Oh! I forgot to mention... the past couple of weeks, some of the leaves have had these funky little puckered bumps randomly show up. I don't know if that's related or unrelated.

Hi! Thank you for your response. =)

I repotted the plant from the original pot it came in soon after I acquired it; it's now in (I think?) a 1-gallon pot; though it's grown quite a bit since then, so perhaps it's time to plant it outside. =) I'd always intended to do so, but I don't have spot in mind yet, and it seemed to be doing well indoors, so I suppose I got over-comfortable with keeping it inside. I'll plant it outside ASAP.

Do you think that will "fix" the current problem it's having, or is it a disease that will require treatment?

Without seeing your rose in person there's no way to know what is going on, but I think it's related to being indoors so long.

These little roses from the grocery store are grown to be disposable really. That's not to say you can't plant them out just like any other rose. I have several in my garden. From your pictures I think Phil is right. Get it outside as soon as possible. Roses do not like the conditions indoors at all. They need a lot of sun that you can't get even in a sunny window. And most homes don't have enough humidity for them.

I have had these roses for nearly 20 years and have dealt w/ numerous disease problems over the years, but nothing like this. pH is good, fertilzer not he problem.
First outer leaves turn brown along the edges and move toward primary veins, then within days whole leave turns yellow and over several weeks the rose bush dies.
It's not black spot, no tell tale signs. Very frustrated. Please offer some suggestions if you can.

Thanks,

Bill

OK, I have several mini roses outside and their leaves commonly fall off. They usually start the spring just beautiful. They are in full sun among other perennials. I generally cut them back and they come around, but I wish I knew how to prevent it. I am not growing any roses inside. Thanks for any help.

There are a lot reasons why the leaves may die and fall off. Too much or not enough water both can cause leaf drop. If the leaves look crisp and curled it could be sunburn. If the leaves look spotted or like they have any kind of film or powder on them it's probably a fungal disease. And sometimes they just shed old leaves to grow new ones too.

Bill, better to start a new thread, but Florida has an insect called "chilli thrips", look that up, it might be what's affecting your roses.

Fran, sounds like your roses may have blackspot, a fungal disease that appears as blackspots on the leaves. The blackspots inhibit photosynthesis, which causes the leaves to fall off. As seil said, there are other reasons, too dry, too wet, etc. Also, look for rabbit damage, they will eat leaves.

I had precisely the same situation: a store-bought plant that was doing great for a while under fluorescent light (a CFL in a gooseneck lamp), then the lower leaves started yellowing, showing spots, etc. I took a really close look under a low-power microscope, and found out I had mites. These little suckers are nearly transparent, unlike the black ones that are relatively easy to spot. I believe that the plant cuts off nutrients to the infested leaves as a defense mechanism, since the mites can't suck the juices from a dry leaf.

Use a miticide if you're OK with chemical treatments; Bayer's 3-in-1 has a particularly effective agent in it. If not, or if your state hasn't approved the stuff for sale (you cannot buy it in NY), you can try my approach: fill a bucket with soapy water (dish detergent, ca. 1/2 tsp per gallon), and shove the entire plant, upside-down, into the water. Slosh it around, and up-and-down, for about a minute. This removes the bugs, drowns the ones who won't let go, and I think it might even damage the eggs (tiny white specks on the bottom of the leaves.) Repeat once a week for at least 3 weeks (the mites have a 10-day life cycle), and maybe once a month after that to keep 'em down. The mites prefer a dry environment, so this treatment, along with misting, will prevent them from doing noticeable damage.

I think the real problem with keeping these plants indoors is that the mites are not exposed to their natural predators, so their population can explode very quickly. They are incredibly persistent, and they will keep coming back time and time again if you don't manage to kill off every last one of them (and every last egg as well!)

Unless you like having ladybugs crawling around the house, you're stuck with regular washing, or chemical treatments, to keep them under control.

Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Spider Mites

Hi onetruetree n everyone,
Its lovely to find such wonderful ppl online who constantly help newbies like methanks a lot guys.
Id just like to add here, please chk for scales too cz thts wat mine had.
I grow roses indoors and they grow just fine in a north east window:).but thn mumbai weather is very diff than tht of US.
Nonetheless, pls fo chk along the stems for scales, n swab them off with dilute alcohol.
Worked pretty well for me.