Miruna, Thank you for the pictures. Your Minerva rose in the photos looks beautiful! I looked it up on Helpmefind and this is a Belgian floribunda of relatively modest size, with excellent health and disease resistance. That said, if you potted the rose mid-May, and we are only beginning of July, it has not been a long time for the plant to get established. I have found that the transplant shock of potting a rose can cause various health/vigor issues until it really settles in. Sometimes it is the tonicity of the leaves. Sometimes the rose loses leaves. Sometimes it wilts, or gets stressed by too much sun. Usually newly potted plants don't drink a lot of water, compared to an established one with an active root system. To note also is that ONLY the root ball will drink at this stage, the surrounding soil does not have roots in it, so nothing (other than evaporation) is using up the water in that area. When you water, try watering ONLY the root zone. Also, are you putting the moisture meter in the surrounding soil, or in the root ball of the rose? There could be a difference. A newly potted rose (or any plant for that matter) is trying to re-group in its new home, and there are many issues to contend with: rooting, growing, budding, leaf regeneration, flowering, water absorption. This is a lot to ask of any one plant! It's like throwing someone into a new job that involves multi-tasking; some tasks are better dealt with than others, and doing all at once is quite a challenge. Regarding the leaves, the lower leaves are the darker, thicker, and more dry. This is normal, since they are older. Normally, those leaves will be shed sooner than the newer top growth, they will start to look ratty and beat up, and the most beat up, I would advise you to clip off a few at a time, to stimulate new leaf growth in that area. Regarding the overall tonicity of the plant, you will be able to tell when the rose has regrouped and is comfortable in its new home. It will be perky, upright, and cheerful looking, there will be a new vigor that it visible to the eye. This can take some time. I've had roses take 4-6 weeks to do this. Then, sometimes seemingly overnight, they explode with new health and vigor, and have moved on to the next stage of thriving in the container. I believe your newly potted roses are still finding their way. Give them some more time and patience, have faith, and I believe you will be rewarded with healthy, happy, thriving plants.
