Sandsock said:Beth...I'm still wondering your thoughts on ordering and the cuttings vs rooted.
Sorry Annie, I guess I missed your post. I ordered ones I mostly can't find anywhere. Some, like SUNSET CELEBRATION I can get already rooted or grafted, etc. but they are so expensive anymore, I felt I could save money by rooting them. I'm cheap. LOL I figured many of the older varieties I could find as bagged bareroots in winter. And if I don't find them this winter, I'll likely order cuttings next Fall. I will definitely be doing this again, that's for sure! I'm really enjoying watching them progress, except of course when they turn black and die! But I got a better rooting hormone to try, and have just recently used it on the hard to root florist roses to see if I can get them to go. If it will root those, I should be able to root the ones that didn't work in this batch I got this Fall. I was really disappointed that OLDTIMER did not make it. Been wanting that rose for many yrs! And as far as narrowing down how many to order.... I just wanted to stay under $200. The shipping ended up being less than I thought it would be, and 32 varieties cost a total of $160 including shipping. So I figure even if I only got one each of half of the varieties to root, that's $10 a plant! Not too bad. And extras are nice to share with others or just have in case you lose one.
Oh, and the rooting hormone I got is Hormex #8. Also, John Bagnasco told me to mix the Hormex with cinnamon at 50/50 ratio. He said a succulent grower told him yrs ago that the cinnamon helps to prevent rot. So hopefully I'll have a better rate of success from now on! You can get the Hormex on Amazon. It's $17.99. I see they also have a Hormex #16 for even harder to root plants. If the #8 doesn't work on the florist roses, I might have to try that next.
