I did total repotting in 2022 and it was such a hard thing to do. Those huge pots were so heavy and hard to manage. The roots looked ok so I left them but the wrangling of that weight even with help was a job that I hope never to repeat. I will add to the top with new soil and cross my fingers that it is enough

Jen,

Just as you said, we already know the answer, we just don’t like it!

I do think topping off the pot with compost is beneficial, but perhaps not to the extent of what Kitty Belendez in the video is making her husband do!

If you want a good lesson on growing roses in pots, in India, over 90% of the roses grown are in pots. I'm in the process of learning how they do such a great job. There is an article in the latest publication of the American Rose Society about pot culture in India. Lots of good information.

I grow a lot of roses in pots (it's a long story, but goes back to having oak root rot fungus in my soil a long time ago). Anyway, I have a total of ~250 roses, with >200 of them in permanent 15 gallon black plastic pots. I chose 15 gallon as the max, because any bigger is too hard for me to wrangle when they need processing. It depends on the situation, but I'd say overall you should pull them up ~ every five years. I use the level of sinkage in the pots as my clue. Let them get a bit dry (they're lighter!) and pull them out and shave off a couple of inches from the sides and the bottom with a sharp knife. Add fresh potting soil, being sure to tamp it down well on the bottom to help prevent sinkage. Ideally, I like to apply a couple of cups of my mix of a Tone, and an organic mix sold by a local feed store, and earthworm castings and chix manure in Jan or Feb on top of a scoop of Osmocote with minors. I dump this on top, avoiding the stems. Ideally, I supplement with MiracleGro or more Osmo later in the year. Notice my use of the word "ideally". LOL, I'm really behind in pulling up many of my roses, and I hope to get a lot more done this winter. Also, last year I missed doing my organic mix, and I did notice a big difference. Force yourself to do it :-D

I have lots of potted rose, tropicals, and citrus. We are a zone 9a and some of my 14 (at last count) citrus trees arent hardy here. Some are just young (under 4 inch trunk diameter) so I am protecting them for a few yrs. I have had some of these plants in pots since at least 2009 because thats when we moved to FL. Thats how I remember lol. Anyhow, I do add compost and potting soil in the spring. My pots are just full of earthworms. Some pots are sunk part way into the ground so they dont tip in storms. The plants love when I do that. The plumeria, Starfruit, & Longan especially, go nuts. I drill a few holes on the bottom sides of the pots if I sink them. If you sunk them, even 1/3 of the way, you wont have to water as often, the roots will stay cooler. A little mulch in top helps too like Pine fines/shredded pine bark (fairly cheap at Lowes etc.)

Some of my greedy gut roses, which arent sunk, end up growing roots through the pot holes anyways and snake along the ground (under the soil) about 10-15 ft out! So I am not sure if I can even consider them to be strictly potted at that point haha. When I moved a few yrs ago it was a lot of work getting those pots up and severing all those crazy roots. I was amazed at how thick and long some were, especially the Austins!

When I repot stuff I let pots dry out a little and tip them over, pull everything out, and root prune. I dump all the old potting soil into our lawn mower trailer, to truck to our raised veggie beds. I get my hubbys electric cement mixer (a devious xmas gift one year, to him, to help my gardening lol) and put in pine fines, a little horticultural charcoal, large perlite, peat moss, a little pea gravel, a little construction sand, osmocote, any bags of Jungle Growth I have on hand (love that stuff), any bags of MG or other potting soil, orchid mix etc. that I have laying around, compost from my compost pile, (one could add Black Cow, worm castings, etc. instead). I just kind of eyeball it. If it looks like a nice dark (dry) chunky fluffy cake mix, its probably good. I mix it up well and dump it straight into pots. I need to repot/freshen again this spring on my citrus and tropical trees so maybe I will take some photos. Plus we made a bunch of new raised beds, so I can use that old soil. I have a wet enviornment in the summer so my potting soil had to be well draining. People in drier climates could add some water crystals or just a less chunky mix (less perlite or less bark, pea gravel etc)

I generally just keep adding stuff to the top of the pot/tub, through the year, be that compost, soil, a mix, soil improver etc. So far, it is working. I might do more root-pruning too, if I need to. Agree about roots coming out of the pots and sometimes rooting about out of their confinement!

Thank you for this post Lilyfinch, before I plant any more roses in pots. I had totally totally forgotten that I'll have to report them again in about 3 years, when I'll be even older, sigh. Now I remember why I had stopped using my large planters. Darn and I was getting so excited about planning what goes where. Glad I had only done 2 so far. Okay, back to staring at the full garden again, hmmm what goes out..?

if my pots were the size of those in the video it wouldnt be such a challenge. I have huge pots, maybe thats a mistake

Kris,

I think it’s a trade off…small pots need to be repotted more often. Large pots are harder to repot. Either way, we lose😅 and pot ghettos are inevitable for most rose lovers!

ThatsThat’s for sure. No getting around a good pot ghetto

Haha thanks so much everyone for the input . I will probably go the topping off route and upgrading the smaller ones to big pots . I just don’t know if I have it in me to do all the heavy work ! Somewhere along the way I became a lazy gardener 😌

I wish I could recruit my husband to help but he really prefers to stay out of it , and if he does get involved it comes with comments about the amount of roses I have and how I don’t need more … who needs that negativity anyway ?!! lol

My pots are on a cement driveway so I actually have yet to see roots come out searching . Only a couple roses really seem to be upset in their pots . Seems the rest deserve better but still do great in the spring.

So I do think those that are upset will get pulled out and cared for . But the rest can just hang on a bit !

Sultry and Susan you put me to shame with all the care and attention you give !! My roses are jealous :)

Children take a lot out of you, Lily. Your garden always looks lovely here.

@susan9santabarbara How aggressively do you prune your potted roses each year? Do you do it any differently than in-ground bushes? I’ve quite a few that I’d prefer to keep in pots long-term. Also, do you treat young roses (less than 3yrs old) any differently? I see lots of conflicting advice on the internet. Thank you!

@SD Shine -Z10a Bay Area I prune my established roses pretty aggressively. Since they're already ~16 inches taller than they'd be in the ground, I prefer them not to go much above my head. (There are some exceptions... I'm looking at you, Pink Intuition!) For high quality bare roots, I put them in 5 gallon pots for several months to start. Primarily to make sure they are correctly labeled, and also to see how they do for me if I don't know them. For the lower quality HD type bare roots, I put them in 3 gallons to start. For own root roses, I put them in 2 or 3 gallon pots for awhile and gradually pot them up. I find that the own roots benefit from a more gradual up-potting. Hope this helps!

@susan9santabarbara this is *extremely* helpful, thank you so, SO much!

Shelia, you are too kind !! The kids do keep me busy and it definitely put the garden on the back burner . They love seeing the blooms and insects together when the garden is in bloom .

Susan .. your advice is spot on . I especially want to reiterate to those who may not know .. potting up too big will really hold roses back . I don’t understand the science behind it but it’s 100 percent true . Any rose I’ve cheated and done that , has struggled .

Pacrnca - I’ll have to look for this product ! I always saw it in Tennessee but here I see lots of Dr earth product . In my town there’s only lowes / Home Depot and an Armstrong’s . I do wonder if the black cow soil would do the same ? I also love to buy worm castings when I go to armstrong’s. I should try to make my own .

This spring we should start a pot ghetto garden thread! I’d love to see everyone else’s .

It's all well and good to top off your permanent pots with more potting soil... I do it all of the time because I'm older and lazier and have way too many roses. However, just remember that those poor roots at the bottom of the pot are still sitting there at the bottom of the pot, and would really appreciate some fresh soil to grow into. They do notice the difference! Think of this as a public service message, directed as much to myself to get on it, as well as an incentive to the rest of you :-D

Haha susan ok ok i hear ya loud and clear! 😆

Anyone else try Air Pots?

The theory behind them is that all the holes cause root pruning so the plant does not get pot bound, it sends additional new shoots toward the center of the pot. The pot also unfurls for easier repotiting. I would think eventually the plant still needs repotting, but perhaps not as often. I have about half a dozen rosebushes in air pots, they do very well, but have only done it for 3 years. I think the tradeoff with these pots is that the pot itself is very hard to move. It is weather resistant, but does not have firm structure.

The other pot I’d like to mention is the Suncast 22” Pot. I call it the ’Rose Gardener Pot Ghetto Special’. I see SOOO many other gardeners big rose pot ghettos are using these!

It is good sized (about 22 gal), light weight, durable , affordable and not so ugly, in every way a very good pot roses. I have many of these , but I use big black nursery pots as well. If the rose is beautiful, I don’t really notice the pot!

Hi again Lilyfinch, lots of Dr. Earth in my area in CA too, and some Foxfarm potting soils but not the soil conditioner that was recommended. So I asked a store that carried their other products to order it for me, and received it 2 days later. Armstrong could probably get it for you. I don't know what's in Black Cow, but here's the recipe for the Foxfarm Happy Frog if you want to compare: finely-screened aged forest products, earthworm castings, bat guano, Humic Acid, beneficial soil microbes and mycorrhizal fungi.

I'll continue to pot-up my smaller pots, but for now, the ones in 22" pots are going to have to rely on a soil trickle-down effect!

Ben , I can’t remember who but someone does use those air pots and has gorgeous videos posted of his roses on a back deck . I don’t love the look of them 😟 so i probably won’t try them myself . As if my pot ghettos is some kinda show stopper lol

I actually love the look of those brown pots ! They’d be great for me . Thanks for sharing ! Good price too! I think it’s Home Depot or Lowe’s had some big plastic ones around ten bucks when I moved here.price may be higher now but my point to say is they crack in the sun and one by one I’ll need to replace them 😅

Pacrnca: I see that ace hardware shows inventory for this product near me ! It’s 20$ a bag .. seems high but I may try one to see how it is . The black kow is 6.50 a bag but does have some fine mulch in it . I’d prefer something pure . I have so many roses I definitely can’t afford to feed them all the frog bag but I can use it on some :)

Oh Ben while I have you .. any info on the new rose angel veil ? I see it at Armstrong’s.hybrid tea .. it’s a new intro I thought maybe you’d have some info . :)

I got some great big pots at Big Lots..They have all sizes in spring. Ollies (if you have one near you- they have them in the south) always has closeout deals on pots and other garden stuff. Some of the pots are very nice big glazed ceramic pots at a deep discount. It is usually in spring and summer.

I should report that I took my own advice from last night, and as my first garden project of the morning pulled up my very worst sunken 15 gallon rose and processed it! It was unfortunate that I had watered yesterday, so it was heavier than I'd prefer, but I got it out and added 5 inches of fresh potting soil to the bottom (tamped down well... this is important). I replaced the rose, and added another 2 inches of fresh potting soil on top. If you're not shaving the sides of the rose, you want to make sure that the new soil gets down well into the sides of the pot. I did a bunch of other things, but that one made me feel good :-D

I can only grow in pots, and I’ve been using fabric grow bags for my roses. I’ve found them really easy to use! While they aren’t the prettiest option, once the rose is grown out, I hardly notice the bag.

I especially love how simple they make it to pick up and move plants around.

For example, I recently had to transplant my Twilight Zone rose, and it was so easy—I just cut the fabric bag and moved the root ball over. It worked perfectly!

Another great feature is that they air prune the roots, similar to the pots Ben posted. The only downside is that fabric bags tend to dry out faster than other types of pots. However, since I tend to overwater, this might actually be a benefit for someone like me.

Lilyfinch -- I agree that your garden always looks lovely on here, and you can only do what you can do! Don't beat yourself up. Susan -- I'm impressed you got your big one done.

My neighbor finds free pots on CraigsList and NextDoor. People are always giving away stuff, and he scores some great finds/deals.

Costco starts selling huge resin pots around this time of year -- about 22" wide. I keep calling my local Costco to find out when the pots are arriving. I think they're sick of me. If I plan to put a rose in the garden, I'm now planting the rose in the 22" pot in a 5 gallon gopher wire cage. Makes it easy to pull the whole thing out without disturbing the root ball too much, and because most of my pots are on the ground, I have to protect the roses from gophers. They have chewed holes in my ceramic pots, my resin pots, my oak barrels, and my basic plastic pots. With the cage, they can't get the rootball, and, as I say, when I go to plant in garden, the cage kind of keeps everything together so I don't disturb the root ball too much. I'll see if I remember to take a photo tomorrow. Last year, the Costco pots were about $18 -- and they had some pretty ones that looked like terra cotta. While I was deciding, they sold out, and I was sorry I dithered. This year, I'm on it. but I still don't know what this year's pots will look like!

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) I also have the suncast pots but they’re so heavy when filled. I’ve been using the 15 gallon tall nursery pots as of late and I hope they’re sufficient.

@Lily Spencer I grow all my tomatoes in grow bags and they do phenomenally well. I recently started potting up in them ie 2g, 3g, 5g as they’ re so much easier to work with, and taketakes up less space for storage. You’re right re: watering though, they dry out much faster.

I found an example of my Eisvogel planted in a 5 gallon gopher wire cage inside a big resin pot (21 or 22" across). You can't even see the cage. But that Eisvogel is now in the ground!

This is the cheapest and largest pot I have found. I drill holes at the bottom of it and it's so much easier to move because of the ropes. Not the prettiest but what a deal.

I saw a video where Brad Jalbert grew his roses in the black nursery container and then placed that into a nice pot to hide the ugly nursery container. I gave that a try and have had success. Much easier to handle, move and refresh soil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMYr7QQ1HeU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-xBqBav_U

@DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) I went to our (meaning DD's and mine) Costco today, and the only pots they had were blue ceramic kinda fancy ones. Although, I did buy the darndest tower of plastic pots that's kind of a more modern version of a strawberry jar there. It's 5 tiers of fluted plastic pots that nestle on top of each other. I couldn't resist, just imagining the number of things I could put in it! I'd never seen such a thing, and the sample on the shelf looked really good, and seemed like an improved version of the classic terra cotta strawberry pot. It's cold and dark, and I don't feel like going out to the garage to take a pic of the box at the moment :-D

I agree with haku on tucking a black plastic pot into a decorative pot if possible. They are so much lighter when repotting or changes are needed. I do have my share of plain black plastic pots too.

Hubby got me a 7 tier plant tower tower (greenstalk) for xmas. They have a sale right now (through 1-16) on the Greenstalk basket weave design, on their website, so I got 2 more (but the smaller 5 tier versions that are 55inch high without the spinner/wheels base). I am going to use one for strawberries, one for lettuce, kale, short carrots etc. The other will be for edible flowers & herbs & maybe some walking onions. They have taken over one of my raised beds. They would look crazy tumbling down trying to root themselves.

At least, stuff will be out of reach from the chickens. The Greenstalk brand are normally pricey but have deeper planting pockets & are so much sturdier (don't tip) than most of the knock off versions. I am also getting my mom a greenstalk because she loves to grow herbs and flowers. She is older and has trouble bending over sometimes to weed etc.

Apparently, some of the Dollar stores have the plant tower pieces that you can buy independently and stack. Amazon also sells knock off versions but many need to be secured with a metal rod down the center. Some have wheels and a spinner platform. Amazon does have some cute colored ones that would be fun for kids.

I doubt you could grow roses in them but I am toying with the idea of trying cuttings in them. Some come with their own automatic watering system & that can easily be converted to misters or one could just get the stuff and rig up their own. I have seen people on you tube growing large tomato and pepper plants in theirs (greenstalk brand).

https://greenstalkgarden.com/collections/vertical-planters-basket-weave-texture

Z10 SoCal, I have some big rope handled tubs I got years ago from Target. They called them Laundry Tubs. I use them for water pots for waterlilies. I am surprised they havent cracked from the sun. They must be about 6 yrs now. They are a dull blue color but I hide them with other potted plants.

Sultry, here's a pic of the box that I bought at Costco yesterday. This was $30. Definitely more for smaller annuals, herbs, and strawberries, etc. The ones you linked look nicer and taller

Thanks, Susan. One guy at Costco said there were 55,000 pots sitting on a ship. I think they were called "Marin." but since that conversation I keep getting someone who says they have no pots on order. I'm waiting to finish my planting until I know if I want the new pots or not. I wish I could find the pots from last year! I like the one that I got - wish I'd got more!

Sultry & Susan -- on the stackable planters you have -- how big is each pocket? About a gallon? Or less?

I have seen in various outlets, Tramontina's 'Egipcio planter' for sale. (Brazilian company I think). I have bought one to grow a rose in this autumn, so time will tell...The planter is lightweight and drillable, available in various shades, including terracotta. The material is lightweight, though not as lightweight as the airpots - I am really intrigued by them. I bought a bare-root tree once which was advertised as coming in an airpot, but it came in a fabric pot instead, which I have used, but it was not big enough to grow a rose in. Does anyone find 'plant saucers' on coasters/wheels any good?

I looked up the Costco planters and I thought they looked pretty nice! The plant pockets look roomy and $30 is a steal. I pobably would have bought one even if I already had these taller ones lol. People could put the Costco planter up on a table or on a couple of concrete blocks pushed together to make it taller. There's no Costco in our area. We have Sams Club about 45 mi away. I do have a membership there. I havent seen them getting any garden stuff yet but they prob will next month.

In the mid 90's I had a plastic stacking planter. I bought it in Phoenix from a grocery store that also sold a lot of gardening stuff. Eventually, it broke and I tried finding another one. I never found another one like it. I am glad its becoming a thing again. They are so useful esp if one has limited gardening space or physical limitations etc. Kids love them too.

*DD, Here is what it says on the Greenstalk website:

This is for the 5 tier Basket weave style (there are different kinds).

-Has basket weave texture

-30 planting pockets each with a 10 in depth

-" Made from high-quality, food-grade, UV-resistant, BPA, BPS & PVC-free plastic"

-"5-year warranty on color and functionality of planter"

-19” wide x 55” tall and holds about 40 gallons of potting mix (sold separately

*The 7 tier are taller but have shallower planting pockets than the 5 tier but the 7 tier has more pockets.

7 tier

●"42 total planting pockets each with a 7” depth

• Has a basket weave texture
• Made from high-quality, food-grade, UV-resistant, BPA, BPS & PVC-free plastic
• 5-year warranty on color and functionality of planter
• 19” wide x 56” tall and holds about 42 gallons of potting mix (sold separately)"

Apparently you can also buy more tiers individually to stack them even higher.

You can also get spinners (lazy susans) or platforms with wheels. They have a watering tube that comes out the bottom so you can save the water running off or redirect it to other plants etc.

So I guess,

Herbs and edible flowers, lettuce, any greens, green onions, etc could go in shallower pockets 7 inch deep pockets (7tier)

Root veggies like shorter carrots, beets, radish etc could go in the 5 tier with 10 in deep pockets. People also grow smaller tomato plants and reg size pepper plants, bush beans, (I even saw corn) in the deeper pockets. Dwarf sunflowers and some bulbing flowers, could also go in there too.

If you look on the website under 'reviews"it has photos of what all people are growing. Also, there are gobs of you tube and ig videos setting these planters up and what they are growing (just about everything!). There's also you tube videos on setting up the dollar store planters, amazon planters (tips n tricks, results, comparisons). Im sure the Costco ones will be on there soon, if it isn't already lol. Good place to get ideas.

Regardless, I think I am going to be needing more potting soil :)

Thanks, Sultry! 🫛💚

Sultry and DD, if you look at the dimensions listed on my box, it says the height of it is 27", width 15"x15", with a total volume of 27 quarts (~7 gallons). So much smaller than Sultry's, more the size of an old-fashioned strawberry jar, but with bigger openings.

Thx, Susan. Update -- my Costco now has their big pots in stock. 22" wide -- quite big pots -- and rather nice looking, too!

DD, I should be going to "our" Costco next week if my prescription is ready!