On 10 Nov 2003 20:15:37 -0800, (Amy Chan) wrote:

Hello,

I am in New York City. I recently brought my potted mini into my home
from fear of frost. Saturday was the night where the temperature hit
freezing.

Now, it is Monday. I noticed some fuzziness on the tips of some new
leaf and rose buds (1 unopened bud, and 1 new leaf bud.) What is it?

Does it look like cotton? If so, it's probably mealybugs.

I had a spider mite infestation over the summer which I nixed with a
water and detergent spray.

Could it be that the recent warming has hatched eggs? How do I get
rid of fuzziness, same detergent and water spray?

Taking a cotton swab with alcohol will take care of the fuzziness, if
it's mealybugs. The cottony material will instantly turn brown and
this indicates that the insects have died.

I also want to know what is the lowest temperature I can expose my
mini to in its pot. I still would like to give it air and have it
drip dry after watering.

Now, here's the rub. You should leave the pot outside and only bring
it inside in case of wildly extreme temps. I'm assuming that you have
a balcony and not a plot of land. Your pot will be able to stand
sub-zero temps with a little help. All you need to do is insulate it.
You can wrap it in layers of cloth, or you can use a larger pot, put
it inside the pot and fill up the space with mulch and then cover the
whole thing with a cloth.

Your balcony will give it some protection against the cold, especially
if you put it next to the wall of the building during nights when it
might drop into the 20s. Here in Tennessee, when it gets cold, my
minis in the ground defoliate, so I wouldn't be too worried if yours
do the same. The ideal thing is to pop them into the ground if you
have a patch of ground available. But the worst thing you can do is to
move them indoors, as you have seen. It's very difficult to get them
to survive indoors, as you have discovered.

The roses themselves usually don't mind freezing temps, but you *do*
have to protect the roots from freezing. So you have to simulate them
being in the ground as much as possible. The roots will freeze in
unprotected pots and this is what you are trying to prevent by
insulating them.

The tricky part will be watering them. Maybe someone with more
experience with leaving small pots outdoors the whole winter can weigh
in. You see, your watering goes waaaay down in the winter, which helps
them go dormant, but I suspect that if you do the same in a small pot,
you run the risk of killing them by excessively drying the roots.
Anyone?