chelatna wrote in
:

Following up on this, how often do you think the potted plants should
be repotted or potted up? I've got them in the big resin pots from
Sam's Club (14 and 18 inches I think) but at some point I will need
something bigger like a half barrel. What are the signs a rose needs a
bigger pot?

Signs I've noticed include yellowing lower leaves (not related to insects
or fungus/bacterial attacks)---and I mean a lot of yellow leaves, not
just a few here or there. Sometimes the rose leaf stays green but loses
its luster or sheen. Sometimes bloom will cease or become intermittent.

When one of my roses starts to look fussy in this way, I usually check
the roots by gently slipping the plant out of the pot to see whether the
roots are confined or growing in circles. I do this frequently with my
cuttings; admittedly it's easier with one-gallon size roses than with
five gallon, but even five gallon plants can be inspected by sliding the
plant sideways out of the pot to see how vigorous the root system might
be (try not to break the root ball, though, and pop it back into the pot
if all looks well).

I'm a great believer in knowing what's going on with roots as much as one
can because the health of container roses can depend on it. This is the
area where roses continue to surprise me; mine are always outgrowing
their pots when I'm least prepared for it. When I don't have anything
bigger to put them in, I apply bonsai techniques and prune back a small
portion of the roots, adding fresh soil to the bottom of the pot and
pruning minimally on top to balance root loss, and water once replanted.

This seems to rejuvenate the plant for more midseason growth. I'm not
sure I'd recommend this in regional zones where growing season is short;
you might want to experiment to see whether it works for you. In zone 10B
where I am some of my roses put out non-stop growth all season and
require potting upward several times a year. It's like trying to
anticipate the shoe size of a twelve-year-old boy from one month to
another....

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