Would you like to grow a miniature rose in your window garden this winter? A delightful replica of a regular rose bush with perfectly formed, fragrant flowers?
Of course, you would! Who wouldn’t? But wait! How do you rate yourself as a gardener?
Does philodendron thrive for you?
If you can answer “yes,” then proceed to the next question.
Can you flower an African violet, a geranium, or a begonia in your window garden?
If you can answer a reasonably hearty “yes” again then your chances with a miniature rose are promising!
Cultural Requirements For Growing A Baby Rose
The cultural requirements for growing a baby rose indoors are a sunny window and lots of humidity 60% to 70% percent are ideal.
Providing so much moisture in the air presents any gardener with a challenge, but these little roses are worth whatever trouble you expand on them.
To be healthful, every house should have a humidity of at least 50% percent.
If you already have this, then providing the extra 10% to 20% percent shouldn’t be impossible.
The old suggestion to keep the pots sitting on a tray of moist sand, pebbles, or peat moss helps, but the coarse grade of vermiculite is best.
Vermiculite: For A More Moisture Evaporating Surface
Vermiculite in the tray provides a more moisture-evaporating surface than any other medium that might be used.
Depending on the source, your miniature rose may come as a growing plant, or it may be a dormant bush with dead-looking canes.
For planting, roses use a soil mix of equal parts of loam, leaf mold, sand, and well-rotted cow manure. A 5- or 6-inch pot is ample room for the roots of these small bushes.
Water well after potting, and sink your little rose in a protected spot in the garden.
If you have a cold frame, that’s where the rose should be. Right after Christmas, bring the rose to a sunny window where the night temperature is from 60° to 65° degrees Fahrenheit.
To help the dormant canes make growth, cover the plant with a polyethylene bag to keep the humidity high. When growth becomes apparent, the bag may be left off.
Changes In Temperature: Bad For Indoor-Grown Roses
Sudden changes in temperature are bad for indoor-grown roses.
Good ventilation is necessary to discourage mildew. Fresh air should come from a window in another room so that cold drafts will not strike the rose.
When the rose is in active growth, the soil should be kept moist at all times, but not soggy wet.
The soil must be well-drained. Feed the plant every 2 or 3 weeks with a liquid house plant fertilizer, according to the directions on the container.
If you will pinch out the soft tip of the new growth, a bushier plant will be your reward, and you’ll eventually get more flowers.
It sometimes helps to spray the bush daily with water, to provide more humidity. This should be done in the morning so that the moisture will be dry by night. Otherwise, mildew will cause trouble.
Related: Learn How One Expert Grows Their Roses
The Reason Why Red Spider Mites Appear
Red spider mites will be present if the temperature is too hot and the humidity too low. They may be present anyway, under the best of conditions.
The same sprays that you would use for roses outdoors are in order here.
I’ve found a handy aerosol-type spray for roses that is practical for roses indoors. This spray contained, an effective fungicide, insecticide, and miticide.
Follow directions on the can and be sure to hold the container at least 18” inches from the plant. If you have no sunny window, then consider growing miniature roses and tinder fluorescent lights.
For best results, use a fluorescent reflector 15” inches wide by 48” inches long with three 40-watt daylight tubes in it.
These should burn 15 or 16 hours out of every 24. Under fluorescent light, miniature roses must be close to the tubes – 6” to 8” inches.
When the weather gets warm in the spring, prune back your miniature rose and plant it outdoors in the garden. If you desire to grow it indoors the following winter, keep it potted.
Repotting can be done in the spring or in the fall, but it should be done once a year.
Knock off part of the old soil and repot in a new pot, either of the same or one size larger.
Miniature Roses From Seeds
Last spring I obtained a packet of Rosa polyantha nano seeds. These were first “planted” in a ½” inch of water in a refrigerator dish and placed in the freezer. The seeds were put into the freezing unit on April 23.
- On May 15, I removed the dish, melted the ice, and planted the seeds in a mixture of peat moss and sand.
- By May 29, they had several sets of true leaves, and they came into full bloom the last of June.
Miniature Rose Produces Neat Little Bushes
These miniature rose seeds have produced neat little bushes, 9″ to 12″ inches high, and sweet-scented single and semi-double flowers in shades of pink, rose, and white.
These are hardy, and we have planted them as a permanent border for a rose bed.
Look in your seed catalogs for a source of miniature rose seeds.
If you cannot find them listed, I will send you a source of supply if you enclose a self-addressed postal card or envelope with your inquiry.