Grafting roses on fortuniana

9 years ago

Hi guys,
Last summer I rooted various cuttings of fortuniana in order to graft on them. I now feel like the are well rooted (displaying new growth etc) and I'd like to start grafting on to them.
I purchased a graft cutting tool that makes a v shaped cut so that they fit perfectly like a puzzle. But the few roses that I've tried to graft have all failed.
I admit that I don't quite know what I doing, but this is what I've done so far:
I used the graft tool to cut a v notch in the fortuniana. I stuck the cutting in some honey (something I read online) and attached them. Then I wrapped it with grafting tape and put them outdoors in indirect sunlight being careful not to let them dry out.
Yet after a few weeks the top part (the cutting) turns black and dies. The root stock stays alive and I am able to reuse it. But I have not reused one yet.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I don't have a mist house, but I do have a small green house (like a tabletop one) and I have a seed starting set up in the garage that I used to root the fortunians with great success. I just can't seem to get my grafts to take.

I killed about 10 of them. Any suggestions would be great. Ps I live in a frost free area where temps are currently in the low 80s peak day and high 60s at night.

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Comments (5)

bluegirl_gw
9 years ago
Sounds like you've been trying cleft grafts. It's fun to experiment, but I bet you'll have better success with chip budding.

This link has a fantastic description with very clear photos, from Kim's (Roseseek's) blog. Since trying this way, I've had my first successes, starting last summer. Scroll down to the "chip budding" description & photos.

For roses, to do the chip budding, I think you'll find it much easier to use a simple razor knife from the dollar store to slice out the buds & make their cuts on the stock.

Also, using Parafilm is SOOO much easier than trying to set the buds in with wax or the old florists' type plastic tape. It's cheap--you can get a roll of the 1/2" film for ~$2.50 from Amazon. Really made a huge improvement in my own ability to get buds to take.

With Parafilm, you can even cover the bud, snugging it down firmly into the stock. The film is stretchy & self-adhering & it rots, very conveniently, as the buds swell.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's blog
roseseek
9 years ago
Per Dr. Malcolm Manners of Florida Southern College, who has likely propagated more roses of more types on Fortuniana than almost anyone, it MUST be chip or cleft budded. The bark is too brittle for the traditional "T" bud. Chip budding can be accomplished on any stock, but T budding won't work for Fortuniana. Switch over to the chip method and you should see some successes. Good luck! Kim
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Yes, I forgot to mention that the water here is neutral to slightly acidic, and soft with low TDS. And humidity is high. Thank you, Kim, for adding the info. I'd like to add, about the issue of humidity. Besides misting or covering, perhaps having shorter cuttings put in tall cups might also help if the humidity in your area is not enough. Pictured below, I've tried taking very short cuttings (two leafy nodes) and placing them in 7-inch tall transparent cups. There's a hole drilled an inch from the bottom of each cup for overflow of excess water. I put this batch under full sun, with much success (in December, when the weather is nice and cool in Taiwan, any other time the cuttings would be fried under the subtropical full sun here I guess). As everyone says, hope you'll try different methods and good luck! :-) Hardy
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malcom, I would appreciate very much if you could send me that power point presentation. my email is belonypATyahooDOTcom. Diane, I bought a rose for the first time this year and I have read that it will slowly decline here in fla. So I wanted to prevent this by grafting branches unto fortuniana. Also I saw a rose that was really spectacular online but unfortunately was a modern bush rose which also decline in our climate. I still wanted to get If I could graft it onto fortuniana. I will check out the sites you suggested. what season would be the best time to order roses? should grafting happen in the spring or the fall. In florida there is only a 10 - 20 degree difference between spring, fall and winter on average. Obviously shorter days in the fall and winter.
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A little more then 1/2 of my garden is on fortuniana and I haven't lost any roses to rootstock failure. I plant all my roses with the graft at ground level. This way during the winter I can cover everything with a good, loose layer of pine needles and when it gets really cold I can throw a big pile of leaf's on top. This seems to keep everything at a constant cold, but not freezing temperature. Last week when we had the ice storm and single digit temps was a good test. I went out to the most exposed area of the garden and checked on one of my Moonstones. The top layer of leaf's was solid ice but the pine needles were good and fluffy. Cold and damp but not frozen. Last year when I lost so many roses, I had uncovered everything and had actively growing roses when we got hit with 22 degree temps and strong winds. A lot of roses died down to the grafts but the grafts were still alive. A month later I had a bunch of fortuniana and Dr Huey suckers growing all over the place. I paid the price for being lazy and not covering everything back up.
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My experience with Dr Huey in my dry sandy soil is that the plants get stressed much more easily than those on fort. They also get more trouble with Nematodes which greatly reduces flower production. If you have a nice water retentive soil I am sure Dr Huey can do very well as well. But in my area where there is water restriction and there is no rain at all for the three months of summer, sometimes even longer, the roses on Dr Huey are not productive in the really hot months and they need much more water to show vigour. That's why I SP'd all of them, and I had quite a few to begin with as I was attracted to their cheap price. The ones on Dr Huey didn't die when it was hot and dry but they just sat there and did nothing until the rain came. I am not very patient and I need my plants to produce flowers all the time in order to keep me happy.
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Ken (N.E.GA.mts) 7a/b
9 years ago
I did quite a bit of "V" grafting for my garden when I lived in FL. It was pretty simple. Had about an 80% take. Rooted the fortuniana in white Styrofoam cups with a few drain holes in the bottom. Once the fortuniana was rooted I would use a single edge razor blade and and cut the rose stem I wanted to graft first and put it in a cup of water. Then I would use a fresh razor and cut my fortuniana and put a few drops of water on the cut. Then I would CAREFULLY put my rose cutting into the fortuniana, making sure I didn't slide it all over the place. Then carefully wrapped it with parafilm. Then insert a small bamboo stake next to the grafted rose and lightly tie them together (just above the cutting on the rose stem). Then put each one out on the porch in indirect lighting. Using a spray bottle, mist the entire plant with water. Take a 2 ltr. Coke bottle with the bottom cut out and cover the entire plant, giving it a green house effect. Every morning I would mist the entire plant with water and lightly water the cup once a week to keep the soil moist. Worked great for me.
Ken (N.E.GA.mts) 7a/b
9 years ago
Something I did to the fortuniana when I cut the sticks for rooting. I would gently cut out all the bud eyes on the stick except the top bud eye. While the fortuniana was rooting, all the cuts would heal and the top bud eye would start to put on new growth. When I was ready to graft, I would do my "V" cuts just below that top bud eye. This way I wouldn't have any rootstock suckers when my rose in the garden growing.
roseseek
9 years ago
For those not as practiced with Fortuniana, or budding in general, Chip Budding is easier with a greater chance of success. Per Dr. Manners, Fortuniana's bark is quite brittle and shreds easily. Attempting a V or T cut can be rather difficult, but a simple slice upward to accomplish the chip budding is something most of us can do easily and with high degrees of success, with just a bit of practice. It's the method he uses at Florida Southern. Kim

Grafting roses on fortuniana

Comments (5)

bluegirl_gw

roseseek

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