Indoor roses sound like a good idea. After all, wouldn’t it be great to have part of the beauty of your garden inside over the cold winter months? Maybe you just may have a small condo or apartment and not have the full space for an outside garden. Growing roses inside can be tricky though and is not for the faint of heart.
You may have gotten a nice grocery store potted rose plant over the holidays and wish to keep it going until spring. These store bought roses are often overstimulated in order to bloom, meaning extra light, water, and fertilizer. Taking them to a less vibrant environment than aisle 3 at Safeway may give them a bit of a shock.
Simply put, roses don’t make good houseplants. They normally do best in the full sun and with good ample water. While you can provide the water in your house, replicating the sunlight is very tough to do, even with bright south facing windows. A florescent light or a specific grow light can help. They should be set to go 12-14 hours a day.
Even though you are inside, you’ll still need to check for pests. A big issue with inside gardening are spider mites. These can pop up quickly on new plants and start working their webs on the undersides of the leaves. If the plant is potted, you can rinse off the foliage underneath a tap, with the flower upside down to get the undersides. Obviously, growing full fledged roses inside isn’t really feasible for most people. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a greenhouse or growing room. For the rest of us, we need to stick with some smaller potted roses, most likely minis. Other breeds will need bigger space for their roots and stems to spread out.
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