My roses need your help

[claudine]

I lost another miniature rose I have no idea why this happened, I don't know what am I doing wrong. It's always the same: my rose stops growing and starts losing leaves. After a few weeks, all branches turn brown. Here are pictures of my poor little things:

I water them once every three days. I stopped feeding them three weeks ago, because I heard that it's better not to fertilize plants that don't look healthy. I don't see any pests on them. They get a lot of sunlight.
What should I do? Any advice would be very welcome.

 

[gata montes]

Do you check to see if the soil is dry or moist before watering them claudine - as to be perfectly honest I think that you are probably watering them far too much - particularly as once a week would generally be considered to be adequate - which I find is plenty for mine - even though they are subjected to 14 - 15 hours of intense sunlight a day as well as temperatures that are well in excess of 40 degrees centigrade and they survive perfectly on a weekly watering.

Also have you got plenty of drainage holes in the bottom of your pots - as this can also be a problem - as instead of the water draining away - the amount of water starts to build up in the bottom of the pot every time you water - which eventually leads to their roots permanently sitting in water and that is what causes leaves to fall off, roots to rot and eventually their untimely demise.

 

[Chuck]

Stick your finger into the hole in the bottom of the pot. If it is wet, not just damp, you are watering way too much. One good soaking a week is plenty

 

[claudine]

The soil on the top seems to be dry. Unfortunately, the holes in the bottom of the pots are really small, too small for my fingers. I could stick my finger in the soil, but won't I hurt the roots?
Or maybe I should try to enlarge the holes?
I've been growing these roses for around four years now. In the past, I used to water them once a day and they were growing beautifully

 

[Chuck]

The soil on the top seems to be dry. Unfortunately, the holes in the bottom of the pots are really small, too small for my fingers. I could stick my finger in the soil, but won't I hurt the roots?
Or maybe I should try to enlarge the holes?
I've been growing these roses for around four years now. In the past, I used to water them once a day and they were growing beautifully

No, you won't hurt the roots by feeling the soil at the bottom. The top of the soil doesn't matter if it is dry or not. What matters is down where the roots are, probably 3-6 inches down
Stick your pointing finger all the way down into the soil, pull it out and blow on your finger, if you can feel anything cooler than your breath it doesn't need to be watered at that time. One good soaking every 7 to 10 days is plenty, especially in a moderate climate or indoors or on a balcony. Frequent watering displaces the oxygen in the soil, in essence the plant suffocates. And as the plant is lacking oxygen the soil starts to become anerobic releasing nitrogen and causing the feeder roots to rot and start to decay, which is called root rot. And when you have root rot there are harmful bacterial spores which are released into the growing medium and that affects the quality of your soil and thus the health of the plant.

Pull a plant out of the pot and see how wet it is and smell it to see if there is a slight odor of ammonia. If there is not ammonia smell your roses will probably be OK. This will not hurt your rose either and it will also give you a look as to whether it is root bound or not. And you might also think about repotting with fresh soil.

 

[gata montes]

The soil on the top seems to be dry. Unfortunately, the holes in the bottom of the pots are really small, too small for my fingers. I could stick my finger in the soil, but won't I hurt the roots?
Or maybe I should try to enlarge the holes?
I've been growing these roses for around four years now. In the past, I used to water them once a day and they were growing beautifully

Firstly just to put your mind at rest you won't hurt the roots if you did try to check the holes for moisture - however - I think that it would probably be easier to check by removing one of the plants from the pot to check how moist it is - however more importantly if they were too moist - you would need to know the cause so that it doesn't happen again - which brings me to ask - as the holes are very small and your pots are reasonably large - how many holes do you have in the bottom and are your roses still in the same pots as they have always been in or have you re- potted them ?

PS - apologies for the repeat regarding the roots - but it appears that both Chuck and I posted our responses at exactly the same time

 

[Chuck]

Firstly just to put your mind at rest you won't hurt the roots if you did try to check the holes for moisture - however - I think that it would probably be easier to check by removing one of the plants from the pot to check how moist it is - however more importantly if they were too moist - you would need to know the cause so that it doesn't happen again - which brings me to ask - as the holes are very small and your pots are reasonably large - how many holes do you have in the bottom and are your roses still in the same pots as they have always been in or have you re- potted them ?

PS - apologies for the repeat regarding the roots - but it appears that both Chuck and I posted our responses at exactly the same time

I wonder also how long those plants have been in those little pots. It wouldn't surprise me if they weren't root bound. The symptomes would be similar. Would you be safe to remove all of the old potting soil with a strong stream of water, just to be safe from root rot, and repot with new soil and a bigger pot

 

[gata montes]

I wonder also how long those plants have been in those little pots. It wouldn't surprise me if they weren't root bound. The symptomes would be similar. Would you be safe to remove all of the old potting soil with a strong stream of water, just to be safe from root rot, and repot with new soil and a bigger pot

Although I would agree with you that it is possible that the roses could be root bound - I'm not sure that they are - especially as the symptoms are also identical to those normally associated with over watering or water logging - with the latter being the one that I'm more inclined to think it is - as apart from the fact that roses will survive for some considerable time when root bound - without dying or dropping leaves - as these roses have been over watered and are in pots with very little drainage - think they are now showing classic signs of being waterlogged.

Yes it would be safe to re-pot using a new pot with plenty of drainage and fresh potting soil - and although it would obviously be best to remove as much as possible of the old soil - as apart from the fact that the soil would probably be pretty stagnant - you would also need to inspect the roots to see if there was any damage - think rather than a strong stream of water - more gentle would be better but only after shaking off as much of the soil as possible first - after which it would probably be best to then let the roots dry out naturally by planting in dry fresh potting soil and not watering for a couple of days.

 

[claudine]

I repotted two of my roses - those that look the weakest. Their roots look normal. The old soil didn't seem to be too moist, but I removed it anyway and I replaced it with a fresh one. From now on, I'll water them once a week.
I hope they will start growing again, I feel horrible when they look so unhealthy

 

[gata montes]

I repotted two of my roses - those that look the weakest. Their roots look normal. The old soil didn't seem to be too moist, but I removed it anyway and I replaced it with a fresh one. From now on, I'll water them once a week.
I hope they will start growing again, I feel horrible when they look so unhealthy

When you say that you've re-potted two of your roses - am a little confused am not sure if you mean that you've just done so or if it was some time ago - if you have just re-potted them - did you make sure that you have plenty of drainage material as well as lots of drainage holes in the bottom of the pot ? I only ask because I really want to help you get everything right this time - so that you can enjoy looking at healthy roses again - especially as I know how much they mean to you

 

[Chuck]

Watering once a week is not a law. Only water when the plants need it. Like I said, stick your pointing finger down as far as it will go, at least 2 or 3 inches If it is the slightest bit damp you do not need to water at that time. Remember, you are not watering the soil, you are watering the roots

 

[Kata99]

A new rose had rolled leaves, apparently it has a fungal desease and the suggestion was to move it near air flow...maybe yours may do best in that situ too Claudine.

I too am guilty of watering too much,..now if they are damp I leave them.

 

[claudine]

When you say that you've re-potted two of your roses - am a little confused am not sure if you mean that you've just done so or if it was some time ago - if you have just re-potted them - did you make sure that you have plenty of drainage material as well as lots of drainage holes in the bottom of the pot ? I only ask because I really want to help you get everything right this time - so that you can enjoy looking at healthy roses again - especially as I know how much they mean to you

I'm sorry if what I said wasn't clear. I'm very emotional about this topic, so I write my posts quickly I re-potted two of my roses yesterday. The rest of them had been re-potted around three weeks ago. I think that maybe I should drill more drainage holes. I'll try to do it today.

Kata99 - thank you for the suggestion, but I always keep my window open, so my roses already have plenty of fresh air. I hope your rose will get better soon

 

[gata montes]

I'm sorry if what I said wasn't clear. I'm very emotional about this topic, so I write my posts quickly I re-potted two of my roses yesterday. The rest of them had been re-potted around three weeks ago. I think that maybe I should drill more drainage holes. I'll try to do it today.

No need to apologize as I do understand how you must be feeling - which is why I'm hoping that we can get this problem well and truly solved - so that it doesn't happen again and yes I do think that it would be a very good idea if you were to add more drainage holes to the bottom of your pots - in fact the sooner the better.

Talking of which - if its any help - as to how many holes you will need to drill in the bottom depends on the size of the pot - on looking at the size of your pots in the photos - would say that you need at least 10 - and although if I was male I could probably tell you exactly what size drill bit to use - as I'm not - all I can say - is that the drill bit needs to be at least the thickness of a pencil

 

[claudine]

Thank you for the advice These roses are extremely important to me, I love them. Unfortunately, it turned out that drilling holes in plastic flower pots is more difficult than I thought, so I'll have to wait for my boyfriend to do it for me