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Hello,

I have recently rooted a cutting from a rose bush, propagating it in a cut-off milk carton filled with a 50-50 mix of sand and potting soil. However, the other day, I noticed that the milk carton was rather small, restricting root growth, and re-potted the rooted cutting into a larger container with just potting soil as a medium. Yesterday, I noticed a few black spots on the cutting, and when I woke up this morning, I discovered that the top half of the cutting was completely black. I cut off this black growth, and placed the remaining portion of the rooted cutting into a glass of water in an attempt to prevent further damage.

Is there any way I can save this cutting? I have been working hard to propagate it for the past 4 months, and I would really like to be able to encourage it to grow.

~Poultryduk

I moved this post from the organic forum to the rose forum.

Best,

webmaster

I KNOW there are others that can answer this better, but I'm troubled that you seem to be saying you took the soil-rooted cutting out of the all-potting soil and put it in WATER ??

Roses need well-drained soil and if you used store-bought potting soil, it's very possible that it was too heavy. The original 50/50 sand and potting soil was probably the better mix, especially if it was happy in that. But I'm sure rose won't survive in water. I don't even think you can root rose cutting in water. And even if it did, water-grown roots are different from soil-grown roots and vice versa.

You said TOP half of the cutting was black and you cut it off. Right? Are there any buds left in the remaining, presumably rooted portion of the cutting? If there are more buds to grow from, it might have a chance. Does the cut look clean? No black/brown layer anywhere? If there are, I think you need to cut down further.

If the blackness resulted from disease, then I'm not sure if the cutting will survive, but at the very least, I think the rooted cutting should be potted up in a sterile soil mix. I'd want to treat the cut end with some kind of a fungicide... but being a strictly organic grower I can't think of what I'd use in this case -- definitely some milk and water, maybe cinnamon or chamomile tea, or Aerated Compost Tea, maybe a spritz of alcohol....

If roots were filling the original container, was there some top growth... or is it dormant now? Shouldn't it be dormant now if you're in Virginia? But you said you "recently" rooted it? Hm... I'm a bit confused Oh, wait, you've been growing this cutting for the past 4 months? Where (what kind of environment) are/were you keeping the rooted cutting?

In reply, I put it in water for a very short period of time... No more than an hour... In case the roots were becoming dry. I am now growing it in a well-drained mix... 50/50 sand and potting soil. I have followed your advice concerning making a clean-cut to remove all of the blackened portion of the cutting.

Also, to respond to your final inquiries... I began rooting this cutting four months ago, hence the "recently". It has been kept indoors, in a warm environment... (Half-milk carton covered with half of a 2-liter soda bottle). Over the past month, the top of this mini greenhouse (The 2-liter soda bottle) was removed, and it grew fine, until it shed its leaves a few weeks ago.

Thank you for your response