Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
roseseek

Buds

roseseek
9 years ago

I took these photos this afternoon thinking they might help to demonstrate why suckers can be so difficult to eradicate. What you're seeing is the internal structure of what would become a cane with a central bud and one guard bud on each side of the central bud. This is what is under the growth bud at each leaf axis. The central bud is the one which initially pushes in to growth. Should something happen to it, the side guard buds then push into growth. When a plant is budded, that central bud is pruned to encourage the guard buds to grow, producing a branched bare root instead of a "one cane wonder".

When a sucker appears, simply pruning it leaves the two guard buds which are then stimulated into growth. This is why it is suggested you dig down to find the point of origin, then rip it from the shank or root, in hopes of pulling the guard buds out with the cane. Kim

{{gwi:275508}}
{{gwi:275509}}

Comments (18)

  • buford
    9 years ago

    Great picture. I'm just getting into trying to grow cuttings so this information is helpful.

    Also, I do try to get down to the 'root' of the suckers, which is usually right at the base or a root away from the rose. I am usually able to yank them off.

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    9 years ago

    Great photo and explanation, thanks. And if you turn the photo upside down, it looks like a smiley-face baby seal inside a heart. :^)

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Funny, Hoov! I want some of what you had for lunch! LOL! Kim

  • portlandmysteryrose
    9 years ago

    Kim, thank you for the photos and explanation. They certainly reveal why suckers are such hydras. I've learned so much on this forum. If a rose is good on its own roots in PDX, I'd rather deal with traveling stolons...even gallica offshoots...than I would sneaky resilient sprouts of Dr. Huey and Mr. Hyde.

    Hoov, that's hilarious!

    Carol

  • annesfbay
    9 years ago

    Aha! I was curious about that (why won't American Pillar DIE already!)

    I love the smiling baby seal in a heart--that made me lol.

    Thanks for the info and image.

    Anne

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Those are great photos, Kim!

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You're welcome, Carol. Thanks, Sharon! That was something I've never seen illustrated anywhere and thought it might help share why suckers behave as they do. Kim

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Get image to show how it works

    Hoovb I thought it looked like a panda

  • gothiclibrarian
    9 years ago

    HoovB you just made me snort my morning coffee.

    That face is CLEARLY a baby sloth though.

    {{gwi:275510}}

    (Kim, thank you for the fantastic macros!)

    ~Anika

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    It does look like a sloth, doesn't it? Thank you, Anika, you're welcome! Kim

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I thought it would be fun to show what an insufficiently removed bud can turn in to in a stock. I thought I'd removed enough tissue. I guess not! This is very likely what you would see under the soil from most of the suckers you encounter. You can see why it's so important to find it and exercise it from the shank. Simply cutting it is literally pruning it. You know what pruning does...Kim

    {{gwi:275511}}{{gwi:275512}}

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Yep, encourages it to grow! And grow it did! These are really great examples, Kim, thanks!

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You're welcome, Seil. Thanks! Kim

  • Seeingreen
    9 years ago

    I saw the baby sloth :P

  • Glenburn
    9 years ago

    Kim, those shots are best I have seen and the explanation fits perfectly, Thank you.

    Regards David.

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi David, thank you! I'm glad they're proving illustrative and enjoyable! Kim

  • roseseek
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I sliced off the suckers with roots yesterday to make use of that stock for budding, then thought this morning I should have photographed it so you could see what it was. It's a bit dried out from sitting in the trash overnight, but you can see this would be completely self sufficient on its own, so having it attached to the budded plant really makes it a potential monster. Kim
    {{gwi:275513}}
    {{gwi:275514}}
    {{gwi:275515}}
    {{gwi:275516}}

  • porkpal zone 9 Tx
    9 years ago

    A very clear tutorial! Thanks.

Sponsored
Fourteen Thirty Renovation, LLC
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars23 Reviews
Professional Remodelers in Franklin County Specializing Kitchen & Bath