Video:5 Tips for Growing Bigger Rose Blooms

Transcript:5 Tips for Growing Bigger Rose Blooms

Hi, I'm Doug Hamby at Fernbank Science Center with Dekalb County School in Atlanta, Georgia.  I'm here today with About.com to give you 5 tips on growing bigger rose blossoms.

Growing Bigger Roses: Use Better Soil

The first tip that I can give you about growing bigger rose blooms would be to start with a soil that is very organic, well draining,  lots of organic matter in it so that the roots can have good penetration. This will allow for proper absorption of nutrients and water absorption, and for the roots to spread and be far reaching.

Growing Bigger Roses: Use Mulch

The second thing that I would recommend is to make sure that there is a layer of mulch that would be two to four inches on the top of the soil to control evaporation of the moisture and to keep the soil temperature cooler. The roots will grow much better if they don't have extreme temperatures. This also prevents weed growth. So it keeps weed seeds from germinating. 

Growing Bigger Roses: Water Below the Foliage

The third thing that I would recommend deals with the watering practices. Roses should always be watered from below the foliage. This is a cultural practice that prevents the foliage from being wet, which encourages the growth of blackspot and other diseases that affect roses such as powdery mildew. This helps cut down on that moisture level. 

Growing Bigger Roses: Prune Properly

Proper pruning of roses should be done early spring to late winter, normally somewhere around February, and this is selecting out three to five of the strongest canes that have no disease problems or no insect damage and pruning them so that they becomes the main canes for growth for the next spring. 

Growing Bigger Roses: Use Proper Fertilizer

And the last thing that I would recommend is proper fertilization. Roses are very heavy feeders and should be fertilized on a monthly bases. This can be done with a balanced fertilizer such as 5-5-5 or 10-10-10. I normally recommend that people use a slow release fertilizer so they do not take a chance on burning the plants. The other thing you could use is a liquid fertilizer if you have a small amount of roses. But if you have a lot of roses, then that becomes very labor intensive.

A combination of these five tips will help you get the larger, more colorful rose blossoms that you're looking to achieve. 

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