Oops, I mean that it's 30-40s outside at night and maybe like 50s inside

The answer to your question is that roses are NOT houseplants. I cannot stress this enough. They do not get enough sun indoors and lose their leaves, get spider mites and pretty much wither away. Even the sunniest window isnt bright enough. I know it's cold now, but you could probably still put it in the ground and it will survive winter. Just dont fertilize it now and cover with a thick layer of mulch. Minis are some of the hardiest roses and you should have no problem. Then in Spring start fertilizing once a month, give it a layer of compost and water faithfully. Good luck!

Jen

Kinda hard to plant something in the ground when you live in an apartment and aren't allowed to do such things...

Do you have a garage with your apartment? You could water the pot well and then store it in a garage, even if the garage is unattached to the apartment building in your climate. Then you could give it a water it about once a month or so. When I lived up in WI I grew all sorts of roses in containers and overwintered them in my garage. Do you have a balcony? Then in the spring you can place it back out there and it should do well for you. How big is the new pot you put it in?

No, no garage with the apartment or balcony either. I have been tryin to use artifical lighting and a small heater. New shoots emerged before, but after I repotted on Monday, it's not doing as well. The pot is the same size, but I took out the dead plants (it came with 4 in 1 pot). Maybe it's not doing as well right now because I just repotted it and it needs to adjust?

Darn. Several years ago I purchased a light stand and flourescent light fixtures that held 4 bulbs each for growing mini roses indoors. This fixture was not near a window. I hate to tell ya but I didn't have much luck. The minis became spindly, barely bloomed and contracted spider mites. :-[ If you have a large south facing window you could try to supplement your artificial lighting this way - what type of lighting are you using? You will also have to give your plants a good spray of water under the leaves weekly to combat the spider mites. Eventually I abandoned the idea of mini roses under those lights and tried smaller orchids like phalaenopsis with much better results. :-\

I've been trying to use flourescent lighting. Unfortuneately, my apartment only has windows facing the north. =T I guess I'll just see how long my mini roses last then.

Yes, unfortunately these grocery store roses are sold mainly for decoration while they are in bloom for a few weeks. Why I dont know. I think you should try some houseplants that will like morning sun only. I have many if you need suggestions.

Jen

I overwintered a mini on a windowsill last year, and it survived... but was nothing to be proud of by the end of winter. What was said earlier how the brightest window isn't enough for roses, is right.

However, I've discovered that if kept just slightly moist, placed on a humidifying damp-pebble tray, and maintained in a room that is kept in the 50s to low 60s, roses will go semi-dormant. If keeping them outside over the winter is not an option - like in zone 4 - then this is at least a way to let them survive until you can place their containers in the garden for the warm seasons.

If I can get marijuanna to bloom in a closet, you can grow a mini rose in your apt. (of course that was when I was a kid, but I still remember how to do it. lol) You just need a light on a timer. Set it to be on for 12-14 hours. Preferably flourescent. Tempting to suggest you just get another type of plant, but with only a north window you're probably going to need a grow light for any interesting plants anyway. Plus, with a grow light you have the liberty to put it any place you want.

Awe how sad, I moved to the Netherlands to be with a new Beau, and he gave me a miniature rose, and although I am a novice at the plant world, I do know they force the poor things to bloom, and yes he/she was beautiful when I recieved it. Now is looking sad. Netherlands weather is much like the North East coast. Like Delaware in the USA. Going to put it in the Picture window that gets all the Sun light of the day and see what happens. My main question is this. Being that its in shock as it is, and is in a small pot. Would risking putting it in a new pot with new soil make it worse or would it help? Or is it like anything else a Gamble? I know your answers are only opinions so don't be afraid to say it. I won't stalk you if my rose dies..LoL. And that statement was said in humor. Well now that said. Hello and hope to see some input. Thank you.

A dissenting report. I'm growing them inside, have for years and they do fine. I have south windows and no artificial light but I've also grown them in east and west facing windows with equally good results. One thing about winter is that the sun comes in at a low level and strikes full on the plants - when there is sun. I repot them before bringing them in - they are going to lose all their leaves because of the change to indoors so they might as well get over the shock of transplanting at the same time.
I do spray for spider mite (using Avid) but that's because I have 20 big roses inside as well. For minis, you can control spider mite by wrapping the base of the plant with a paper towel to retain the soil in place, turning it upside down in the kitchen sink and running cold water on the underside of the leaves. Do this a couple of times a week and the mites will turn up their toes.
What is mostly required is patience - don't give up until the stems are black. Most of these little plants are thrown out before they ever get a chance to demonstrate how tough they are.
Right now Sweet Diana is blooming. Giggles, Vista and Small Miracle are in bud. Yes they get a bit lanky when days are short and sunlight is scarce but they can be pinched back and will make it.

Well, i have a testimony abut growing roses indoors. I live in Texas, and was determined to grow miniature roses indoors. I went thru the spindly ordeal,and the yellow leaf ordeal. Finally what worked for me was, I planted my minis in 6" clay pots and added "Rose Tone" an organic fert. sold here in my area, I used it very liberally, like 1/2 cup to a 6" pot, and placed them (I have 3) on their saucers lined w/gravel real fine gravel, of which I kept filled w/h2o right above the gravel level, placed them in a east window and w/in 5-6 days, i had all kinds of growth and w/in 6-8 wks. my plants almost doubled in size and loaded w/blooms!!!! I was elated, I had been trying for years to make ago of it! They may have got 3 hard hours of sun, maybe 4, and wala!!! I did... have to water them every morning. but it can be done. "Rose Tone" Im sold on it!!!

Hi, I'm not sure what to do. I live in NW CT, gets to single digits at night (at least it did in Feb), I planted a grocery-store "rescue" named Kordana this summer, it perked right up on west side of house (full afternoon sun). Do I repot it and bring it into the garage (not insulated) or basement (never went below 40, have a south full doublehung window)? Or will it be OK outside (mulch?) It's so tiny, I'd end up burying the canes in mulch b/c there really isn't any root exposed.

What about the Parade miniature we rescued the other day? I told my 5-yr old she could keep it in her room over the winter, we keep the house around 65-68 round the clock, she has a west window.

Thanks

Ajsmama - the mini that you've already got in the ground should be just fine where it is. If it went in this summer and "perked up", hopefully it is established and can handle the winter. Is your ground frozen yet? When the ground freezes remove old leaves from the mini and cover it in a few inches of mulch.
Regarding your daughter's plant...how old is your kiddo? Could she handle having a grow light in her room? I wintered minis with good success under a grow light - bought the specialty bulb at the plant store and put it in a regular desk lamp fixture. The problem with these as opposed to fluorescent (and the reason I ask about her age) is that these get quite hot. Also, as mentioned above, your worst issue will be spider mites, so every week get the plant into the sink and hose off the underside of the leaves with your sprayer. I wrapped plastic wrap around the base of my plants when I did this to keep the dirt in place.
Also, if its in it's original pot it may like to be repotted (there are usually 3-4 little plants in each pot, and they need more room to actually thrive).
I doubt it will bloom indoors for your daughter, but it should make it through the winter, and then I'd advise putting it outside. There's an ENORMOUS thread here called "saving a potted gift rose" that will tell you more info than you ever wanted about working with your grocery store mini!

Best,
Lara

Here is a link that might be useful: Potted gift rose thread

I've been reading this post because I am in the same position now. No place to winter over the two mini's I have. They are in pots now out on the porch of our condo. And the weather here in zone 7 is getting colder. I either have to figure out how to winter them over on the porch or bring them in and give it a go iside. I wish I had a clear cut way of knowing what is best. I know I can't simply leave them in their little pots on the porch, the roots would freeze through. Maybe putting the smaller pots inside of a bigger pot with lots of mulch or insulation of somesort between the two pots and on top. Any suggestions? I'm thinking too of bringing them inside and putting them on a very sunny windowsill and try to keep humidity and air circulation up as much as I can over the winter. Also rinse upside down a few times a week to hopefully keep pests down. I do have problems with some kind of tiny tiny mites that get on the underside of the leaves on the indoor plants. They are so so tiny, they can only be seen with a good magnifying glass. They suck from the underside and the leaves turn light only on the tiny pinpoint spots that the mites suck on. From the top the leaves almost look like they have been sprinkeled with salt. I don't know what the heck they are though. Daily misting with water or slightly soapy water does seem to help some though. ok..any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Your tiny critters are spider mites. You will have the same problem on your roses if you bring them inside. Your plan on rinsing off the plants a couple of times a week will help, as will the humidity.

I don't think they are spider mites. I've had spider mites before and they spin little webs. These are absolutely web-less. I've seen spider mites over the years and I've always seen the webs with them. At first I thought they were spider mites, but they seem to be different little mites.
However I don't know what alternative I can use rather than bring them in. I am in a condo and can't plant them outside. In reading the posts on this thread, I have seen that a few people manage to winter over the mini's inside. What else can I do?

I just bought one of these parade mini roses as well earlier this week. While it didn't cost very much, and I did just buy it because I wanted a little floral cheer in the house since Christmas is over, I do sort of want to keep it alive as long as possible. If it dies no biggie, but I'm worried now about the spider mites. I have several other houseplants clustered on top of a small bookshelf (2 shelves only) under my south facing window. I've never had a problem with spider mites before, should I move the rose so it doesn't infect my other plants? I don't mind tossing the rose but I've got several years invested in the other plants and don't want them to get sick! Any suggestions would be helpful.