grocery store mini on my birthday

19 years ago

i got a grocery store mini for my birthday -- don't groan.

it's flourishing. it's actually a little freaky, it's flourishing so much. if it isn't an orchid or an african violet, and it blooms, i usually kill it. i've killed minis before. this little guy is growing so fast, it's put out several new *sets* of leaves in a matter of days. and it's forming new blossoms, and several of the blossoms that have formed before i got hold of it have opened.

is this type of aggressive growth normal? can i look forward to this thing growing inches in days, or do most minis tend to grow in spurts?

i'm keeping him in a nest of orchids, in a south facing window, on top of a door mirror. every morning before work, i mist the whole bunch with a weak solution of superthrive and orchid food, emphasize the word "weak". i've gotten a few oncidums to bloom there, and it experiences temperature drops nightly, so much so that i'm ready to move my warm loving orchids away from the window now.

it's remarkably charming to look at. and so healthy, with all that new growth and all those new buds. i've already bookmarked a few sites which i've seen linked to on this forum, hopefully it won't number among the tragicly short lived.

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Comments (7)

Megsroses
19 years ago
While difficult to grow in-doors, it isn't impossible to have them growing and blooming especially given the type of care you describe.
However...be very vigilant for Spider Mites. An aggressive spray bath at the kitchen sink at least once a week and additional humidity will hopefully be beneficial in keeping the mites at bay.
It sounds like your new 'baby' feels right at home with the orchids!
Good Luck
Meg
shebear
19 years ago
I'll bet there's more than one rose in that pot. If you repot in the future, you might want to look for that. Many of the minis I pick up at different places put as many as seven plants in the pot. You could end up with a mini garden of minis.
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legray
Original Author
19 years ago
Megsroses - yeah, I remember thinking to myself, when I was reading the material I found, that miniroses seemed to require care very simmilar to my orchids. So I just tossed them into the mix, and it appears to enjoy it.

shebear - Definately more than one. I count four, total, which means that I'll probably be repotting it sometime in the near future.

The problem is, I have a naturally addictive personality, and now I find myself wanting more more more. >Maybe if this one is still healthy when spring rolls around, I'll humor my appetite and get ONE more....
legray
Original Author
19 years ago
i wonder if i'm orchid people, or mini rose people? ARE there mini rose people? this whole forum is so quiet, all things considering....

my mini continues to thrive, but i notice the buds are opening as they are very tiny, i assume that has to do with the amount of sunlight it receives? the spike on my sharry baby is opening before it gets long enough to match its histor (this is my first actual winter with it), so i think that the sun is effecting everyone.

do you think this mini would be happiest if i repotted all four of them before they started to die off? i've depotted the guy, and the soil *was not* a mash of roots, and i've only lost a few spriglets of leaves to browntip, and no infestations at all so far.

the leaves that were tiny when i purchased the guy, are huge now. it looks like it *might* be trying to be leggy, but i can't tell yet.

pardon me for saying so --

but damn, mini roses are engrossing fun.
LauraN
19 years ago
Oh Rats! I just bought a grocery store mini.
I just couldn't help myself. I know better. I know roses are suppose to grow outside. I know it is very late to plant them outside now even if I had room. But it is just too lovely. It's orange on the reverse and the outer edge of the petal with yellow going down to the base of the petals on the inside where there are little red flames. It's one of the Cupido series which, I must confess, have junped into my basket in the past. Where else can you buy happiness for $4?
They really are fun, aren't they? And since they are so small they don't really count!
Laura
tenor_peggy
19 years ago
I used to grow mini orchid species! I'm not at the present time (but I will again down the road). I tried to grow minis with my orchids under flourescent lights, but the plants got leggy and didn't bloom very well. I had 4 40 watt gro type bulbs on each shelf. The orchids did fine (I didn't grow high light lovers like catts and dends so maybe I didn't have enough light for the roses?). If you can keep the rose alive this winter I'd plant it outside in the spring. I hope you have better luck than I did.
jpw_chi
19 years ago
Last weekend, I just shovel-pruned my once-amazing grocery store mini-rose (a Poulsen Parade rose). It went from a mere six inches tall to two feet x two feet plant with nearly constant blooms. Then powdery mildew took hold and consistently destroyed new leaves.

Even then, the nearly-bare canes still hung in there though and continued to put out new leaves -- all of which got PM. I tried various non-toxic options inside the house. Sadly, the bare canes just looked horrible. I had to '86 it, and replaced it with new roses(Poulsen Palace roses this time).