How to Prepare
Rose Cuttings for Mailing
Master Rosarian
When you want to send rose cuttings in the mail to a friend:
- Water the bush 4 to 6 hours before taking cuttings
- Do not take cuttings from a dry or stressed bush
- Cut early or late day, not mid-day when the bush might be stressed or dehydrated
- Cool weather is the best time for mailing cuttings
- Extremely hot weather can cause the cuttings to rot or dry out in the mailing box
- Cut your best stems that have recently finished blooming and
- immediately place them in a container of water
- Do not use twiggy growth for cuttings as the cloned results may be inferior
- Cut stems to about 6- to 8-inches long, or whatever fits in the smallest US Mail Priority box
- For budding, do not use a stem with dormant eyes, nor should they be too mature
- A good budding eye is about 1/16th-inch just slightly starting to swell and emerging from the leaf axil
- Soak rose cuttings in plain water for at least two hours to rehydrate stem before wrapping and mailing
- Okay to soak cuttings in plain water and leave in a cool room overnight before mailing
- Only refrigerate cuttings when absolutely necessary during intense heat of summer
- Avoid extremely cold refrigeration of cut stems as it may cause them to go dormant
- Do not use floral food or conditioners in water; use plain water only
- Remove all foliage and thorns (or snip off the tips) before wrapping (foliage may rot, and thorns poke holes in the baggie and adjacent stems)
- Wrap stems (can be multiple) in a paper towel, fold over tightly like wrapping a burrito, then immediately soak completely in plain cold water.
- Squeeze out excess water until the paper towel wrapped cuttings are just slightly moist, not dripping wet (too much water causes rotting)
- Place wrapped cuttings into a zipper plastic bag, either quart or gallon size; the thick freezer bags are preferred
- Write the name of the rose on the baggie with a permanent Sharpie marker
- If mailing more than one rose variety, place them in separate baggies so they can be individually labeled
- Best to mail rose stems within one day after cutting from bush
© Copyright Kitty Belendez. All rights reserved.
Photos © Copyright by Kitty Belendez
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