Question
I received an indoor rose a year ago from a local department store, a miniature rose in a little pot.  It gave lovely flowers and was doing so well.  It stopped flowering and I always removed the dead flowers and any dead leaves.  I took the rose with me when I moved, I put it into a larger pot twice as it grew.  A few times it seemed to wilt then wither, and I cut it back. It fell off the window breaking its pot, and again I gave it a new pot.  Now the rose is a big gangly thing, with very few leaves, it has brown edges and brown spots on the leaves and the leaves are drying up. I was told not to over water and drown it so I havent been watering it daily but keeping the soil moist. I also thought keeping it on the windowsill in the hot sun might have caused this.  This rose was a sentimental gift from someone no longer with me....I need to keep it alive, please help me.


Answer
Roses re-act badly if they are moved or anything is changed about their growing habits. You did everything right the incident that made the rose start to die, was the falling out of the pot. The frail little feeder roots are what keeps the rose alive. They take up the water and nutrients when they are disturbed or fall down onto the floor, they are either knocked off or killed. Keep the soil moist like you are doing and again cut the rose back to about 6 inches trimming off any dead canes. Place a glass container(or make a little greenhouse with a plastic bag, over the 6 inches taking it off when you see really good new growth. At that time fertilize it with a half strength fertilizer, but not a rose one, but a house plant fertilizer. Any rose one will be too strong for it right now.Take it out of the full sun and give it filtered sun. Just treat it like it is sick and in a hospital situation. Also make sure the soil is from a bag of potting soil, as that will be sterile and the water will drain well and you won't have any fungus knats in it. Good drainage is also imperative as that will cause yellow leaves and drown the feeder roots. It takes about 6 weeks for the feeder roots to grow so they can do their job. When you are sure the little rose is going to grow, slowly introduce it to your sunny window. One of the other conditions that kill these mini roses is the hot air in a house so spritz it daily until it is setting buds and blooming well. Then you can spray it every three days. The little plant would benefit from being outside if the weather isn't too hot bringing it in when the weather gets colder. It may be too late Kia as these indoor roses are hard to rejuvenate once they have been damaged. However keep trying. Hope this helps