If your area doesn’t experience frost, you can sow your seeds around March. You can start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before the last frost occurs if you’d prefer to plant seedlings. Grow the seeds in peat pots in a window that gets good sun or under an indoor growing lamp before transplanting them into your garden.
Watch your garden to see where the sunlight falls throughout the day.
Find well-draining spots by watching your garden after a hard rain. Any spots that have pools of water a few hours after the rain stops should be avoided. You can amend areas of poor drainage by mixing sand into the soil. Moss roses grow well in rocky areas, including on rock walls and in the cracks along sidewalks.
Avoid using a hose, since the heavy spray can wash away seeds and young seedlings. After 10 to 15 days, the moss roses will be established. They will have green sprouts, short roots holding them in the soil, and survive with less water.
Moss roses can be grown from cuttings every year. After the first time you plant a moss rose, you may not need to buy new plants again.
Remove lower leaves on the cuttings. Any leaves that would be underneath the soil or water in a growing tray will end up rotting. You may be able to take several cuttings from a full-grown plant without harming it.
Growing cuttings in pots with potting soil is recommended because outdoor soil isn’t sterile. You can also grow the cutting in builder’s sand, perlite, or vermiculite. Peat moss is another possible growing medium. You can also mix peat moss with equal parts builder’s sand and perlite to create your own potting mix.
After the root sprouts, move the moss rose to a growing tray to encourage the roots to grow further. You may temporarily store your moss rose in water while preparing the soil.
You will need to do this for about 2 weeks until the cuttings grow roots.
Before you move the cuttings outside, you should harden them off by placing them outdoors for a few hours each day. Start with 3 hours in a shady spot that’s protected from the wind. Increase the length of time the cuttings spend outside by a few hours each day for about a week. They should then be ready to be transplanted. You can mix a balanced fertilizer into the soil to help the transplanted cuttings grow. After being transplanted, the cuttings only need to be watered once a week.
If your garden soil doesn’t drain well, consider growing moss rose in a container with a potting mix.
Avoid tugging on the stem, since this can damage your moss rose. If the plant is stuck in the soil, use a spade to loosen the dirt around the container’s edges. Alternatively, squeeze the sides of the container to loosen the plant.
Avoid saturating the soil with water, since this can lead to rotten plants.
If you mist the soil, you may need to apply water daily for up to 4 weeks. After about 2 weeks, the plant should be established. It will have roots that make it difficult to move. You can then reduce watering to once a week.
Avoid using a hose or sprinkler. These devices can damage delicate flowers you worked hard to cultivate.
A balanced fertilizer may be labeled as 10-10-10. The numbers indicate the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content, respectively.
A phosphorus-rich fertilizer may be labeled as 5-10-5. Too much fertilizer can prevent the flowers from blooming.
Deadheading preserves the rose’s energy so it produces new, healthy blooms. This is because it uses its nutrients to grow new flowers rather than seeds. Deadheading isn’t a necessity with moss roses, so you can let your plants fade naturally if you don’t feel like pruning them.
Slugs and snails may also be a problem. Spray castor oil on the plant or spread repellent pellets. Make sure your plant isn’t overwatered, since this can be the cause of fungi and rot. You may want to try a natural, nontoxic pest removal method. For example, you could catch slugs and snails in beer traps. You can remove aphids by spraying them with a strong stream of water or by spraying them with horticultural soap.
Moss roses will spread seeds every year, so watch for new growth in the spring.
