I received mini roses as a gift two years ago. The rose did well over the first summer outside, but the first winter it got spider mites and I had to use safer soap. Though I was able to rid it of the pest at first the rose lost all of its leaves and it took it a while to recover. Closer to spring as the rose recovered its leaves I noticed the mites had come back. This time desperate to rid them I took the roses out of the dirt washed the roots and prayed the stems. Planting it in a brand new pot and dirt. It seemed to work because it grew twice the size over summer and had no problems.
Unfortunately this winter having to bring it back in it has had spider mites 2 times again. Am I doing something wrong? I keep it under a low level sun lamp so that it can hibernate (the windows in my house aren't well placed), I have not used any fertilizer since a month before bringing it in, I water it once a week, and the only other plants in my home show no sign of the mites.
I have safer soap and diatomaceous earth but have never used the DE on the rose was not sure if it would damage it.
Thanks!

Are you sure the rose has spider mites? Roses do go dormant in winter; they have to to survive. But you need to keep them someplace cool and the soil barely damp - watering once a week may be too much. The warm temperatures of your house are definitely too much. Spider mites like dry air but wash off easily. A better remedy would be to wash the plant every time you water. Bonide granules added to the soil will also help if you can't get rid of an infestation any other way.

You live in Zone 5b and miniature roses are hardy to zone 4. Although plants in pots should be hardy to 2 zones below yours, you could keep them in your garage or shed for the winter. They would be much happier.

From what I have read they are.
The first winter I did a ton of research on how to keep my plant alive, it is sentimental. The best solution was to mimic a mild winter. So I put them under low sun lamps 8 hours a day and try to keep them at 68 degrees. Unfortunately I was too scared to freeze, burry or anything else. They don't bloom, so I assume they are in a semi hibernation, but they keep their leaves.



Here is a picture, sorry the image isn't the best. But the silky webbing and white critters means spider mites right?

Force it into dormancy by cutting all the leaves off. Then douse it with Insecticidal Soap (soil included) and rinse with warm water. Your warm dry house is the cause of the spider mites. 68 is really quite warm for a plant that wants to be dormant in a cold winter.

I don't have a garage to put it in, the garage was converted to an art studio. I can maintain a lower temp in the house vs the studio but 68 is it (I have other plants growing in the studio at 72 degrees). Should I try putting it outside? Would this shock it since it hasn't been outside the whole time?
Thank you so much for your help!!

The only thing you are doing wrong is bringing it inside. Roses are not house plants. It is almost inevitable that they will get spider mites indoors. It is also usually too dry inside most homes. I'm not talking about watering the pot. I'm talking about the humidity. Roses prefer a higher humidity than you would be comfortable living in.

Roses are winter hardy. Mini roses are generally own root roses so they are particularly hardy. Do you have any where you can dig a hole in the ground and sink the pot for winter? If not is there any spot that you can store the pot and bury it in mulch? It does need to get precipitation though. So if you dig it in or mulch it in find a spot that gets rained and snowed on. If not you will need to water it once a month. But best of all would be to plant your rose in your garden this spring and watch it GROW!

The ground is too solid right now to dig, I will try to find a colder corner of the house and keep it as cool as possible for now. This spring I will find a nice spot to plant it now that I know it will survive.
Thank you all for your help!

Until you are able to plant your rose outside, you can increase the humidity around your rose by placing your rose on a tray or plate filled with pebbles and water. The water level should not reach the top of the pebbles, it is just to increase the humidity by evaporation. Your rose shouldn't sit in the water.