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No root system on Rambling Rector

1945crewood1945crewood Posts: 170
in Plants
Yesterday I paid £22.99 for a Rambling Rector rose in a 5.5ltr pot from my local garden centre. When I came to plant it out I was surprised to see the rose didn't have much of a root system, in fact just four twigs that looked as though they had been 'bunged' in the pot and compost packed around them. The rose wasn't anchored in the pot at all and easily lifted out.

Is this normal to find a well known brand supplying a rose like this, not really sure what I should be expecting? Four green branches with a couple of buds on about 8" long above ground and a further four 'branches' below ground with no further roots at all.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mother Nature don't straight lines, Broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds.
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Posts

  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    Sounds like a relatively newly potted bare root with the roots pruned to fit into the pot. It will grow.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    It's really worth researching the rose carefully, so you know exactly its habits, scale, blooming and nature. It's not a rose for a small garden, a pot or the faint hearted.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Are you sure this is the rose for you it gets BIG. Perhaps some of the rose experts can give advice. I have just purchased two identical plants from a well known on line nursery. Both were in two litre pots one was perfect the other had been up graded to a two litre I would say the day before it was sent out .The label was at the bottom of the pot under the compost. These companies should be far more caring Yes I think it will grow! 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    You would have paid less bare rooted and the rose grows on this forum tell me that now is the best time to plant a bare rooted rose with some MF on roots
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • 1945crewood1945crewood Posts: 170
    Sorry, I did check and I'm OK with the choice of plant, it was the lack of a root system I was more concerned about.
    Mother Nature don't straight lines, Broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    edited February 2022
    I agree with edhelka, it will have been lifted bare root from the ground and the roots pruned to fit the pot very recently. Most specialist rose suppliers advise that you should leave such roses it their original pot for a few months until the roots have regrown and filled the pot before planting them out into the ground. I would repot it into the same/similar sized pot, making sure you tap the pot and ensure the soil is resettled well around the roots, then water it in. You could mix in with the compost a small amount of slow-release fertiliser pellets such as MiracleGrow for shrubs and roses, which would keep it ticking over until it’s ready to plant out around May. 

    Ps - and keep it somewhere sheltered like against the wall of the house, roses are tough plants, but the roots are still vulnerable to freezing in those small pots during very cold snaps.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • 1945crewood1945crewood Posts: 170
    Nollie said:
    I agree with edhelka, it will have been lifted bare root from the ground and the roots pruned to fit the pot very recently. Most specialist rose suppliers advise that you should leave such roses it their original pot for a few months until the roots have regrown and filled the pot before planting them out into the ground. I would repot it into the same/similar sized pot, making sure you tap the pot and ensure the soil is resettled well around the roots, then water it in. You could mix in with the compost a small amount of slow-release fertiliser pellets such as MiracleGrow for shrubs and roses, which would keep it ticking over until it’s ready to plant out around May. 

    Ps - and keep it somewhere sheltered like against the wall of the house, roses are tough plants, but the roots are still vulnerable to freezing in those small pots during very cold snaps.
    Thank you, really appreciate the help.
    Mother Nature don't straight lines, Broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    You’re welcome 😊 
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I have pruned one many years ago. It grew over the top of an old rare cider tree and involved ladders. Sadly the tree became dangerous and both had to come down. Not sure if the rose which covered the tree was the problem. It was hard to see both rose and rare tree taken down. The advice above is excellent, more helpful than anything you read in a gardening book.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    It should look similar to this, this is normal  See the source image
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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