How To Splice Roses

Splice grafting a rose plant is the process by which you join the scion, the top portion of a rose plant that contains a bud, to an inactive root or stem piece of another plant. Splicing your rose plant will help your roses grow and bloom better. Splice grafting a less hardy rose scion to a root of a hardier rose bush allow growers to have different kinds of roses in several different hardiness zones. You can perform rose grafting from early spring to early summer.

Step 1

Select a particularly strong rose plant to use as your stock. Do not use a plant that has been grafted to in the past.

Step 2

Trim the stock plant. Do not leave any particularly long branches on the stock plant.

Step 3

Choose the rose you wish to use as the scion. Young and firm plants produce the best scions but to give the process a chance to work pick a shoot that came in strong the previous year.

Step 4

Remove the scion from the donor plant by making a diagonal cut with a sterile knife. Choose a section that has many (at least three) new buds forming.

Step 5

Place the scion in a cup or vase filled with water.

Step 6

Cut the rootstick on the stock plant with a clean knife. Make the cut about six inches above the ground. The cut should be made diagonally to better graft the plant.

Step 7

Remove the scion from the water and take it to the rootstick. Use the knife to trim back the rootstick until it fits perfectly with the scion.

Step 8

Bind the scion to the rootstick with rubber grafting tape. Seal the tape with grafting wax.

Step 9

Water the stock plant sparingly until the graft takes.

Step 10

Remove the tape when the graft has fully healed.