Miniature rose
Lyn Plant-Wells
Posts: 338
I was given a miniature rose (3-4 stalks in the pot) a couple of weeks ago. It had several blooms and was very healthy looking. It has now dropped quite a lot of foliage and one or two immature buds. Some bigger buds haven't opened.
It is on the window sill in my cool (unheated) hall, which faces east so gets plenty of light but not direct sun. There is no spider-mite and the window gets condensation so I don't think it's too dry, although the compost did dry out about 10 days ago, which made the buds droop. I quickly watered it and have put a few drops of Miracle Gro in the water. Any ideas? (I plan to plant it out when the weather isn't quite so wet/windy - although I live near the south coast, we have had a few frosts and I realise these roses are raised in hot-houses.
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It may be suffering from shock Lyn. These hot house plants go from heated conditions to almost nothing overnight in some cases and they suffer as a result. Doesn't help it dried out either. Rose's need water all year round so keep it watered. Take the pot and plunge it into water and keep it there until bubbles stop rising. After that it'll need some TLC. I'd keep it cool for now and you don't want to feed it yet or encourage growth, it needs to go dormant for a while which will get it back into its natural rhythm before you plant it out. As long as the stems stay green it will survive so don't be too despondent. Don't forget its winter but as outside its normal rhythm it'll be confused. So cool conditions, plenty of light, well watered (every week) but not over watered, no food, treat it mean and it should go dormant. It's too wet now to plant out safely and we're in for a cold spell ( it won't be very hardy after a hot house). When the weather settles down a bit, and that may not be for another month, you can think about planting it out.
'It' might be 'them'. If you have 3-4 stalks in the pot it could be that each stalk is a separate plant. That is the usual trick used to make these plants look thick and healthy. Quite often they only have enough energy to flower before falling over and expiring.
Ok - thanks. I assumed it was several small plants. I will follow Dave's advice and try to keep it (them) happy until it goes outside. Incidentally, the pot is very small and the compost seems shallow without much 'substance' - do you think I should put it in a slightly larger pot with more compost (without disturbing it's roots?) I did wonder whether to snip off the existing buds so that it's not putting energy into flowering?
I had other miniature/small roses last year, which I planted in a big container (as I had just moved and garden was being re-designed) They came on very well but have all been outside - now waiting for weather to be calm enough for planting them in their permanent border. Every time I attempt to get outside it seems to be like the 'wicked witch' bike scene from Wizard of Oz - most of my daffs have been blown flat!
Lyn I wouldn't be too hasty to repot, its going outside relatively soon and as I say you want some dormancy so be mean with it. Roses are tough plants and can take a high degree of abuse.
Thanks Dave. Now reassured!