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triple_b

I know NOTHING, please help

triple_b
17 years ago

I was recently given a mixed pot with mini-gerberas, a green plant of some sort, and a little white rose, about 8"tall. The planter is about 8"square with no drainage on the bottom (typical!). The pretty little rose looks like it's about to snuff it, and I want to save it. I understand I will be serving it best by putting it outside to live. Our frost is about 2 weeks away by my estimate, maybe more, maybe less. I would like to keep it in a container. Is it too late to acclimatize it to outside and get it in the ground for the winter (sunken in a pot)? How big a pot?

Comments (7)

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    17 years ago

    1st pot up your rose in a pot only slightly larger then the rose roots themselves. Too big a pot means too much water sitting around to rot the roots. If the rose is small this could be as little as a 6 inch pot. Use a high quality potting mix that drains well (do not use dirt). Make sure the pot has plenty of drainage holes. Do not use clay pots. Add no fertilizer (so no Miracle Gro potting soil as it has "Osmocote" included in the soil). If you do all of this you may be able to have the rose make it through to next spring when you will wait until the roots grow through the drainage holes and then you will up the pot size by 2 inches and add Osmocote. Temperature wise it is tricky this time of year. You want the rose to go completely dormant; drop its leaves, yet live. Try hardening it off (in and out of the house leaving it out a little longer each time). Let the leaves drop outside. Put it in a cold (basement? unheated garage? temps never under teens) dark place and leave it alone until next spring only occasionally (once a month? twice?)watering (use a moisture meter). Remember alive yet dormant.

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    17 years ago

    You are welcome. And I wonder why sometimes I don't bother to respond.

  • triple_b
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    OK my brain was mush at the time. Please don't take offence. I am so sorry I never thanked you for your excellent information. I recently lost a family member very close to me (my infant son in fact). I am not making excuses, just telling you that I was a bit absent-minded at the time. But I AM very grateful for the info, and I will try and be a little more vigilant in future.

  • lesdvs9
    17 years ago

    Triple I'm so sorry, that doesn't mean anything, but I'm always looking to see if anyone will talk on the mini site and saw your post. How awful for you. How trivial a flower is compared to your son. God bless you and give you the strength you need to get through each day. I wish I had the words to help you. Leslie

  • triple_b
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thank you. My boy passed away in utero at 33 weeks, and I had to deliver him stillborn. He was already 5 lbs (!!) so we know it wasn't lack of food! It remains a mystery but we will find out one day. Thank you for your blessings. If not for God's peace we would have been in real mess. But He is so merciful. Thanks again,

    Tripleb aka Trish

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    17 years ago

    I am sorry for your lose. Death has touched my family also and I realize how small other cares are by comparison. May the Lord's love keep you nurtured until the time of the eternal gathering of all his beloved children.......Maryl

  • triple_b
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thank you Maryl,
    I look forward to seeing him and holding him again one day.

    Blessings to you
    Trish

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