Propagating Rose Bushes

Every once in a while, I go through a spurt where I want to grow things. I can't say that I have a green thumb, but neither do I kill every plant that I own. I try my best to follow the plant care directions to provide my plant with exactly what it needs. So far, I have done pretty well with keeping my plants alive. However, I have never had great success is germinating seeds or propagating my rose bushes.

On February 22, due to my dog accidentally breaking off a piece of my rose bush with his vigorously wagging tail, I decided to give it a go instead of just tossing it into the trash. Who knows, it might just take. Since it has been a while since my last attempt to propagate rose cutting, I set the clipping in a vase full of water while I brushed up on my research. Since I didn't have a pot or soil to plant it in, it sat in water for two weeks, with a sandwich bag over the opening, with weekly water changes. I didn't feel too bad for it since it was an unexpected and unplanned for venture.

After two weeks, the date of this post, I finally made a trip to get the items I needed. The poor "cutting," if you could call it that, had lost most of it's mature leaves by this point and only had it's newly emerging leaves. But as it wasn't turning brown or shriveling up, I figured there would be not harm in still trying to salvage it. Here is a picture of it's home for the next 3 - 5 weeks. It's in a 4" clay pot with a sandwich bag on top to keep up the humidity. It is in front of a north facing window which receives more than eight hours of bright, indirect sunlight. So far, so good!