from my experience scratching down halfway or a bit more in to that type soil in a pot will show wet soggy soil no mater how long its been sense the last watering.

don't know anything about roses though so that could be good but I would expect not good.

there are plenty of threads on this forum about pine bark based potting mixes that would probably best suit your needs for growing in pots.

it is an interesting subject which is fun to mess around with and makes a lot of sense to me and seems to work for many on here, and from my short experience is working for me too.

BZ

Thanks BZ! I'll do that...just want a lighter soil is all when it comes to hauling this around to our John Deer garage.

its amazing how much lighter bark mix is compared to potting mix etc.. probably because its not holding a lot of water ?

If your primary concern is the weight of the soil, I'll leave you to figure out what's lightest. If your focus is offering your plant(s) the best opportunity to come as close as possible to realizing their potential, you can do a LOT better than the suggested soil and methodology you inquired about in the OP.

1/3 commercial potting soil (regardless of its quality) + one third well-aged garden compost + one third well-composted mushroom or steer manure will yield an extremely water retentive soil that lacks adequate aeration, and even an equal part of perlite won't help. You're also at risk of fertilizer burn or ammonium toxicity (especially when it's cool and/or cloudy) if you're not VERY careful about using a combination of fishmeal/bloodmeal. A good soluble synthetic fertilizer would be easier, more efficient, and less likely to burden you with issues related to your nutrient supplementation.

Al

Rose trees and or roses are notorious for dying in a conatiner mix that does what Al is saying within the first season.

I would invest in a good soilless mix that is suggested my many here....Just type in 'Tapla Mixes' in the garden web search feature and you will get a great start!

Al I wish for my rose tree to flourish. Just when trying to figure it out. I'd seen mention of using a light soil in pots that need winterized and assumed that the route to go.Which I had no idea one considered that. Now that I know otherwise...I'll forgo that option.

Bummer...our mature compost was just pushed over a steep ravine hill in hopes to remedy a horrible dead smell that we wasn't sure was coming from that area. Or down wind to our lake association. It seemed to help...but again it depends on cross winds. So still not saying it totally fixed our problem.

So where does one get mature compost? Garden center?

Can I stick to Miracle Grow? And how often would you suggest it? On the YouTube video I watched it said every other water. Then or said after you deadhead.

I've ground cover roses and they are simple. But I do wish to give this tree a chance. Not only is it pretty...it was a gift from my boys.

Meyermike...soulless mixture. Is that the gritty soil I have read about? I'll check it out as well.

I'm just leaving it in the pot it came from until I know how not to kill it.

cadillactaste, I have been doing a lot of work looking into soil and potting before I plant my container roses, since I will need to overwinter them too. Here is what I think I am going to do:

Get a large planter, line the bottom with newspaper and then some stone. Wrap the sides in bubble wrap for added insulation during the winter.

I've considered making my own soil blend (specifically this one but the more I look into it the more complicated it seems to get!

In the end I think I will follow the advice in the comments of that post and get this pre-mixed soil and and then use fish fertilizer.

FWIW - the newspaper will just slow drainage and retain more water. The stones won't improve drainage ..... in fact, they are counter-productive because they will cause water to perch in the soil ABOVE your drainage layer; and the bubble wrap won't offer any protection against killing lows - it will just marginally increase the length of time it takes for the temperature to reach that critical temp.

CT - there are different ways to look at a soil. To me, a heavy soil is one that retains a lot of excess (perched) water. Light soils aren't necessarily light in weight, but they are airy and hold little or no excess (perched) water. Mature compost, or any kind of compost is great in the gardens & beds, but can quickly become problematic in containers because of its small particle size and its propensity to hold LOTs of water ...... something you'd be better to avoid in containers. If you concentrate on ensuring your chosen soil will retain adequate amounts of air (even at container capacity) for the expected interval between repots (different than just potting up) you'll be offering your plants a better opportunity to grow closer to their genetic potential.

The fertilizer part is easy. If your soil has dolomite in it (which has the Ca/Mg Miracle-Gro lacks), you can use their all purpose 24-8-16 or 12-4-8. Don't concern yourself about building a soil to feed the plant. That's what fertilizers are for - container gardening is much different than growing in the earth, and many of the strategies (like feed the soil and not the plant) are best left in the garden.

Al

Thanks Al!

Watering the tree it seems like small bark that moves when water hits it. Could that be the soilless mix mentioned by Meyermike?