How to save rose seedlings before planting

Rose seedlings, appearing in stores in early spring, have an open root system, i.e., bare roots. These plants are usually tightly packed in bags of peat, which, in turn, are placed in cardboard boxes with beautiful photos.

They can be "stripped" and stored before planting, either by wrapping them in damp paper and putting them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, or by sending them to a cottage in the country. Even if the device was not taken care of in advance, it is not a bad thing: you need to dig a hole in the snow deeper, cover its bottom with a non-wrap, place the seedlings and, covering them with non-woven material, throw snow again so that a decent snowdrift is on top. It is desirable that the place for prikop was in the shade, where the snow melts last.

In this form, the roses will safely live up to the moment when the land can already be dug.

With this method of storage, there is only one “but”: seedlings must be asleep, that is, not germinated. Unfortunately, the purchase of roses with shoots that have begun to grow is a common mistake of inexperienced summer residents. Such a plant, not receiving food, spends its internal reserves, which can very badly affect its ability to survive.

But it is also not necessary to break off the already growing shoots: then the remaining buds will start to grow - after all, the rose has already woken up. It remains only to hope that the seedlings will be quite resilient. Wrap them in a newspaper moistened with water and place them in a refrigerator or other cold, dark place, occasionally moistening the drying paper.

For the future: buying roses in March, try to choose sleeping specimens. When buying a seedling is better to pull out of the box and carefully inspect. First of all, pay attention to the vaccination site, where there should be no damage.

The branches of such roses are usually covered with a layer of wax, which makes it difficult to determine what condition they are in. Do not hesitate to otkovyrnut small piece and see what color the bark of the plant. A healthy, viable rose has green branches. But the dark and especially wrinkled bark should be alerted: perhaps the plant has been dried out.

A seedling should have slightly swollen buds (at least 2-3). It is desirable that they are not located at the ends of the branches, but as close as possible to the vaccination site: the strongest and strongest shoots grow from such buds. If all the listed signs are in stock, you can safely buy a rose.