Do Rose Plants Need Lime?

Do roses need lime?

Whether rose plants need lime is based on a soil’s pH level.  Ideally the soil’s pH for growing roses is between 6.5 and 6.8 but good rose growth can still occur between 6.1 and 7.1.

A common phrase you may hear in the reference to using lime is to “raise the pH” of the soil. Before adding lime, you should test your soil to determine its current PH.

Acidity or Alkalinity (the “pH”)

The pH of the soil is measured on a scale of 0 to 14, with 7 as neutral (being in the middle). Lime is alkaline, so adding lime to the soil will make it more alkaline (less acidic) hence raising of the PH. An example of this would be if your soil pH measured 5.0, you may need to add some lime to raise the pH to 6.5 which makes the soil less acidic.

Changing the pH of your soil with lime is and should be a slow process. You should make sure that you wait a year after applying lime before doing another pH test to work out whether adding any more lime is necessary.

So do Rose plants really need lime?

The short answer on whether roses need lime is no. If your soil’s pH level is not that the ideal rate then you will need to use lime to correct this.