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Fertilizing roses in pots

BethC in 8a Forney, TX

9 years ago

I'm looking for guidance on fertilizing the roses I have in pots. I have minis, minifloras, and full size roses all in appropriate size pots. I planted all of them in Miracle Grow potting mix.

The first ones were planted as early as mid February and the others have slowly been planted since then. Right now I am watering every 3-4 days. We've not had any hot weather yet, mainly in the mid 70s as a high.

The packaging on the mix says there is no need to fertilize for up to six months. Some of the roses are really flourishing and some are off to a slow start.

How soon should I start giving them fertilizer? I have some slow release Osmocote and some Rosetone.

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Comments (5)

seil zone 6b MI
9 years ago
Rose-tone is mostly organics and you can use those any time. You can also use fish emulsions any time. Anything organic will not harm them but instead will enrich the soil and feed them.

The Osmocote is a chemical fertilizer and if there was Miracle Grow fertilizer in the soil already you might not want to add more of that just yet. If you add too much fertilizer it could burn the roots. I would wait until later in the season to replenish that kind of fertilizer. I usually do mine in the very early spring and then again in July.
diane_nj 6b/7a
9 years ago
Watering every 3 - 4 days may have washed out most of that fertilizer by now. You could do fish emulsion at half-strength once a week. Osmocote works well in pots too.

BUT: have they bloomed yet? If not, then water is sufficient enough for now (they are happily growing roots, and they need roots before blooms), fertilize after the first bloom cycle.
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
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I alternate between stuff like fish fertilizer and compost teas and stuff like MG and MG bloom boosters etc. I have tons of brugmansia which are very heavy feeders and will eat up anything I can throw at them. I do not mix up separate batches so whatever I am feeding them, I just do the same for all the other stuff too. I have potted roses that get quite a bit of fertilizer and I have not had any problems. I use plastic pots not clay and they get watered several times between fertilizer applications. Also, make sure to never fertilize a dry pot. Always water about a half hour before you fertilize. I killed a rose many years ago by putting fertilizer on a very dry rose lol. Completely fried it!! Never forgot that lesson.

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barbarag_happy
7 years ago
Beth, in zone 8 you don't want to push a lot of new top growth on your young roses right now. I'd back off on fertilizing during July and August and just concentrate on keeping them hydrated. Then as the weather cools, feed them and get them energized to product those big fall blooms.
wirosarian_z4b_WI
7 years ago
Because roses in pots are watered very frequently when it gets warm out & some of the water always goes thru the pot, you are flushing your fertilizer out. I give my potted roses 1 qt of 1/2 strength (1 Tbsp per 2 gal water) 20-20-20 Miracle Gro once a week & that seems to keep them very happy.

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