Q.My Rosa Rugosa Died. Can I Revive It?
This is the second time I have tried growing this plant. The first one died from aphids and inexperience in gardening. I am not sure about the second one: I gave it plenty of indirect sunlight and watered it once a week. It’s in a pot without drainage holes so I tried not to overwater it and there’s perlite in the soil. The soil is somewhat sandy, mixed with some organic material.
Roses perform better with proper water drainage holes if grown in containers. I would use a slightly larger pot too. They also need adequate water in the first few inches and that area can lose moisture easily during the summer months as harsh sunlight, high temperatures and drying winds make the top dry. Potting soil: watch out for too much sandy soil in the potting mix as it could drain water "too well" from the top and dry out the top few inches. They prefer more than 6 hours of direct sunlight although some cultivars will not complain if they get slightly less. I could not see any green in the plant so I am not sure it can be revived. To see if they have too much water, inspect the soil: insert two fingers into the soil to a depth of 3-4 and extract about 1/4" to 1/2" of soil; press on the soil with the two fingers and observe if you see water droplets forming. If you see water droplets forming, you may have water recently and the soil has not drained well yet, the soil was already wet when you watered or you are watering too much. Prior to watering, insert a finger into the soil and water if the soil feels dry. That should work better than trying to water based on a schedule.
