Hi,

I have been keeping mini roses over the winter for a few years......

What I do is let them go dormant....no watering and low light in the basement laundry room......I give them a little water maybe once a month......vacumm up the leaves when they fall off........In Jan or Feb...when ever the mood strikes.....I pull them out..re-pot if necessary...cut back any criss crossing branches and the top third off the rest of the branches....water and place under a florescent shop light..once the leaves start appearing and new growth can be seen...add a little 10 52 10 rose fert ...start at 1/4 or 1/2 strength...and work up to full strength........not much to it.

Syreeta are you reading this...LOL ;-)

Check your mini rose and see if it has only one plant in the pot.....or if its one of those 4 inch pots with 4 cuttings in it..........If it has 4 stems in the pot....they should be divided and potted individually.....I would do that right away.....and give them time to settle in and show some new growth.....then let them go dormant.

I don't spray the leaves unless I see powdery mildew...then I use milk and water....but I only saw that after they were outside this summer.

Hope this helps!
Sierra

Yes I'm reading this Sierra. LOL Hopefully I don't kill any of your roses. I haven't had good luck with minis' in the past. They look good so far. (Fingers crossed.) My fushia that I have been training to be a tree I think hit the dust though. :( I'll keep watering it, maybe it will come back.

Syreeta

Thanks Sierra!

YES this does help. I've printed out your instructions of what to do and hopefully my hubby won't be able to tease me about being a "plant killer" this year!! LOL

I am curious about the milk and water for mildew. What sort of ratio of water to milk do you do?

Ang

Haha....Not to worry....will be getting more colors of minis when I need to get my hands dirty, later in the winter. I was in the nursery the other day....they had some unusual ones....they were red with white or was that white with red blotches.....can't say I have seen that color in minis before.....I didn't buy though.....this is the time to take a break from gardening....for me.

I forgot to add that when you add your water once a month or so...you may get green spindely growth....from lack of light.....I let this grow quite long....then cut it off and plant it.....sometimes getting two or three cutting from it.....and yes the cuttings should be blooming too by the time they go outside or shortly after. I couldn't believe how easy it was,to grow these.

I use approx 1/3 milk to 2/3 water and spray it on. Oh ya I use 1% milk. I have also used whole milk. I don't really measure.....what could possibley happen.....you over milk your rose? :O

I did find that some minis were worse for mildew than others.

When they start to grow...they really need lots of light...a window won't do.

Sierra.....dreaming of mini roses already and I haven't even got my amaryllis yet.

Thanks Sierra!

This sounds like it is going to be fun watching them sprout and growing come springtime! See? I am being possitive... They WILL make the winter! 8^)

Ang