Roses Pruning India

All the healthy roses branches are retained and pruned to about one- half of the growth made in the preceding season. However, to get good quality roses, the number of _branches retained has to be reduced to about 3-5, so that nourishment is available to a few limited growths to obtain exhibition blooms. There are certain H.T. roses, which may not like even moderate pruning, depending upon the locality. A grower will learn by experience the amount of pruning needed for a particular type of rose in a specific climate. It is normally observed that cultivators growing vigorously need less cutting back, than those which are weak in growth. In tempeiate climates like England, it is suggested that one branch every year be pruned to one eye to ,get some based growth to keep the plant bushy.
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Floribunda Bushes

This class of roses produce flowers in abundance and hence the name. In the year after planting, Floribundas may need much harder pruning than only tipping, as in such climates roses produce rank growth. Hard pruning is never practised for Floribundas.

Standard

The principle of pruning for both H.T. and Floribunda standards is almost similar to bush roses of these kinds. Hard pruning is not given. The standards make less vegetative growth compared to bush roses, as the sap has to flow about 1 metre from the roots. Accordingly, pruning has to be a little lighter than for bush roses. All dead wood is removed during pruning. Any sucker which may be growing in the 1 metre stein of the rootstock has also to be removed.
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Dwarf Polyantha and Miniature

By nature these roses are dwarf and hardly need any pruning. The overcrowded and dead branches are removed. The branches

which have completed flowering are tipped to encourage new, growth.

Climbers and Ramblers

There is some confusion regarding the pruning of Climbers and Ramblers. This is because these groups of roses have been hybri­dized and mixed so much that suggesting any general method of pruning is not possible. Training of Ramblers and Climbers are -as important as pruning. It is recommended that all Climbers and Ramblers may be trained horizontally, if profuse blooming is desired. For this purpose they are trained on walls or trellis. Any vertical growth is to be pegged down if possible. Fornon vigorous types, it is advised to train them on posts or pillars. On a post or pergola the canes (stems) may be twisted or zig-zagged rather than training these straight. Any method which hinders the free flow of sap in the stem, will promote flowering. The aim of training. is to ensure unhindered supply of light, air and space.

• As already mentioned, because of the heterogenous nature of the climbers, it will be difficult to give any general guidance for pruning. Some of these flower on old stems while others bloom in new stems. Hence, one has to first study the nature of the climbers (i.e., whether blooms occur on new or old wood) and accordingly adjust the pruning. Fortunately, a majority of the climbers, especially the Hybrid Tea types, boom satisfactorily on older canes. The H.T. Climbers do not produce enough bloom on new growth. The short branches arising out of the old canes, pro­duce the most and best blooms. To avoid over-crowding of branches, one or two old canes may be removed to accommodate the new growth. One major pruning strategy is to remOve all dead and exhausted canes. Any dead tips on branches Must also be removed.

Theoretically, all Ramblers flower on the preceding year's growth. Hence, once a shoot has flowered, this has to be cut off, and in its place a new growth may be trained, if there are not much of new stems, some of the good old stems may be retained. and the laterals growing on them are trimmed to about 6-8 cm from the base of the main cane. Vigorous growing Ramblers like 'American Pillar' may not need much pruning except removal of dead wood. But if such a vigorous Rambler attains an unmanage­able size, sometimes, it is advised to cut back the whole plant at

45 cm from ground level and to allow young growth to develop. However, some Ramblers may need only light pruning. Hence pruning may be adjusted depending upon the growing behaviour of a cultivar.

Blind Shoots

Occasionally, it may be observed that after pruning some new branches stop growing and fail to produce a flower bud. Such shoots are called a blind shoot. It has been proved experi- mentally, by propagating blind shoots and vigorous flowering shoots, that blindness is not an inherited character as plants railed from a blind shoot flower freely. According to one finding, severe pruning may produce more blind shoots compared to moderate pruning. Low auxin or gibberellin levels in blind shoots may be a cause for their occurrence. Shading of young shoots may cause blindness. Shading reduces the translocation of carbohydrates in the young shoots. Similarly, levels of auxin and gibberellin in shaded shoots are low. One way of inducing a blind shoot to flower is to cut back lightly to a healthy eye just below the tip. Experiments indicate that spraying with chemical like Cycocel, reduces the occurrence of blind shoots.