Question
At the start of winter, my miniature rose leaves started turning a yellowish green and falling off. The I got in bug infestation - little red mites I think with lots of webs. I tried everything to get rid of them and eventually it lost all of the leaves. But the mites seems to have gone. I just left it and kept the soil moist and new growth appeared but now it seems to have a white, fluffy mould/spores growing on it - not on the leaves, just on them stems. If I touch it I can rub it away. I don't know what it is or how to get rid of it. Can you help?

Thank you.

Answer
Dear Natalie, Your description is excellent and I know exactly what is wrong with your rose.  The leaves falling off were probably due to it being winter - I don't know if your plant is inside or outside, but roses generally need a rest period and will go dormant and leafless for the winter.  If inside, you need to make sure during growing months especially that it has a lot of direct light.  Outside they need a lot of sun.  But then the mites came which are indeed spider mites.  To test for spider mites, you can tap a leaf on a sheet of white paper, and if you see anything moving, then it is a spider mite.  Now that the leaves are gone, the fluffy mold on the stems is actually mealybugs, which is a type of scale insect that moves.  Alcohol and/or soapy water will kill them.  You can take a q-tip dipped in alcohol and touch the critters and they will lose the fluffy coating and usually fall off immediately.  It would be a good idea to do this right away, but I think the bigger issue is long term insect prevention, and the best way to achieve this and protect your rose would be to apply a systemic insecticide (it will say so on the packaging) to the soil, and this will keep your plant poisonous to insects.  Be sure to choose a product that includes roses, it should mention mealybugs and spider mites, and it should say systemic.  Be sure to apply according to the label directions.  I hope this information helps and you can easily cure your rose.  Good luck, Melissa