aggierose, your question re pot size is not dumb at all- I wondered that for years myself! The answers I came across indicate that unless your potting mixture (for young plants) is very light, nutritious, and free-draining, the closed environment of a pot holds too much moisture and too much air remains driven from the soil for too long. True, open ground CAN be so saturated (as after a heavy rainfall) there is no oxygen (especially in clay soils) in the soil, but usually water moves through the soil fast enough that it isn't a problem. Roots stop growing when there is no oxygen, and do so temporarily after a heavy rainfall. So your babies may be getting swamped (this can happen in heavy soil if you just amend a hole with lighter soils - the hole ends up being a sump that traps water). Also, if they are recently potted they have lost a lot of tiny feeder roots - so they need to replace those, plus you will have leaf yellowing and drop as the plant give up leaves it can't support right now, until the feeder roots re-grow. Which won't happen if the soil is heavy and oxygen -less. Without being there it is hard to say, I would be hesitant to tell you to repot again into a smaller pot and lighter mixture. If the plants re in danger of rotting outright you will have to, gently. Do the canes/stems still look good? Lastly I am still suspicious of your soil mixture - for me I have very, very rarely purchased ANY soil that I didn't need to amend (preferred) and a LOT of what I see has all kinds of junk in it - long-term fertilizers, wetting agents - it's getting harder and harder just to find good soil that I can lighten up with Perlite, sand, etc. That includes so-called African violet and cactus mixtures. For my own experience it is better to mix your own! I might try more than 2-3 hours of sun, at least more partial sun if your heat is strong. And do not fertilize at all until the babies are really growing!!! 5-inch tall plants need small pots with a light, free-draining mixture - you might try re-potting to a smaller pot and putting the small pots into the big pot (double-potting). Pack the space between the pots with insulation material (I've used newspaper, mulch, packing peanuts, even old dirt!)

Tip=Use new sharp drill bits- minimal investment- maximum JOY! Hey- my husband came up with a great idea to keep containers tidy- and not readily viewable from most neighbors- I think he thought I might stop saying a want a green house- But that has not happened- yet. Although, my back hurts much less from lifting from the ground because of his thoughtful gesture- He put up 2 sets of rubber coated steel wire shelves (from Home Depot) along the whole length of the west side of the garage, and made a plastic drape that can be rolled down from the roof to protect the wee little seedlings from rain and hail and help to insulate them a bit as well. I don't have a great shot of it but this might give you and idea... The wood 2x2s support the plastic roll down curtain when it is down- The angled support 2x2s also have holes drilled through them so I can move the pegs that keep the bottom weighted rolled to a cople of different positions. It really is a great system- and is really quite strong- I did test it's limits this year though- I had gallon pots sitting in trays of water after a heavy storm and huge buss tubs of soaking dirt all along both shelves- and finally- the shelves did collapse with hundreds of pounds of weight... But a few new clips on the wall of the garage- and putting the gallon pots on the ground- and draining the water from the soil took care of it- and now it is back to almost new!

squirrel ... I've experimented in the past using hay bales placed into long rectangles covered with plastic with holes with space inside to place covered and uncovered containers. This system works just fine. What I found was heat retention in the coral is sufficient for sprouted containers to have their tops completely removed very shortly after sprouting even in the coldest and hardest freezes. At the same time, you'll still want to keep the tops on the unsprouted containers to have a more ideal greenhouse effect going until they pop. The real key to success with this method is to make sure the plastic top is constructed to be easily and effectively adjusted to increase or decrease ventilation in the compartment space according to fluctuating direct sun and temperature conditions. I do think you'll find the coral will make for a very nice appearance. Good luck.

Catspa, quite correct about the potting soils. What's more, different plants have different requirements not only in terms of nutrients but in terms of pH, aeration, water holding capacity and drainage. It is a matter of trial and error. In my local erratic market conditions, whenever I find a potting soil which I like for an application, it disappears from the market... Anyhow, my twopence worth regarding rose potting soil. It needs to have above average water holding capacity without, of course, sacrificing drainage. Coarse potting mediums good for my citrus are no good for my roses. My best advice is to mix some garden soil or clay into a standard potting mix. Maybe 5-10% clay or 20-30% garden soil and the rest some good fine grained peat based medium. Adequate water holding capacity can make the difference between needing to water twice a day during heat spells or every other day. That's a big deal. If one is to mix soil straight out of the garden into potting soil then one could do worse than taking some steps at partially sterilizing it. I just spread the soil on a concrete surface in the summer and cover with a tough clear nylon sheet. The Med sun does the rest in a few days. If one has a steam household cleaner one can attempt to use that also (I have never done this). My rule of thumb is that after 3 years or so, depending of course on plant and size of pot, some radical operation (e.g. re-potting, up-potting, root pruning) will be required. I fertilize depending on how often I water but not less than once a month during the growing season (which is most of the year over here..). A 3-1-2 ratio fertiliser with Mg and micronutrients is suitable for roses in pots. I use a granular rather than soluble or liquid fertiliser for cost reasons (plus applications don't need to be as frequent and the application is much easier; just spread and water), although if one really wants to be pedantic about it, a granulal fertiliser might pose more of a problem in terms of salt concentration in the long term. I buy the fertiliser in 40lb bags which makes it MUCH cheaper than any soluble or liquid fertilizer (not to mention those 'special' rosy ones). It is very important to water to runoff. IMO pots and a clean and tidy hardscape do not go well together unless you have someone constantly cleaning after you. Potting soil and salts from water and fertiliser WILL eventually stain hardscape permanently or not. No matter what one sees in glossy magazines... I also flush the pots about twice a year to help reduce salt concentration. IMHO relying solely on 'organic' fertilisation for pots is iffy at best as the pot environment is not very friendly to the required biochemical processes for breaking down these.