Why Your Climbing Rose Has No Leaves or Flowers at the Bottom: Fix It Now!
Yesterday, a florist asked me, “Why aren’t my climbing roses growing leaves or blooming at the bottom?” I believe many flower friends have similar questions. Today, I will analyze the reason for you.
The reason why there are no leaves and flowers in the middle and lower part of climbing roses
As shown in the picture above, the bottom branches of many climbing roses are bare, and the flowers are concentrated in the middle and upper part. This state of affairs is not really that bad, because with fewer branches and leaves at the bottom, ventilation is good and the chances of contracting pests and diseases are greatly reduced. However, the downside is obvious: the lower middle part does not bloom, has no leaves, and looks really unattractive.
Here’s a look at my Climbing Rose “Parade”, which blooms very evenly from top to bottom, almost to the ground.
Why the difference? There are three main reasons for this difference:
1. Excessive pruning during winter hauling
Many florists cut off all the thinner, shorter branches at the bottom when hauling climbing roses in winter, keeping only the strong, long branches. As a result, there are not enough flowering branches in the lower and middle parts of the climbing rose to haul.
2. Blindly breaking off foot buds
Some flower lovers like the bottom of climbing roses to be bare, so they will deliberately break off the newly grown buds at the bottom. And some unknown florists will blindly follow the trend, resulting in more obvious apical dominance of climbing roses, the new branches are concentrated on the top of the growth, the middle and lower parts of the flowering branches can not be traction.
3. Insufficient traction angle
The reason why climbing roses need to be pulled is to break the apical dominance through lateral pulling, and to promote the sprouting of as many buds on the branches as possible. If the branches remain vertically oriented during winter hauling, the lower and middle buds usually do not sprout, and naturally there are no flowers.
How do I get a bare climbing rose to re-bloom in the lower center?
If you want to make climbing roses re-bloom in the lower-middle part, you can do the following two things:
1. Strengthen fertilizer and water management after flowering
Climbing roses bloom a lot in the spring and consume a lot of nutrients. Therefore, fertilizers should be supplemented in time after flowering. Fermented organic fertilizer and slow-release fertilizer can be used, which can be shallowly buried or sprinkled around the root system of the plant. For perennial large vine roses, the amount of fermented organic fertilizer can reach 20 to 30 pounds.
In addition to long-lasting organic fertilizers, it is recommended that a three-dimensional compound fertilizer be applied retroactively every 15 days or so. With sufficient fertilizer, the vine rose will sprout new shoots from the bottom, and these new shoots will be the mainstay of winter traction.
2. Protecting the new growth at the bottom
If you want a climbing rose to bloom at the bottom, you have to pay special attention to protecting the new foot buds and shoots that grow at the bottom. Once these new shoots have grown, they can be pulled horizontally to the lower and middle parts in the winter, and in the spring you can realize the beautiful effect of blooming on both the top and bottom.
