Rose pruning techniques: seven pruning suggestions
Compared to the introductions most people have about roses, here are seven pruning suggestions for rose pruning techniques, let's take a look together.
The significance of rose pruning, no potted rose plant can do without pruning. Pruning not only improves the survival rate of new seedlings, maintains the beauty of the plant's shape, but also, more importantly, allows for the full and reasonable use of the limited nutrients in the potting soil, avoids luxuriant growth, and enables the plant's flowers and fruits to show the best characteristics of the variety. It also enhances the plant's resistance.
The commonly used pruning methods for roses are as follows:
1. Bud removal, which is the act of removing newly sprouted axillary buds with fingers. This is the most effective pruning method.
2. Pruning branches, which involves cutting young or mature branches to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis.
3. Flower thinning, which is pruning to optimize flower quality, and can be done during the rose's budding stage with forceps, scissors, or fingers.
4. Removing spent flowers, which is necessary to avoid unnecessary nutrient consumption after the flowers have faded.
Seven pruning suggestions:
1. Cutting scions
From the time the bud color shows until the petals start to wilt, most of the axillary buds under the rose stem are in a dormant state. During this period, they can be cut for propagation. Cut the 3 internodes with 3 buds from the first set of 5 small leaves under the flower to the third set of 5 small leaves as scions. Cut off the two lower sets of leaves from the scion, and the uppermost set should be cut to 3 leaves, leaving the base two small leaves to maintain photosynthesis and act as a monitor of the scion's vitality.
The upper end of the scion should be cut diagonally parallel to the axillary bud with a sharp knife, and the distance to the axillary bud can be equal to the diameter. This cutting is to reduce the surface area of the damaged surface, prevent water accumulation, and reduce the chance of infection. The lower end also needs to be cut in the same way.
2. Pruning newly planted seedlings
Newly planted roses also need to be pruned, as the process of digging, packaging, and transporting can cause damage to the roots. The branches may also lose water, become withered, and suffer mechanical damage from thorns or breakage, and these parts should be cut off from the plant. Generally, 2 main branches and 4-6 flower buds are retained for small seedlings. Extra axillary buds at the lower part of the branches can be removed with fingers.
3. Pruning during the growing period
Whether to retain the suckers emerging from the soil around the roots depends on the plant's growth. They may develop into a main branch of the plant in the future, but they will also significantly affect the current growth of the plant. This should be handled according to the actual situation. When pruning, remove the potting soil around the suckers, cut them off with a sharp knife, leaving the cut open and not covered with soil or water.
If conditions permit, apply charcoal powder or any fungicide to prevent infection. During this stage, the plant grows rapidly and may produce intersecting, inward, or overlapping branches. It is necessary to remove buds or cut branches promptly, and also to cut off weak branches to reduce unnecessary nutrient consumption. This also helps the plant to ventilate and maintain its apical dominance.
4. Pruning during the flowering period
Roses should be thinned during the bud formation period to ensure the main flower is strong and large, which can fully show the characteristics of the variety. The basic steps are to leave one bud at the top of each stem for tea-scented roses (variety roses), and 2-3 clusters of 5 buds for multiflora roses (floribunda roses) and multiflora mini roses. The rest of the buds should be removed with forceps when they are the size of mung beans.
5. Pruning after flowering
Seedlings raised from rose seeds cannot show the same characteristics as the flowering mother plant, except for horticultural breeding. Generally, spent flowers are promptly cut off to avoid unnecessary consumption of nutrients and promote the next round of axillary bud germination. The slender branches that can sprout from the leaf axils below the spent flowers can only produce small, non-ornamental flowers.
This is not meaningful in horticultural cultivation, so they must be cut off. Remember to cut off all branches above the first set of 5 small leaves under the flower. After this, the apical dominance will cause the topmost flower buds to differentiate into the best branches and leaves, and they will produce pure and high-quality flowers after 45 days.
6. Pruning in autumn and winter
Roses are perennial deciduous shrubs and need to enter a low-temperature dormancy period in the north during winter, which is an important measure to ensure better flowers the following year. Cut off the upper half of the tender branches when the weather cools down to accelerate the maturation of the branches. Cut off all suckers from the roots, increase the thinning of buds, and cut off 2-year-old branches before dormancy. Also, cut off all non-woody parts at the ends of the branches. The leaves on the remaining branches should also be cut off to minimize the寄生 of various harmful fungi.
7. Pruning old roots
Any biological organism has a process of metabolism, and the root system is no exception. For potted roses, after 2-3 years, they should be repotted. Some of the epidermal corky old roots and fibrous roots can be cut off, but the total pruning should not exceed one-third of the total root system. The purpose is to stimulate the regeneration of strong new roots.
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