closed buds

[janette]

I need some help. I have a minature rose in a pot which everyyear has lots of buds but they never open. Why is this and can I sort it?

[gardening_guru]

Hello Janette,

A couple of possibilities come to mind as the possible reasons for the buds not opening. Is it because the compost in the container is too dry? Is the compost reliably moist when the buds are developing? If there were not any flower buds at all I would suggest a Potassium deficiency but that is not the case. Are there any other symptoms, not necessarily on the flower buds? Is there any sign of insect damage on the leaves, such as speckling or tiny holes at the shoot tips? I’m just thinking of Capsid bug, their toxic saliva can kill plant tissue and may cause flower buds not to open.

Regards, George.

[janette]

George

Thanks for the reply. No, apart from the buds the plant looks really healthy. There are new shoots and the leaves are shiny and dark green. I repotted it this time to see if it would help and added all the feed I normally do when I pot roses and this is the only one that does this. I have tried prising a few buds open to see if it is just the outer petals but the bud seems to just fall apart after a a few days. I had thought I mights see something under the petals but no. The petals themselves go darker as the bud ages and then the whole bud just shrivels.......

I will try some extra feed in the mean time


Thanks again for the reply

Janette