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jockewing

Rescuing Sick Roses

jockewing
10 years ago

Earlier this year I bought several potted roses on Fortuniana root stock and could not plant them as my bed was not ready yet. I held them through the summer and fall and have finally gotten around to planting almost all of them after completing a huge project to turn half of my backyard into a huge bed for ornamentals and crops. I basically did the Back to Eden method and heavily covered my existing ground with 6-8 inches of horse manure, which I let settle for several months. I then planted and mulched heavily with woodchips from tree trimming.

Anyway, apparently the soil in several of my pots got waterlogged and my roses almost overnight started dropping leaves and looked halfway dead. I repotted them all in a very loose potting mix and all but 2 have made a miraculous recovery and are putting out lots of new leaves. However I have 2 plants that don't seem to be doing anything (Gemini and Marlon's Day). Luckily I just checked Gemini and I am finally seeing some tiny buds forming, so I think that one made it, but still nothing on Marlon's Day.

The plants were re-potted (or planted in the ground) about a month and a half ago. How long should I wait for some growth before deciding whether I've lost it? The stems are still green by the way. I only lightly water every 3 days or so just to keep the soil barely moist and it's out in the sun--didn't think that would hurt it so late in the year.

On a related note, I have a plant of Heart O' Gold that I planted several months ago that put out a lot of new growth. Several weeks ago, it put out a lot of new leaves, but it seems like those leaves have been the same size ever since then and have not grown at all--like they are frozen in time almost. In my experience, roses are pretty fast growing so I don't know what is going on with this plant. Have any of you ever seen anything like that?