How to properly preserve rose seedlings before planting

The problem of preserving planting material

The problem of preserving planting material arises not only when the purchase of seedlings is untimely, this happens when growing roses with cuttings, when you need to save cuttings with or without roots until spring. It happens that a summer resident wants to plant roses in the fall, but the weather fails, does not allow planting at the right time, and then it’s too late. In this case, the seedlings must also be stored until spring.

The solution to this problem depends on a number of reasons. Here the condition of the seedling matters, whether it has sprouts, what is the state of the buds, whether the root system is open or closed. The time that remains before planting is very important, it depends on it what conditions for storing the seedling need to be created.

If the summer resident got hold of seedlings with a closed root system, this means that the roots, along with the lump of earth in which they grew, are in a container. There is no problem here, you just need to leave them where the temperature does not exceed +3 degrees.

If you bought roses with open roots, you should urgently take action, they do not just need to be left in the air, even throughout the day. Seedlings are often sold packed in beautiful boxes, there is even earth, but such packages have nothing to do with a closed root system.

The roots are often folded and tied tightly with polyethylene, this is not at all good for them. They may have long awakened buds, or even weak elongated shoots may grow - it is not known how much and how they were stored. So, if it was not possible to plant roses right away, you need to navigate in time and create suitable conditions for them.

Video "Storing seedlings until spring"

From the video you will learn about storing rose seedlings.

Trying to keep the seedlings at home

Home conditions do not shine with a variety of options, but a refrigerator can help out, even if you have to store planting material for up to two months. This is very useful when the seedlings ordered from a nursery or an online store are delivered unexpectedly quickly. The revival of the flower market in Europe is happening too early for our standards, because they start planting a month earlier than ours. Here is a chain reaction activating even our fairs - it is better to buy imported varieties exactly when they are so massively offered. The result is a wonderful planting material in the middle of winter. So what if it's April on the calendar, there is as much snow at the dacha as there were January days.

It doesn't matter if the seedlings are purchased in March or April. Expand them, remove the packaging, inspect, assess the condition of the roots and shoots. The roots need to be straightened if they were bent or rolled up, then carefully wrapped in polyethylene with holes for air circulation or craft paper. Shoots can remain outside such packaging. This package should be placed on the shelf of the refrigerator and kept at a temperature of +1 to +3 degrees. Every 5 - 6 days, using a spray bottle, it is advisable to moisten the seedlings.This is ideal for seedlings with dormant buds.

If it's not that the buds have woken up, but the shoots are already growing, then the plant needs to be given an upright position, because new branches always grow upward, and if they grow at an angle of 90 degrees to the main shoots, then the bush will look, to put it mildly, unpresentable.

It is better to cut or pinch young shoots, they are still weak, and their growth only weakens the entire bush, because they feed on those nutrients that he managed to accumulate during his short life, and the root system does not work. To save him, you need to take any dish with a volume of at least five liters (a saucepan, a pot, a plastic bottle, a bucket), drill holes in its bottom, put pebbles (expanded clay or pebbles) on the bottom for drainage, fill the soil with peat and sand, or even one peat and plant a rose. You need to plant carefully, straightening all the roots. After that, the rose is watered and placed on a loggia or glazed balcony. You can put a bag on top of the shoots, but not create a greenhouse effect. Such conditions allow the seedling to grow, but very slowly - the cold inhibits the growth of shoots, and the root system is formed, additional roots grow. The main thing is not to allow subzero temperatures, if frosts intensify, then the rose can be transferred somewhere or simply wrapped up.

The seedling planted in a pot will then need to be gradually accustomed to fresh air and sunlight before planting on the street. This is done by taking it out first in the morning for a short time, then in the mornings and evenings, gradually increasing the time of "walks". It is very important that the rose pot is kept at a temperature of about freezing and then warmed up as the temperature rises outside. If you grow it for at least a month on a windowsill in the warmth of an apartment, then it will be a very vulnerable and painful plant.

We store in the cold in the country

At the dacha, as a rule, there is a basement, it is suitable for storing seedlings and cuttings. Roses are pruned in the fall, this time is used by many to harvest cuttings, and they are planted for rooting in the spring. Seedlings that could not be planted in the fall, cuttings cut for spring planting, can be dug into the ground and left to winter in a cool basement.

The air temperature should not fall below zero and rise above +3 degrees, the ground and shoots (aboveground part) should be periodically moistened.

With the beginning of spring, dishes with plants should be transferred to the veranda, the same conditions will be obtained as on the glazed balcony - they will begin to grow, but slowly enough to wait for a real planting on the site.

Unplanned seedlings and cuttings can overwinter even in the snow, like bears in a den. To do this (of course, in the presence of abundant snow, which will lie until spring), you need to dig a hole in the snow with the corresponding dimensions in some dark corner of the garden. Put boards or spruce branches on its bottom, planting material on them, put a box on top or build a wire frame, cover it all with lutrasil and cover it with snow on top. Such a "house" is suitable for seedlings with dormant buds and for plants with sprouts, only the sprouts that are too large need to be cut off, and small ones should be slightly pinched.

Practical advice

Experienced flower growers advise not to buy a pig in a poke, the seedling must be considered from all sides. If you have already bought a beautiful package or received it by mail, you need to immediately unfold the plant and examine it. All damaged parts must be cut off, the cuts must be treated with wood ash. By the way, healthy roots on the cut should be light, they can be dipped not in ash, but in Kornevin or another means that stimulates root growth.

If there is a net on the seedling, it does not need to be removed, you can plant directly with it, it will soon rot. You don't need to rip off paraffin from the shoots either, it will not interfere with growth, it will soon fall off by itself. True, unscrupulous sellers can disguise stains on the trunks with them. If you find dark spots of unknown origin, gently wipe them with ordinary brilliant green. Before planting, seedlings should be treated with some kind of parasite remedy and closed with a bag for two hours. It happens that the planting material is infected with thrips or some other nasty thing that cannot be seen until they have multiplied.

If you are not going to plant the bush an hour after you brought it home, place it in a container of clean water at room temperature.

Video "Overexposure of seedlings until spring"

From the video you will learn how to overexpose seedlings in winter until spring.