to know what they are planting. In Florida, the rootstock is critical for production and disease resistance.