Jenn, if those were here and I unwrapped them, I would individually pot each one in a good potting soil, quite deeply. Choose narrower, but deeper containers, such as the 16 oz foam cups with numerous drain holes poked in their bottoms. Put a little soil inside the cup and position the cutting so when the cup is filled, they can be planted as deeply as their comparative sizes allow. You want to keep them cool, damp and more dark while they continue to develop. Those white callus areas are what CAN continue differentiating into root tissue, but they're going to require moisture, the appropriate temperatures and replenishment of some of their stored nutrients. Permitting the green parts some light will stimulate them to form produce chlorophyll and feed the cuttings. Planting them deeply in the cups/pots will accomplish many of those needs. Don't bury the whole length of the cutting, but MOST of it, as much as their lengths permit.

I'm seeing many leaves and roots on the majority of the ones I began Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, so the weather here in the San Fernando Valley has been OK for this method so far. Hopefully, yours is similar. Congratulations and good luck! Kim

Kim, really? I can plant them already?

Since the white nubs (callus? roots?) are all along the length, I'm guessing I need to bury all of them but the uppermost one to allow some of the cutting above the soil -- correct? What's the least amount of cane that needs to be above the soil?

Then, do I cover them to keep moisture in (as for the little greenhouse I created for the smaller stems), and put them back in the dark corner of the garage?

And is any good potting soil OK?

I'll get some 16oz foam cups and replant them ASAP.

Thank you!

Kim, I'm confused about how much light to give them when I pot them. You said to "keep them cool, damp and more dark", also also "Permitting the green parts some light". Does that mean putting them in the garage but in a spot where they will get some sunlight through a window?

Good morning Jenn, Yes, they can be potted now. I'd think your chances of success would be greater if they are potted now. There is a finite time they can sit in the conditions they are in before they use up their stored resources and die. Bud wood lasts as long as it does in storage because it's kept closer to freezing so they are not using resources to develop.

Mine are potted outside. The space is on the east side of the house between the street wall and house. They receive full sun from ten-ish AM to a bit after noon. The rest of the time they receive strong reflected light. They are watered by hand, or hit by the sprinklers if I run them. It all depends upon how windy, hot and dry it is and how dry the potting soil seems when I tip the soil balls to check progress and condition.

I'm in Encino, in the hills between the Valley and Beverly Hills/Brentwood, on the edge of the Santa Monica Mountains State Park. It's been arid and warm during many of the days with a few incidents of Santa Anas. Nights are cool and fairly damp. I'd think our weather should be fairly similar. If you have somewhere to provide similar light and wind protection, potting them outdoors would seem better than anything inside. By keeping them outdoors, they are already hardened off when they push growth and roots so there is no issue with having to acclimate them to the more severe conditions outside later. There are also no issues with keeping them too damp, which has frequently been the case when I've tried propagating here under bags, bottles and plastic. They don't seem to require that extra humidity as long as a good percentage of the cutting is encased in the damp soil. Some of these here are only about half covered. Others are three quarters or more.

As for soil, I've used the good stuff at $15 a bag and am using Super Soil at half that cost right now (budget restraints and all), and they are working. You want a medium which drains well so it doesn't stay 'soggy', but you also want it moist with good air circulation in the soil ball. Whatever your choice of soil which works well in your conditions should be fine. It isn't necessary for it to contain fertilizer, and may actually be detrimental to new root formation. Newly propagated cuttings don't require "fertilizer" as they are developing on the combination of stored food and anything the green parts of the cutting can generate from light. Once there is a developed root system under them, feeding with dilute strength fertilizers is safer. Personally, I would not use organic fertilizers with cuttings and very young own root plants. They are too slow acting; they provide too little nutrition over too long a period; in small pots, it's way too easy to use too much resulting in molds and rot. Whatever water soluble type you prefer, used initially at quarter strength after a thorough watering is fine. As they develop more roots and more top growth, gradually increasing the concentration of the fertilizer is fine. Once they are in gallon or larger pots, or in the soil, use what you like. My experiences and feelings are I want to provide immediately available food to provide as immediate results as possible, but I also want to make sure I don't burn them, or out right kill them with too strong a concentration. I'm not saying you CAN'T do it differently, just that this is what I am doing and why I am doing it, and these are the results I am getting here right now with these methods. Of course, your mileage may, and very likely will, vary due to many factors. I wanted to give you as much information and theory/observation behind the results as I can so you will be better prepared to massage them to suit your conditions and preferences.

The failures seem consistently the thinner wood tried of each variety. Nothing which permits instructions such as "use pencil thickness", because some won't produce pencil thickness. This time, the thicker the wood of each variety I've tried, the greater the success. My impression is the thicker wood not only contains more stored resources, but also is more insulated against the weather swings, temps, changes in humidity and soil moisture and is likely harder, more suitable for callusing, rooting and storage with this method. If I were using a mist propagator, the thinner material is what I would have selected and what I always used in the old mist propagator at The Huntington. It makes sense.

Propagation under mist, in a greenhouse or under plastic is better accomplished with softer, more actively growing material. Wrapping fails with that type of material. This method succeeds with harder wood cuttings, that which is more 'dormant'. The kind of stuff your grandmother would have broken off the plant and stuck in the ground under the mother bush.

Here are a few I started in wraps on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. The December ones were left for three weeks, the January ones went two weeks and were potted in these bands and cups right here, where they've been since.

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Wow Kim, thank you! And congratulations on the success of your new babies -- wow!

Hubby got the 16 oz. styro cups yesterday so I plan to plant the canes this weekend. We have a perfect spot on the east side of the house where the sun shines until late morning, about 10:30. I'll have to protect it from the critter who's digging in the fresh soil though.

Thank you so much for your help.

Jen

Hi Jenn, thank you and you're welcome! If you can put them up on blocks in flats or some type of table and if the critter isn't a squirrel, raccoon or rat/mouse, they should be safe. Good luck, please be sure to take lots of photos to document your success. I know many will want detailed instructions on how you've saved a piece of a cherished rose. I'm watching with excitement! Kim