Keep in mind that the narrower the base and the higher the center of gravity, the less stable the pot. I don't know whether roses do better in one than in the other.
Melissa
P.S. Nice to hear that pots are getting recycled, and for good causes!

I haven't noticed the shape making a whole lot of difference. I think roses favor a taller pot, so roots can go deep. The drainage holes need to be adequate so your rose doesn't get water logged. The shape and open bottom of the band air prunes, promoting a fuller roots system, as opposed to roots that continue to elongate and circle the bottom of the container and become rootbound.

I have found roses respond well to moving up a size at a time. I go from band to gallon to two gallon, etc. when good roots are showing out the bottom. My luck with immediate transplant of a band into a big pot has not been good, the rose becoming water logged and sometimes dying.

I say use them. When I repot my bands they go into pot that I have laying around as I reuse mine. I use smaller pot such as the pots you first described. Like you I would rather reuse and I have never bought a new pot under 1gal in size. I even reuse the band pots to grow annual seeds.

Liz

"I think roses favor a taller pot, so roots can go deep"

Greybird, I've wondered about that.
It seems like I remember someone saying that a rose's roots will "find" available planting mix, whether it's available for them horizontally or vertically.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this. The reason I ask is because I sometimes like the look of containers that are as wide (or wider) than they are tall. And then there's the advantage of a lower center of gravity that Melissa mentioned (Chicago might be the official "windy city", but Dallas must not be far behind).

Randy

I grow the majority of my roses in containers. The pots I use for the rose's final container (I step them up) is 20" dia x 18/19" deep for the shrubs and floribundas and 16" dia x 15" deep for the minis.

I find the pots that are about the same wide as tall are very stable. Mine are just fine in gale force winds. But I have seen roses grow in pots that are wide but squatty. I think the same as you, the roots will go where they are able to. But I still think a deeper pot helps.

Liz

Yes Randy, if you are going to keep them indefinitely in a pot, guess it really doesn't matter so much the shape. It doesn't sound like the ones Sunnysideuphill is describing are of a permanent nature.

I interpreted the pots in original question as transition pots. For best root developement with eventual plans of placing in the ground, I believe the deeper root system is better.

But of course, the roses will likely tolerate whatever pot they are in.

The square ones will probably be too small, and it's harder to get plants out of those than the rounds ones. The rootballs have a nasty tendency to catch on the outside lip because it bends in.

The round ones should be fine.

Yes, these are the first pots for the bands to go into - by the end of the summer they will either go into big pots as described by rosesnpots or into a new bed I am hoping to have.(again - a yearly goal, it seems)I hadn't thought of the lip on the tall squarish pots, good point. I think I will go with the rounds. Thank you all!