Sonic,

How big are the pots in which your roses are now growing?

Did you plant them into paper fiber, degradable pots, by any chance?

What named varieties are they?

I can answer your question better knowing your answers to my questions.

Moses

No, not the peat or paper degradable pots thought I wish I could find those locally. They are in typical planter pots between 2 and 3 gallon sized, with the bigger roses in the bigger pots.

There are 2 Harlow Carr that were shipped bareroot with bigger but trimmed roots so nothing to hold the soil yet. The Spring Hill Rainbow sale collection of 5, again shipped bareroot and no little roots yet-

Pumpkin Patch

Ch-Ching

Cupid's Kiss

Violet's Pride

Take it Easy.

The remaining ones were body bags I picked up on clearance and those had longer more developed roots with little white rootlets staring, enough to hold on to the body bag material quite well, which I soaked off gently. Those are:

Cl America

Therese Bugnet

CL Don Juan

2 Knockouts.

I used a mixture of potting soils: MG and Dr Earth Organic. Normally I would mix in some native soil when putting in a pot to eventually go in the ground, but I'm on red clay soil now and when it's wet one can forget working with it in any way, shape, or form. I have gardened in clay and shale before so at least that is nothing new. Anyway, I'm afraid if I try to plant them too soon there will be no/not enough little roots to hold any root ball and the stress might be too much for them.

Moses, do you mind if I ask what general area of PA you are? Though I'm not from PA originally, I recently moved from Western PA. Thankfully I was able to pot up a good amount of plants, roses, and fruit trees to bring down with me. It's been quite an adjustment to gardening down here but my Zephy Drouhins were so happy they stayed green and in leaf all winter, however now I need to be mindful of the heat and humidity all summer long. Up there I felt comfortable potting something in late April or May and putting it in the ground in July, but here I'm just not sure.

Thank you Seil, it's comforting to know that if there is good root development they will handle the heat ok at the time of planting.

Sonic,

You have some really nice roses there! I don't see anything that's touchy, fussy to grow.

All your steps and materials used in potting them are v. good.

I see their final transplanting going off without a hitch, if great care is taken in de-potting then so as to disturb the roots as little as possible.

Here's a little trick. Let them dry out a bit before transplanting day. The soil mass will stay together better and be less likely to fall apart.

If your schedule keeps pushing their planting date back, relax. They are growing under the same climate conditions whether in ground or in pots. Even as fall approaches they will harden off the same, in ground or potted. You can get them in pretty late if needs be, all the way up to Thanksgiving.

I live in Pittsburgh, city of Stanley Cup Champs, but for roses, it's Black Spot Alley and Midge Fly Buffet...those sweet little momny midge flies know which entree their wicked kids will feast upon best, my roses tips!

Moses

Ah, the Burgh. I had a little farm about 60 miles outside of yinz. :)

And yep, my roses would get pretty ratty looking by mid summer. On top of the JBs we were besieged upon by stink bugs plus aphids, I didn't seem to have a lot of midge there. Or at least that I knew of. Unlike here where things are already covered with both, ugh, and I have yet to learn what the JB situation might be. Thankfully I have seen far less stink bugs here and there is no more running around inside the house with a spray bottle of soapy water.

Up there I had mostly HTs and climbers, some of which I brought, but since moving I've decided to try some DAs and hope they tolerate the red clay area ok. I'm doing some of the same bed building techniques of making layered raised beds and so far seem to have happy plants despite the clay.

So how long do you guys think it might take for the roses to put out some good smaller roots? Should I plan on at least two months?

Hi Sonic, I start a few roses off in 3 gallon pots every year. I usually wait at least 6-8 weeks to transplant them so they have time to develop some roots. Some varieties do better than others and the root mass of the bareroots does seem to make a difference (stubby body bag roots vs your large Harlow Carr roots). I would leave them in a bit longer than not as depotting a poorly rooted plant can cause those tiny roots to easily break away with the soil. Best of luck with your new home and garden!

Sonic,

Raised beds are the answer. Actually, the clay base is good below raised beds because of the abundant minerals and moisture it provides. Up high, not so good, down low, very good.

I wish you great success in your new home and rose gardening!

Moses

Sonic, I also have a lot of bare root in pots waiting to be planted. I am working on cutting down some evergreens and make room for roses. Hope to plant some in the garden today in between the rain. You don't have to wait. I water them well after planting, and also water them everyday for the next a few weeks. Happy planting!

I am no rose EXPERT just yet but I have been a landscaper for years past.+

I FILL the hole any tree, rose bush especially bare rooted ones or plant was going to go in too at least 2 to 3 times and then place the plant into that hole and fill in the soil using good pressure to get all the air pockets out...It gives your roots a better chance at survival with the surrounding soil being good and moist longer. Deep watering s are very difficult to do unless you have a slow drip system or hose, or you keep a sprinkler on for better than an hour each time in extreme heat....It's important to keep all your new plantings moist down to below the root ball, so to ensure a good root development and a deeper root system. If you you water just enough to wet the first few inches on your new plantings, especially with a layer of mulch, it will encourage surface roots to form which can get killed off anytime you forget to water or in drought conditions..Less shock to your roots too.

I'll also have to pot some bare root roses temporarily, maybe for 6 months or longer. I was wondering if it might make it easier later on getting the rootball out intact if I lined the pots with something like shade cloth or hessian, so that the whole contents of the pot could be lifted out, keeping the soil around the new roots. Has anyone done this?

no matter how careful I am, I always lose, most if not, all of the root ball. Actually I am probably not that careful. I just mix the old soil with new soil and pot the roses up like they were bare roots. If they are big, I prune them back maybe a third. Main issue is to water before and water a lot after. I usually don't lose any. I have some that have been in two and three gallon pots for almost ten years. I have also planted the pot and all if I am not sure where it's permanent spot is going to be.

Oh my goodness, I have bad manners and forgot to post a big thank you to Dave, Moses, Mikerno Summers, Seil, Lenarufus, and Countrygirlsc!

The first batch of potted roses are doing well and the second batch I did something a little different. Somewhere on here (I forget which thread I saw it on) I lined the pots with plastic bags first, with drain holes in the bottom, then put in the dirt and potted the bare root.

It was said to help ease the dirt and root ball (if any) out of the pot and into the hole at transplant time. Considering my concern was in trying to keep any root ball in tact, this made sense so I decided to give it a try. I'll try to remember to come back after transplanting them in to the ground to note any differences.

Lenarufus I would imagine 6 months would be long enough for the plants to develop some decent roots and if you follow Moses' tip on letting the soil dry a bit first, it should help. Depending on the plant's branches or canes I will slowly roll the pot on the ground while pushing gently on the outside of the pot to help loosen the pot's hold on the dirt so it will (while the plant is still on it's side) slide out of the pot easier.