Greetings,
I recently bought some Bareroot Hybrid Tea roses, but unfortunately, the seller only had very immature plants that were about 6 months old.
I received the plants wrapped in wet newspaper and mailed via 3 day courier.
I soaked them in water for about 12 hours, and used a mixture of Red Soil + Cow Manure + Vermicompost + DAP + Potash in the ratios 1 : 1 : 1 : 0.25 : 0.2
However, when I planted the roses, they turned black at the tips and gradually died out over the next few days.
The weather here, in India, is dry and about 33deg C/ 91deg F.
Is there a better way to plant them?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Regards,
Rajnesh
My first thought is the mixture you planted them in was too āhotā for their level of maturity and it burned them.
My other thought is your heat. I would keep babies like that in a shaded area until they are more established.
Sorry I canāt offer more, Iām not familiar with India. Hopefully somebody else can chime in.
Thank you, so much, for your reply. Iāll try again with just plain Red Soil + Vermiculite.
And, yes, given the heat, Iāll set the next batch in semi-shade.
Fingers crossed.
Best.
Did you put mulch around the canes after you had planted the roses? You should put mulch right up to the tips of the canes so as to conserve moisture in the canes. Usually, it takes 7-14 for the roots to take hold and start pushing new growth. You want to conserve the moisture in the canes during this time by placing a mulch essentially covering the newly planted rose. I also agree that the planting mix you described is not ideal. I would recommend at least 75% native soil and only 25% (or less) of those other things.
Thank you, for your very informative reply. I didnāt realize that mulch needed to be added that way. When you say, āright up to the tips of the canesā, do you mean upto the Budding union?
Also, Iām wondering whether it would be a good idea to cover the plants with a clear poly sheet to preserve moisture.
Iāll definitely set them in Shade, and use mostly (75%) Red-soil, in a mixture of Soil + Cow-dung manure + Vermiculite.
In your case, with plants that are so young, I would be very careful what I use as āmulchā to help keep the canes moist. What is available to you? Here in the US, we would use barkdust or sawdust, something that wonāt burn and will mound up against the canes. I donāt know that I would cover them with anything; in your heat you are basically creating a sweatbox. I think a lean soil mixture, for now, and daily misting should be okay, kept in a semi-shady area for now.
The cow manure you refer to, how well composted is it? It should smell like dirt, not manure, before you use it. Even so, mix it thoroughly with plain soil, and donāt use it ābareā (not mixed with soil) against the roots or canes.
For mulch, we just have some dry leaves, but Iām a bit wary of attracting fungus.
The cow-dung manure is quite mature - just a faint smell, and itās well integrated into the soil.
The final ratio that Iām thinking of using would be:
Plain Red-Soil : Cow-dung Manure : Vermiculite = 3 : 1 : 1
Iām glad you mentioned not to cover the plants with Clear Polythene.
Iāll, instead, set them in a Shady area and Mist them every couple of hours until shoots appear.
I have one more question:
How long can I soak the roots in water when the plants initially arrive? Would 48 hours be too long?
I have let my bareroot grafted (not own root) roses sit almost completely submerged in a bucket of water for a good week before I got them planted. BUTā¦my bareroots come in February/March when it is still fairly cold outside.
I would not do that in a hot climate. 48 hours, in the shade, sounds okay to me.
Remember once you plant them, keep them moist but not wet. Roses donāt want to sit in water, they will rot. Canes need to be kept damp until the roots are established and can provide what the canes need to thrive. If you have some newspaper, you could wet that and wrap it around the canes loosely to help keep them damp.
Be creative, keep an eye on them, should be okay. Once you get going with them, you can post pictures here too, if that might help us help you.
There was a fabulous article about growing roses in India in a recent issue of the Ars magazine. Perhaps contacting some of those rose growers in India world be helpful
Hello Rajnesh, Thank you for reaching out. Your planting mix suggests that you planted them in containers. There are a few impotant differences in planting bare root roses in the USA and in India. The primary difference being that when bare root troses are shipped in the USA, they are all in dormant condition and therefore will withstand a lot of handling. The reason for shipping ābare root roseā in India when they are not dormant might be to shed the weight of the potting mix or soil. I do not see anything really wrong in how they ship them if indeed it is the current practice there. Perhaps you learned about āsoaking bare root roses, for 12 hours, 24 hours, or weeksā by reading some discussions in certain public media. Soaking bare root roses that are dormant for about 2-4 hours is good advice, especially if the roots appear to be dry and shriveled. The plant and the roots will be hydrated in two to four hours. The rest of it, 12 hours, two days, or a few weeks, in my opinion is all about people getting carried away with this soaking deal. I do not doubt that some roses may have survived this extended soaking treatment and the rosarians who have had this experience tend to share and recommend their experience with good intentions. I do not believe that soaking the type of roses you received (young, immature, not in dormant condition) for even an hour is a good idea.
How could you have done better? If you are planting in containers, make sure there is good drainage and water drains freely from the pots. Secondly, nurse those plants in shade, away from direct sunlight, for a few weeks while those plants are establishing their roots. Water daily because the soil/ media dries fast. Once the plant has a few new leaves, (in a few weeks), those plants may be gradually moved to full sun. If you are planting in ground, I would like to suggest that you form raised beds with or without borders, to prevent water-logged conditions and to prevent plants from dying from drowing. And try to plant in the cooler part of the year for where you grow roses. (Which state, city, etc)
I am not familiar with the + Potash ingredient in your soil mix. No chemical fertilizers must be added to the soil until the plants have developed roots.
I hope this is helpful. I used to grow roses (sucessfully) in India from 1960-1975, and here I have been growing roses from 1976 till now.
As another suggestion, you may try to get in touch with some rose societies in India. I know they can give you the most accurate info on the prevelant rose growing conditions and recommended techniques. Satish Prabhu
Hi Rajnesh,
Again, this is another example of challenge involved in giving advice to someone whose growing conditions are radically different from the ones we are used to. It is indeed good advice to " mulch the newly planted bare root (dormant roses without any foliage) all the way up to the tips of pruned canes, to keep them hydrated and not exposed to drying conditions. But your young plants have foliage, not dormant. It would be a very bad idea to cover up ypur little plants with mulch to the tip.
And Thank you, very much, for your wonderful help. Satish, I got the Potash Meal fertilizer on Amazon.in, however, I didnāt use that for the second batch of bareroot roses that I received. Please see belowā¦
Iām attaching a Photograph of one of the Bareroot Roses that I bought. I included my finger for scale, and as you can see, the Rose is really tiny.
I received the plants (the second batch) about 4 days ago, and after soaking for 12 hours, I planted them in a mixture of Red Soil : Neem Powder : Vermiculite = 3 : 1 : 1. Nothing else.
Iāve been Spraying them about 3 or 4 times a day. Starting today, Iāll wrap them in Moist Newspaper for a couple of hours during the afternoon heat.
I agree the plants are small, relatively speaking. But small plants will grow when given the required care. In the first picture, the little cane growing upright in the back appears to have stem canker. I would remove it, entirely. I would also cut off the little black/ dark tips of stems. It is good to cut off the upward extension of the original rootstock that is above the graft union. You may have about half an inchthe size of the bud union suggests that it is at least a year old, or older, as you see many stems have arisen and for some reason have dies. WHat variety is this plant? Is it a HT, shrub, or miniature? Which part of the country do you live in? A third of potash mix sounds like too much potash, although I canāt say that contributed to the demise of plants. 20% in volume of neem powder may also be excessive. Like you said, keep your fingers crossed.
Can you find any plants in local nurseries, that are actively growing, instead of bare roots?
If you see some pictures of bare root roses here, you will find most of those to be having shanks 3/4" diameter, or larger, with at least three strong canes coming off a graft union that tends to look like an upper half of a golf ball, or larger. Relatively smooth. Not many/any old canes cut off, because in a year of growth in the fields after grafting is not long enough for the bud union to have multiple little canes and grow gnarly.
Just by looking at your planting mix, I would suggest increasing or adding some composted cow manure to your mix. If you get some āupleysā, you can simply store them in plastic n\bags , outdoors, on your terrace or something, where they will thoroughly dry up, and undergo some amount of composting and you can add one whole upley, crushed, to each pot. I would like to suggest just spritzing your plants a couple of times each day, instead of covering them up with wet newspaper.
Best of luck to you. Is there a rose society close to where you live?
Hi Satish,
So nice to hear from you again.
The plant in the picture is a Hybrid Tea, and weāre in Hyderabad. In the next couple of days, weāre going to head upto 95deg F.
I wanted to give the Canker a last shot with Neem Oil, so I did that today. If it doesnāt work, Iāll trim the black section off.
We have two local rose sellers: one is a person sitting on the roadside, while the other has a small enclosed setup. Both only have unnamed plants that Iām not even sure are Teas.
I bought my plants by mail-order from a company in Bangalore. They have great selection, but I just wish the plants were healthier.
I refrained from the Wet Newspaper, and sprayed them with water 2 times today. Theyāre in partial-shade, and I think I should know if theyāll pull through in about a week.
I asked around, and heard that Hyderabad does have a Rose Society. Iāll join the group and find out how they grow roses in this heat.
Also, Iāll post more pictures in a couple of days.
Take care and thanks again.
Rajnesh
