Hello,
I live in Peru and bought a band rose last year (September) and put it in a medium plastic container. It was doing well but my gardener pruned it a month ago and it seems to be dying. It has only two green buds and the end of the brunches are all brown.
The mix is not so wet, but is humid, I don´t want to rot it.
Please help me , I don’t want my rose to die.
Thank you for contacting the Toronto Master gardeners with your inquiry.
It is difficult for us to say what happened to your rose without knowing the growing conditions of your rose, soil? temperature? light? The climate of Peru is very diverse, with a large variety of microclimates and much different than Toronto.
From your photo it appears as if your rose is in a container. Are you planning on permanently growing your rose in a container? Does your container have proper drainage? It could be that there is too much humidity for the specific variety of rose. Did you happen to notice any black spots on the rose leaves? Are there any insects on the leaves?
I have included a webpage below that contains information about common rose pests.
If you scrape a bit of the bark away with your finger and see green under the bark then your rose is still alive. If this is the case I would suggest pruning out all the brown dead branches and wait to see if and where new buds will break.
For overall care of your rose be sure the plant receives sufficient but not excessive water and sunlight. Although they were planted in September and were doing well, all roses appreciate a good two or three inches of compost and or manure in the spring and again in the early fall especially if they are grown in containers.
Here is some general information on growing roses in containers from one of our earlier posts:
Soil for your rose must not only provide nutrients but must also have good drainage. A potting soil designed specifically for roses can be purchased at most nurseries but a soil mix can also be made yourself by combining 40% potting soil or topsoil, 30% well aged screened compost and 30% perlite. Adding 1 cup of bone meal to the mix will add further nutrients as roses are heavy feeders.
In order for Roses to bloom prolifically, they need 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, so you need to find a good site for your containers. They also need to be watered daily, ideally in the morning so that they have time to dry off well before nightfall. In very hot weather, consider watering them twice a day, morning & early evening as containers dry out very quickly. Watering should continue until freeze up in late fall/early winter. Spreading a 1 inch layer of mulch over the soil surface will help stop water evaporation and will also discourage weed growth. Feed with a rose fertilizer after one month passes and then every two weeks until late August. Transplant your rose into the next size bigger pot after two years.