Cutting position, leaf removal and time of year affects Rosa axillary shoot development

The interaction between the cutting position, leaf removal and the time of year on Rosa x hybrida L. cvs 'Royalty' and 'Lovely Girl' axillary shoot development was studied. The axillary shoot number per stem increased from 1.4 to 3.3 shoots as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13. The blind shoot number increased on 'Royalty' but not on the 'Lovely Girl' plants as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13. Flower numbers increased from 0.5 to 2.6 as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13. The removal of all the leaves on the stem decreased the axillary shoot number on 'Royalty' and the flower numbers on both cultivars when cut above the 9th node. The removal of all stem leaves increased the blind shoot number on 'Lovely Girl' but not on the 'Royalty' plants. Cutting from the spring compared with from the fall resulted in fewer axillary and blind shoots, but more flowers that flowered sooner, were composed of fewer nodes and were shorter than fall-cut mother stems. Axillary shoot days to harvest and length decreased from 51 to 41 days and from 72 to 54 cm, respectively, as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13. The axillary shoot node number increased from 11 to 12 as the cutting position increased from 1 to 5 then decreased from 12 to 9 nodes as the cutting position increased from 5 to 13.