What is Rootstock?

Unlike most native plants, many roses, particularly hybrid tea roses, do not grow well on their own roots. The natural roots tend to produce disease and insect prone bushes. Budding, or grafting, of one rose onto the root system of anoteher rose with a more extensive root system produces hardier plants since the more extensive roots allow the plant to absorb nutrients better. Today's commerical roses are either propogated from cuttings which then form roots, these are called own root roses, or else the cuttings are grafted onto the root system of a vigourous rose of another variety, this is termed grown on rootstock, or sometimes informally termed grafted. The location of the graft is referred to as the bud union.

Own root bushes tend to be hardier in cold climates, and they do not have the disadvantage of having suckers or canes which grow from the roostock (these are easily identified because they come from the portion of the rose below the bud union).

In warmer locations, and especially in Florida, the cold hardiness is much less important than the ability to keep growing all year long, so it is important to know the heat tolerance of the rootstock before selecting a plant.

The two rootstocks which were found to be best suited to warm weather are Dr. Huey and Fortuniana (Rosa fortuniana). In a multi year study at the University of Florida the number of blooms that could be cut from rose bushes grown on different rootstocks were compared. After counting the number of blooms produced over many growing seasons the varieties grown on Fortuniana were found to have produced significantly more blooms than the other rootstock plants, and about twice as many blooms as those grown on Dr. Huey rootstock. Roses grown on Fortunia rootstock continue to grow and bloom well past the 86 degree point which is the normal stopping point for rose growth.

Plants grown on Fortunia stock are extremely hardy in Florida, with individual plants thriving for over 40 years, however,roses grown on this rootstock are very heavy feeders, as they have up to five times the feeder roots of other varieties. These plants should be therefore be fed and watered more often, which will then results in more and stronger canes, and consequently, more and larger blooms.

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This Page Last Updated 7/10/2006