Don't Let Them Bloom: Disbudding Young Roses

A common strategy with young plants (and not just roses) is to pinch growing tips and young flowers to encourage branching - and focus the plant on healthy new growth. Here I'll demonstrate some of the common reasons this can make sense - and discuss whether it's also a good practice for the home gardener.

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[bbr]

Thanks Jason..
That was so helpful. It’s tips like these that help us novice gardeners improve…
Please keep em coming.
B🤓

[rosesinhouston]

You always have amazing and solid advice, I've appreciated your wealth of knowledge. They have helped me with my rose gardening these past sevearl years. I heard about the disbudding concept from a Japanese rose grower in 2020 when I first started and thought that was interesting and controversial back then. I found that disbudding my sturggling roses during summer months in my zone was incredibly helpful in conserving the energy they need to survive the heat and drought too.

[gunmetal]

Certain rose nurseries/ breeders promote the same thing here too in Malaysia...although their logic is to prune all buds/ shoots for a few weeks so that the plant can rest and hopefully encourage root growth.

[vintagelady]

This makes sense, especially with some of the really tiny roses I sometimes get from growers. Heirloom roses have been growing for 2 years & usually seem like they can't wait to bloom---they literally explode the first year sometimes, so what they are doing seems to be working. Since I have no room for more roses (sad, crying face here!) I probably won't be doing this, altho I may try some propagation to turn my grafted roses into own-root, & lopping of the blooms to encourage growth would be a good thing there. Thanks!

[storybookfloralproductions]

THANK YOU JASON! I really needed this video; it reached me at the PERFECT moment. You are golden!

[mikedan]

TRUE. This is the difference between commercial growers and home growers. At home, when we see the new bud, we consider it a success and wait for the flowering to manifest.

[janeb.b]

Clear & concise and to the point, as usual, Jason. You could easily teach, but I'm glad you're here to teach us. Thank you!

[RayIniego]

I was wondering why my roses only have a few major branches with rose buds at the tips! Now I know for next spring! Thank you for this! ❤

[Tim.Stotelmeyer]

I disbudded all but one bloom on each of the cuttings that I started summer 2023. I got some good growth from doing so. And to top it off one bloom turned in a hip. It is rare for the mother plant to make hips.

[HoustonKeith]

Very helpful and makes perfect sense. Thank you Jason.

[suzetteccc]

I planted a climbing rose last May and I haven't disbudded and just trained it against the trellis. It hasn't been covered in blooms, but at least I know I got the right rose this time! It's a Kiss Me Kate and is growing and healthy as ever. I haven't fertilized for a month or so, but I assume it will go dormant.

[PETER-rjhe]

GOOD TO SEE YE FRIEND...always good info..⚘️

[purplethumb]

Another excellent video with great information. Thank you!

[outcastrc]

Excellent information and thank you very much from Newfoundland!!

[dao]

I have several very young rose plants thanks to your propagation advice and was looking forward to seeing them bloom next year so this information came at just the right time to keep me from letting this occur instead of pinching back to encourage branching. It never occurred to me that disbudding could benefit the rose plant long term. My question is: How long do you recommend disbudding before finally letting the plant form buds and bloom? In the comparison shot of the two plants, is the one on the left at the point where it will now be allowed to form buds or is it better to continue disbudding for a period beyond this stage?

[sergiopedroza]

Hi, Jason. Great information. Can you show us how to pinch the flower buds

[andrewjames]

Thanks for the tip Jason. By the way, here in NE France a few weeks ago I started some rose cuttings in toilet roll tubes as described by you - some roots are already poking out at the bottom! I'm using the method for viburnum and eleagnus semi-hardwood cuttings too. We'll see ...

[noellaq]

Thank you for all the wonderful info. Can you tell me the name of the rose bush behind you at the end of this video?

[lieslfeldman]

I'm guilty of not doing this much of the time. I get too eager to see the bloom. Good thing I don't sell my plants. 😊

[elisabethshipman]

Hi, Jason! I am so glad to see this video posted. I have six new roses from Rogue Valley Roses in Oregon. They are obviously in their first year (they are rose plugs based on the 3x3x5 inch pots they arrived in). No blooms, not defoliated the way Heirloom Roses does, but survived shipping anyway. I'm putting them into 1-gallon pots now and will overwinter them in my 8b zone on the southeast side of my house in a space sheltered from the wind, next to the house under my deck. Can I assume I need to do this same practice next year as they begin to grow into their new pots and continue to develop their root systems? These are very different from my eight Heirloom roses I bought in June that have thrived and bloomed and grown so much even if they were bigger roses and much more mature, so I know I need to treat them differently. As always, I appreciate any advice you have to offer. 🙂