Budding in Autumn

Has anyone tried budding roses in Autumn? How successful has it been?

I just stuck some buds on a Dr huey sucker the other day. The bark lifted easily. I am hopeful it will take. won't know until next spring. I don't see why it should not be successful.
The sucker is over 2M high and I took sone buds off my Daughter-in-law's single red groundcover that is one of the Power something series. It was the best I could find that looked like it would weep.
The sucker is attached to an ugly standard rose that I am going to euthenase when I dig it up in the winter. I will kill the rose and keep the sucker!!

Hmmmm... I have a tray full of struck multiflora cuttings and am thinking of getting a stack of budwood from Rustons but don't want to blow my money... things are growing pretty well now so maybe it would be ok...

Simon as you know the sap flow will slow down unless you can keep it going. Warmth will be your biggest problem, how to keep it warm. as you are in a cold part of Oz. Can you get hold of some sort of bottom heat, this should keep the cycle going. One method that we used was an old electric blanket covered in plastic(thick) so water did not get to it. Set the control so the medium is warm, an old thermometer will come in handy. This is if your rootstock are in pots. If in ground will answer tonight.

I have a heat mat and the understocks are in a tray about 70cm x 40cm x 20cm (deep)... I might try with a few and see how I go

I'm not that clever LOL

You are in a cooler climate than Sydney so suggest you close off budding end of March or results may be disappointing. I would not spend a lot of money for buds now but rather wait until November and get better results.

Roseman has a lot of good ideas to keep the rootstock growing. He is commercial and has a lot of knowledge. However keep it simple and next November is not that far away.

I have budded a HT rose beginning of January 2008 then taken buds from it first of June 2008 and budded those which are now 36" tall and flowering well. Must mention it was a one off rose or I wouldn't have been so dopey to give myself all the extra fiddling with it to get the results.
As mentioned keep it simple particularly where big numbers and money are involved. They will be at Ruston's next November why take a chance? Who wants to make life difficult unless it's a one off opportunity that won't be there next year. The buds put on in April will just sit there dormant until spring so you are gaining very little and might lose a lot..

One thing I hadn't taken into account was that if I do bud them now by supplying bottom heat it will probably be quite a few weeks before I see any results and this will be in the form of fresh new growth that, by the time the budwood arrives and I get it all grafted, will probably put me at the start of winter which means I will have to keep the heat going all winter and keep them in the mini greenhouse to protect the fresh new growth from freezing won't I I don't want to do that... Spring is looking very much like the better option...

Tasv, you should be planting your Multiflora cuttings now for November budding or end of August if your winters are quite cold. I have never lived in Tasse but can see your climate is similar to Orange NSW with cooler summers.
Out of season budding is OK in limited numbers provided your budding skills are very good and you don't mind paying for heating etc.

Yep... Now that you mention it Orange seems like a good frame of reference to what it's like here in NW Tas. I've got quite a lot of multiflora rootstocks going already... just harvested a bag full of multiflora seeds too so going to germinate a whole lot to use as guaranteed virus-free rootstocks. If anyone would like some later I'll put a post up or if anyone would like some multiflora seeds let me know.

Ozeboy wrote:You are in a cooler climate than Sydney so suggest you close off budding end of March or results may be disappointing. I would not spend a lot of money for buds now but rather wait until November and get better results.

The buds put on in April will just sit there dormant until spring so you are gaining very little and might lose a lot..

I wonder if I should be expecting better results with the budding I do because everything I bud from about December and onwards when I first get some summer buds after the first flowering, and on through the summer whenever I bud, the results are the same; and that is the buds sit there all wrapped up in budding tape until spring when I sever the rootstock head. They even look dead, but they sprout when the head is off and the sap flows.

Billndee you can activate the December buds in about 4 to 6 weeks when they have calloused well or leave them until spring. If you activate them in spring you will notice they sprout faster and the graft is stronger with no blow offs. Last spring I gave some February budded Tea crosses to a fellow who asked me to bud for him. A week before he picked them up the tops were cut off and a week after he had them he phoned and couldn't believe how fast they were growing from what looked like almost nothing. These were on for 8 to 9 months so they were really ready to grow.