| i was given 4 minature roses for mother's day. i transplanted them into larger pots at they seemed to be too crowded. all of a sudden the flowers dried up and so did one of the plants. a second plant is starting to dry up now. i am watering as needed and have fertilized them. i have 30 rose bushes out side and this is my first try with minatures. can you give me any information on what to do to save thes plants? thanks |
| Miniatures are not really different from regular roses, but container growing has some special factors. This sounds somewhat like transplant shock. Check that you used a good quality potting mix formulated for container plants, this should hold moisture well but also drain well. Make sure the pots have working drain holes in the bottom. When you water, make sure the water is soaking into the soil and not running out between the side of the pot and the soil. The soil should be evenly moist like a wrung out sponge, not sopping wet and not dried out. Place them in full direct all-morning sun while they become established in their containers. Later on you can move them to all day sun if you wish. It is possible the roses are not rooting into the new soil. This can happen for several reasons but a fairly common one is that they were rootbound at planting. If you think this is the cause you could replant them, loosening and untwining or cutting any hard-matted or encircling roots to direct them outward into the new soil. Many potting mixes now contain fertilizer; check the label of the product you used and see if this is the case. IF so, it is possible they have been overfertilized if you also added fertilizer or have been using a strong solution of liquid fertilizer. Also, you may want to check carefully for spider mites. This can cause stippling on the foliage as well as leave fine webbing along the underside of the leaves. I hope this helps you trouble shoot! |
