They say that diamonds are a girls best friend. We beg to differ. We think roses are actually the way to a girl’s heart. Even if she’s just sort of meh about you, give her some potted parade roses, and you’ll go from six to ten out of ten in her book.
Potted roses are the gift that keep giving; if you treat them right, they’ll give you abundant blooms for months and months! And unlike many other household plants, roses aren’t hard to maintain.
We know what you’re thinking. But you have a potted miniature rose that hasn’t bloomed in months. You might think it’s beyond repair, but don’t lose faith, it’s not! Pay attention to our little list reasons your rose bushes aren’t blooming.
Four Reasons Your Indoor Roses Won’t Bloom
- You’ve been too conservative with the pruning snips.
It might seem counter-intuitive to cut healthy stems off an otherwise healthy rose bush with pruning snips. You’d think that as you let the steps grow and grow, they’d build on top of each other and grow bigger and bigger until they made millions of blooms, right? Wrong. In reality, the more generous you are with your pruning snips, the more luscious and flower-producing your rose bush will be.
There are a few reasons for this. First of all, roses only grow from new stems. That means that those long and scraggly branches that have been on your rose bush since last season aren’t just ugly, they’re preventing your rose bush from producing new buds! Secondly, when you use your pruning snips to cut back all the branches on your rose bush, it allows the plant the chance focus its energy on making the roots grow deeper, giving it more nutrients to produce new roses!
It’s a good idea to prune your rose bush twice a years; right before spring (approximately Valentine’s Day) and at the end of summer (Labor Day). When you do so, cut back all of the branches, leaving no more than two feet of stalk for full-size rose bushes, and less for miniature roses. - You aren’t fertilizing your roses enough.
Like all plants, rose bushes get a lot of their nutrients from the sun (hello, photosynthesis) and the soil (thanks to the process of decaying organic matter). However, most soil doesn’t have all the nutrients that rose bushes need to produce lots of happy buds.
For best results, get a fertilizer that caters to the needs of rose bushes (available at most indoor gardening stores or even your local hardware store). Plan to fertilize your rose bush about once a month during the warmer months. - You’re fertilizing your rose bushes too much.
If giving your roses fertilizer gives you more blooms, giving it two times the fertilizer would give you two times the rose buds, yes? Actually no. If you give your roses too much fertilizer, it burns the roots and kills them. If your rose bush has yellow or sad looking leaves, it could be a sign that they’re being over-fertilized.
While we’re on the subject, resist fertilizing your rose bushes when it’s going to get cold. When you fertilize your roses, it gives them a little growth spurt. The new growth is weaker and more susceptible to disease or frost bite. - Your roses aren’t getting enough light.
Sunlight is important for all plant health, but especially roses. Roses need a lot of sunlight. You almost can’t give a rose too much sunlight. If your rose bush is in a shady spot, or if you have a potted miniature rose that isn’t near a window, you’re going to struggle to get it to bloom at all.
If your rose bush is outdoors, consider transplanting it in a location that gets more sunlight (roses are surprisingly chill about being transplanted), or moving the obstructions that are blocking the sunlight. If you have an indoor rose bush, you want to make sure it is in a north or south-facing window, that gets sunlight all day long. Another good option indoor garden lighting system that simulates natural sunlight. You’ll be amazed how quickly this produces buds on your indoor rose bush!
If you have an otherwise healthy rose plant that doesn’t seem to be producing the buds you’d hope to get from it, we hope our tips help!