Five Essential Considerations in Growing Roses in Pots

Some people would say that growing roses in containers is never easier than just digging a big enough hole into the ground and sticking a rose in it. What’s the use for pots, after all, when planting the roses straight into the ground is a much easier thing to do? Well, as a matter of fact, containers are a very valuable venue for growing roses. Once you get to know the reasons why many gardeners like to grow their roses in containers, you will probably want to grow some of your own roses in pots yourself. Before we teach you how to grow roses in containers, we will first give you four good reasons why you should.

Four Reasons to Use Containers

  1. Not least of all the reasons to use a container for your roses is the fact that you can move pots and baskets and tubs and all sorts of containers around. Imagine hearing a sudden nearing hailstorm on the news and you suddenly worry for your roses. You won’t have time to protect them from the hail, but you have ample time to move them inside your garage or basement.
  2. Tired of the same old look your garden has been donning for ages? Then it’s time to re-landscape your garden. And that is especially easy if you can carry your rose plants in one lift and transfer them to other places.
  3. If gophers, moles, or other kinds of burrowing pests are disturbing the peace in what could have been good planting ground for your roses, then it is always better to pot a huge amount of soil and other organic materials where you can grow your roses rather than risk your beloved plant roots being eaten by those pesky creatures.
  4. A tree is always a good thing, right? Wrong. Not especially if the tree grows too close to your roses and the roots are sucking away all the water and the nutrients in the soil, leaving nothing for your plants. You don’t want to fell the tree, either, especially if it isn’t yours in the first place. The solution? Leave the tree in peace and plant your roses in pots.

Are you convinced yet? If so, then let’s get started with learning the art of growing roses in pots. Actually, you can choose any kind of container, may it be a pot (It is the most common container used), tub, trough, hanging basket, barrel, or anything else you can think of. Here are five considerations for growing roses in containers.

The Container

As we’ve discussed above, there are many types of containers according to their form. We can also classify them according to the material of which they are made: wood, plastic, ceramic, clay, terra cotta, and even biodegradable fiber. The key to choosing the best container for your roses is finding out which is big enough for them and provides good soil drainage. Miniature roses, which are most commonly the ones potted, will have enough room to grow in 5-gallon pots, while larger floribundas, grandifloras, shrubs, and climbers need something as big as a 15-gallon pot. If you want to stay on budget, plastic pots are your best bet because they last longer than any of the other containers, retain water the most easily, and do not crack easily in cold weather.

The Soil

Prepare the container by layering the bottom with an inch of gravel or small rocks to serve as drainage and prevent the soil at the bottom from hardening. Then fill the pot with a third of potting soil, a third of high-quality garden compost, and a third of steer manure. Add one cup of bonemeal, perlite, fishmeal, and bloodmeal to increase the nutrients in the soil. When the soil is two-thirds up the container, it’s time to plant your roses and cover until the soil has reached the brim. It is important that it reaches the edge of the container because the soil becomes compacted over time.

Watering

Container roses drain easily, even if you are using plastic pots. Therefore, it is important that you water them more often than your plants grown on the ground. Water your roses the moment you plant them and make sure that you follow this up thoroughly afterwards. To see if your roses need watering again, simply dig your finger three inches deep into the soil. If it is dry, then water it; if it is wet, don’t.

Fertilizing

It is important that you feed your rose plants only when they are wet. Trust us—you don’t want to burn them all by fertilizing when dry. As they need more frequent watering, container roses also need more feeding. We do not recommend using a stronger solution, though. Feed them once a week during show season and two times every month after that with fish emulsion, Epsom salts, alfalfa pellets or a commercially available fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro or Grow More. 

Further Caring

You need to transfer the roses to another container every three years or so because the soil in your pots has, by then, accumulated insoluble salts from the fertilizers. To transfer, simply insert a knife into the sides of the pot to loosen up the soil. You also want to remember that even potted roses need a regular dose of pruning. Fortunately, if you are familiar with how to prune ground roses, then you wouldn’t have any problems with pruning potted ones.

If growing roses in pots is one of the next plans for your garden, then it’s a good thing you came across this article. Our aim is to show you a thorough outline on how to grow roses in containers. We have one request to make, though. Send some of your roses to friends—you don’t know how much a surprise present to remind your friends that you are thinking of them will make them happy. A potted rose makes an excellent gift.


Growing Roses from Seed

Pollens and Rose Hips: A Step-by-Step Guide to Growing Roses from Seed

It certainly isn’t easy growing roses from seed. Many gardeners, especially beginners, opt for grafting roses on unions instead. But while it may not be the fastest way to grow beautiful rose plants, it is still the most rewarding of all methods of growing roses. Once you decide to grow your own roses from seed, you are automatically submitting yourself to the difficulties that you will encounter along the way. Sure, a single rose hip contains several seeds from which you could possibly grow more than a dozen rose plants. But you should know that not all seeds are good enough to provide you with healthy roses that last long. So before taking on this effort-consuming task, it is best to understand exactly what you will be doing to grow roses from seeds.

The Anatomy of the Rose

By herself, Mother Nature is capable of growing roses from seed, but at a much slower rate than how long it takes if you interfered. This is because roses, although they are commonly known as the “queen” of all roses and appear to be very feminine, are actually very bi-sexual in nature. You heard that right. Roses are both male and female. They have an ovary, which contains the ovules (or eggs) to be fertilized by pollen, and a stamen, which houses the filaments containing the pollen. So if you leave the roses at that, you will end up with naturally produced seeds that you can plant later on. Once you see rose hips develop, leave them alone for four months and go on with your regular daily routine of rose care. When the four months have passed, it’s safe to say you can harvest the rose hips for seeds. However, if you are way more into advanced gardening and would like to hybridize roses, then you need to cross-pollinate them first.  

Hybridizing Roses

Assuming you have already selected the roses you want to cross-pollinate, it’s time to cut off a number of blooms and take their pollen sacs. To do this, look for flowers that are not yet fully opened, perhaps half or three-fourths open, and carefully pluck out all the petals, leaving inside a fresh-looking, golden yellow stamen in the middle. Take this out, too, and put them inside uncovered sterilized film canisters to dry. Wait for the stamens to burst open—this usually takes a few hours to an entire day, depending on the rose variety you choose to cross-pollinate.

By the time the pollen becomes available, the stigma, the part of the rose that receives the pollen grains, has become sticking, meaning, it is ready to receive the pollen. Using a clean Q-tip or your fingertips, dab the pollen grains into the stigma every four hours for an entire day.

Getting the Rose Seeds Ready

This is perhaps the most tedious part of growing roses from seed because it takes up a lot of preparation time before you can actually plant the seeds in soil. After harvesting the rose hips, slice them open and scrape out the seeds with a butter knife. You can throw away the pulp and the shell afterwards. Rinse the seeds in a solution of purified water (bottled water does the trick) mixed with two teaspoons of bleach. After rinsing, soak the seeds overnight in 3% peroxide to encourage better growth when planted. A good way to find out which are the good seeds and which ones will not make it past being planted is the water float test. Discard those that floated to the surface of the soaking solution because you can be sure those that sunk to the bottom are the high-quality seeds you should work on.

After soaking the seeds overnight, it is important that you clean them out further to thoroughly remove the pulp that has stuck to them. Place the seeds on a patch of clean cloth and brush the pulp away. Another method of cleaning them is by placing a cup of purified water in a blender that has plastic blades. Take note, it is important that you use plastic instead of metal blades so you do not damage your seeds. Turn the blender on for several minutes and your seeds will end up like dirty clothes being washed clean in a tub of whirring water and soap.  

It is also a good idea to stratify your rose seeds before planting them. This involves covering the seeds with a paper towel soaked in half-and-half water and peroxide solution. Fold the paper towel to secure the seeds inside and place it inside a Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and leave it in the refrigerator with a temperature of 34-38 degrees. After six to ten weeks, your rose seeds will finally be ready for planting.

Planting the Rose Seeds

Use a mixture of 50% potting soil and 50% vermiculite for your seeds. This is very light and will help your seeds germinate into healthier seedlings. Place the seeds about half an inch deep into the soil and lightly sprinkle with a rooting hormone, such as RooTone or Captan. If you are concerned about using chemical substances, however, you can always use a water-and-peroxide solution instead. Cover the seeds with soil and spray the substance again. This gives the seeds better chances of withstanding seed diseases, such as damp-off. Place your tray of seeds in direct sunlight and make sure they are watered thoroughly. Six weeks into the process and your seeds will have sprouted and will be ready for transplanting.

By that time, your rose seedlings will be ready to receive the same kind of rose care that you give to your other rose plants. Remember the three basic elements of successful rose gardening: water, soil, and sunlight. Make sure that you provide these for your seedlings, along with mulch and fertilizer, so that they will grow into healthy plants that reward you with beautiful blooms when the time comes.