Nervous with mini roses... begging for advice.

Beeker,..while it is easiest to grow a cutting from a stem that is young and has not flowered and that is what is always recommended,..you can grow a cutting from a young soft stem,..while in bud,..but cut the bud off,..or from one that has flowered,..its just reducing your chances that's all.

 

Oh no!!!!!!!!!
I went to add water to my self-watering pot for the roses and found them dried up and covered in a web with tiny little things crawling all over them! I immediately took them out of the window into the kitchen, sprayed them with water, pruned them down to the green stems and started spraying with rubbing alcohol. I also took about a half-inch of soil from the top as well in order to make sure I got all of the critters out. I put them in another room next to a window that gets less direct sunlight. Today, I sprayed them and the soil with alcohol and added fresh water to the reservoir again.
I hope this works.
All I know is that I had the windows open one day two weeks ago because it wasn't so hot and I wanted some fresh air to come in. I leave for a week and come home to this! I'm so hurt about them getting attacked so viciously because they are so special to me. My other plants that were right next to them were untouched. I don't understand it, but I'm happy that they are okay.
Now, what to do with the roses? I hope I handled it correctly. It was just a knee-jerk reaction. There is some new growth appearing on the stems. I need to go get more potting soil to replace what I removed.
Does anybody have any other ideas about what these critters were, the proper way to handle them and what to do next? Also, how do I prevent such an attack? I guess this window isn't the best place for my roses, or if I open the windows, place the roses somewhere else to not attract bugs?

 

Bummer. Sounds like red spider mites. I wonder if a shrub or plant outside your window has them. Have you looked? (Our Andromeda gets them every summer). My indoor English ivy seems prone to them. I dip the leaves & stems in soapy water every week until the mites disappear. Good luck!!!

 

Thank you.
The little things looked cream colored. I have Rhododendron and Lily of the Valley outside the window, as well as a ton of weeds. The landlord is not familiar with what to do with shrubbery maintenance. I am thinking about taking over, but it is such a mess, it is overwhelming.
When I had aphids, I sprayed them off in the sink and trimmed some bad branches and sprayed them with rubbing alcohol. That did the trick for the aphids. Should I spray with soapy water for the spider mites? Would the rubbing alcohol still work?

 

Oh! Cream colored....hmm...spider mites are usually red. If you pinch a leaf & rub your fingers over it, your fingers would come away rust colored. But maybe there are spider mites in other colors? Do they look like teeny tiny spiders or more like little caterpillars? Do you have a photo of the pest that you could post?

Re the alcohol, I have used it in treating mealybugs, but it is hard on plant tissues, especially the new growth. I would spray with a solution, wait a bit, then rinse off.

Maybe other posters with have other thoughts.

 

Sorry, I reacted so quickly that I didn't take any pictures or save anything. I just cut, sprayed really harshly (so harshly that I sprayed about an inch of soil out and into the sink) with water and then sprayed the plant and soil with alcohol. I'm keeping an eye on it now. Yesterday was my last spray of alcohol. I mostly concentrated on the soil just in case there are more pests in there. The reservoir is filled with fresh water, though. (watering from the bottom)
They were cream colored, but that must have been the ones that were young. The webbing made it obvious that they had to be spider mites.
So far, all looks well and it is in a safer window, but I'm back to square one.
Any other advice for where I am at this point would be very helpful.
These poor roses!

 

Beeker,..sorry to see your rose bush in its present state,..but not to worry it will come along again,..a spray of Liquid Soap is good,..1 Tablespoon to a Pint of water,..i use this quite a lot on a day that is not sunny,..one should never spray when its sunny,..i also use a mix of 1 Tablespoon of Liquid Soap and 1 Tablespoon of Neem Oil,..as i have lots of rose bushes i don't mind the expense of the Neem Oil as it prevents insects from eating as well as getting rid of them from plants as well as roses,..i wouldn't recommend keeping a rose bush in the window as it can be very harsh with the sun shining through and no breeze.

 

Thank you, Philip. I will make a soap solution to keep on hand and check out Neem Oil.
Right now, it is on a table in front of a different window where it gets indirect sun only when I open the blinds. It has been cloudy for the past few days, almost a week.
The previous window it was in would get slightly more direct sun, mostly in the evening as the sun sets, and nice breezes because I would open the windows. I think that is how the mites got in. The are so tiny that they came right through the screens. It is amazing how my roses are like homing beacons for every evil parasite that likes to attack them. Even in the house, just because they were in front of a window, two or three feet from an open window, they got attacked. Were these things crawling on my windows waiting for me to open them?
I have to add more water to the reservoir. My poor roses have been very thirsty and demanding since the attack. Thankfully, I am getting new growth.

 

Whoa!!! Can't keep a good rose down for long!!

 

I always had a knack for bringing back plants, even from near death. I just have trouble keeping certain ones alive and beautiful, roses being one of them (the others orchids, aloe and peace lilies that I know of so far)
I've never had a rose plant for this long before. Any potted mini-roses I would get would end up with powdery mildew or something and kill them. I've been so meticulous with these because my better half bought them for me for St. Valentine's day a couple of years ago and I desperately want to keep them. It started off with four plants in the pot and I am now down to just the one. I can't remember what it was that killed the other three. It is probably in the beginning of this thread somewhere. I am so happy that this plant is hanging in there for me and that you all are so kindly helping me and cheering me on. Thank you.