Rose is one of the most popular garden flowers cultivated in India and is known as Queen of flowers. In India it is mainly grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu &Kashmir, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Bihar.

Rose is perennial plant with production of flowers throughout the year in tropical and subtropical regions with plenty of sunshine. It is a sun loving crop requiring a minimum of 6-8 hours of bright sun light per day. It performs best in areas with day temperature range of 25 to 30 0 C and night temperature of 15 -18 0 C. For profuse flowering a relative humidity of around 70 per cent is good. At temperature below 15 0 C though roses can be grown, but the interval between flushes become longer. At higher temperature of above 30 0 C, roses can be grown provided high humidity is maintained with low evaporation rate. Too much relative humidity creates condition favorable for the disease and pest development while lack of it reduced the flower size, leaves and stems.

Different Classes of Rose are 1. Hybrid Teas 2. Hybrid Perpetuals 3. Floribundas 4. Teas 5. Grandifloras 6. Polyanthas 7. China rose 8. Miniatures 9. Damask rose 10. Bourbon rose 11. Cabbage rose 12. Moss rose 13. French rose 14. Albas 15. Noisette rose 16. Rogosas 17. Austrian briars 18. Ramblers The major types of roses which are commercially important, and their varieties are: Hybrid tea roses: these have large flowers (4 cm.) long stems (125 cm). yield varies from 100-200 stems/sqm. hybrid teas fetch higher price than other types. A few well-known varieties of this group are Sonia, Vivaldi, Tineke, Melody, Darling and Only love. Floribunda roses: these have small flowers (2.5 cm) and shorter stems (less than 60 cm) but yield much higher than other types. Examples of this type are Frisco, Mercedes, Jaguar, Kiss and Florence. Spray roses: a single stem of this type may carry 5-6 flowers, but stem yield per sqm is low. Important varieties belonging to the type are Evelien, Mirabel, Joy, Zadique and Nikita Generally, hybrid tea roses are cultivated commercially under open field condition and protected condition for cut flower production.

Budding and top grafting on rootstocks are the commercial methods of propagation of rose. Generally, hybrid tea rose is commercially propagated by budding. The dormant eye of selected or chosen variety as a scion budded on the rootstock. T budding or inverted T or I budding is generally followed in rose. The plants developed by budding method of propagation grow fast and produce economic production in less time. The common rootstocks generally used are Rosa indica, Rosa multiflora, Rosa bourboniana, Natal briar and Rosa canina. In some case rooted cuttings are used for the propagation of some species like polyanthas, climbers, ramblers, miniatures, some scented species of rose and used for the preparation of rootstock. Cuttings are collected from the healthy plants generally of pencil size with 15-20 cm long with 3-4 nodes. Cuttings are generally treated with IBA for better rooting, which takes about 3-4 weeks to develop.

The land is brought to a fine tilth and beds and pits are prepared one month before planting may be in the month of MayJune. Required size raised beds should be prepared. The size of the beds are generally 60-75 cm wide with furrows of 30 to 40 cm in between opened to a depth of 20 to 30 cm. If pits are made, the size of the pits is 20-30 cm wide open to a depth of 20 to 25 cm at recommended spacing. Raised beds are good under drip irrigated system and also in regions of more rainfall.

The best time to plant roses is in early spring, after the last frost. Budded plants that are 6–18 months old can be planted in May–June. Where weather is moderate, and irrigation facilities are available planting is also done during the month of October-November and February-March. Planting is done on the well-prepared land in rows at a spacing of 1 m X 1m. Planting is done in pits or trenches of 30-50 cm depth. At the time of planting care must be taken to see that the bud union is 2-3 cm above the soil.

By applying black polyethylene mulch of 50 to 100 micron thickness to the plant basin or beds or about 2-3 inches layer of organic mulches like wheat/rice straw, wood chips and other organic materials effective to control weeds and proper growth and development of plant can be ensured.

Rose needs good integrated nutrient management with organic manure as well as chemical fertilizers for good plant growth with continuous flowering. At the time of land preparation 8-10 tons of well decomposed Farmyard manure per acre is applied along with 200kg of neem cake enriched with biofertilizers and biopesticides. Chemical fertilizers recommended per acre is 240 kg nitrogen, 80 kg phosphorus and 280 kg potash per acre during the first year which is applied at the time of planting. These fertilizers are applied in equal splits at monthly intervals. In drip irrigated crop to save labour and enhance nutrient use efficiency fertilizers and yield increase, fertilizers can be given though drip as fertigation schedule. The recommended fertilizer dose is given in equal splits at fortnightly interval using water soluble fertilizers.

Depending on the weather conditions provide irrigations at interval of 5 to 10 days during the absence of rains. In drip irrigated crop operate drip to provide 2 to 4 liters of water per day depending on the weather conditions.

Disbudding: Disbudding has to be done on rootstocks as and when they emerge and during the first 4 to 6 months after planting on the cultivar branches in order to make plants grow well. Pruning:Pruning is done up to a height of 30 to 45 cm in Hybrid teas. Floribundas requires light pruning. Polyanthas and miniature only require thinning of overcrowded branches. In climbers only diseased and damaged branches are pruned. Pinching:Pinching is the removal of terminal growing portion of shoots or stems. Pinching is generally done in the initial growth period of budded plants for increasing or promoting the lateral branches and side shoots.

The important pests of roses are Red spider mite,Leaf rollers, White fly ,Thrips , Aphids and s. Nematode. The main diseases are: Powdery mildew, Downy mildew, Botrytis blight, Die back, Black leaf spot and Crowning gall. To manage these pests and diseases take appropriate plant protection measures using chemicals recommended by authenticate sources.

Blind shoots: Blind shoot means a stem of plant fails to develop a bud. It is a non-flowering growth of plant, and it must be removed for proper growth of plant. Foliar spray of ascorbic acid at 1000 ppm reduces the blind shoots production. Bent Neck: This a postharvest physiological disorder of rose. In this the flower stems of cut rose bent after harvest. Bent neck affect the quality of flower stems. The incidence of this occurs due to soft growth of tissues, premature bud harvest and excessive loss of water during handling. Use of cobalt nitrate 200 ppm along with 10% sucrose in floral preservative with pH 6.0 found very effective to control this disorder and fumigation with methyl bromide at 500 C reduces incidence of bent neck. Bull head: Incidence of this disorder generally occurs due to low temperature at night. It also occurs due to abnormal production of gibberellins and cytokinins. Balling: The bud fails to open due to excess moisture causing the petals stick together is known as balling. Its incidence occurs in cool area and damp nights. Roses with a greater number of petals are susceptible to balling.

Harvesting of flowers starts after one year of planting. Rose plant gives economic yield up to 5-10 years. For cut flowers, stems are harvested at the time of morning at tight bud stage, or two petals begin to unfold. The flower stems immediately after harvesting placed in container containing cleaned water to remove field heat. For loose flower, which are generally used for making of garland is harvested at half open or fully opened stage depending upon the distance of market. For extraction of essential oil or rose water flowers are generally harvested at early morning before sunrise and distilled immediately after harvesting. After harvesting, roses should be graded, packed, precooled, and shipped in a refrigerated vehicle.  Yield is dependent upon the variety, density of planting and environmental conditions. On an average about 10- 20 stems per plant or 60-70 flower stems per square meter are obtained in Hybrid tea roses. The yield of loose flowers is about 8 to 20 quintal flowers per acre depending on the variety grown.

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