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veryzer

Frustrated by WS2000 canes snapping

veryzer
9 years ago

I've had two for five years and it happens every year, not with every cane but a significant number. Does anyone else have this problem with Austins (or others)? Are there any good solutions? I imagine staking is the answer, but how? I put a stake behind the bushes and put some twine around the outermost canes but that did no good.

Comments (16)

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    9 years ago

    How thick are they canes? Where do they snap--at the base? How long are they when they snap?

  • Seeingreen
    9 years ago

    Sadly one of my roses does this, though it could be for completely different reasons. I think in my case I should have buried the graft a bit lower into the ground... at the moment I've given it more food containing potash which will hopefully strengthen the canes, I also added more soil and mulch to prevent undue stress on the plant hopefully keeping the roots cooler and preventing the soil from drying out so quickly...I'm wondering if I might have given it to much nitrogen in the spring.....hmmmm

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    I have one Austin that grafted, if I look sternly a cane breaks off but own root and no problem. But they also have very different habits. Grafted and the canes all flop and lay on top of each other, some might hate this I really enjoy the look. The own root is a really nice low climber and I have running down a picket fence.

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    9 years ago

    I've never had a WS2000 cane actually "snap" so I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to, but I have sometimes feared the canes will become too end-heavy and break off.

    At any garden center (Home Depot, etc) they carry green metal plant supports in different heights. I always keep a couple of the taller ones around for my WS2000. Just insert it under the too-heavy cane (near the end of the cane), and let the cane then rest on the support. The green metal is hardly noticeable underneath, and the cane will be well supported. I do that in 2 or 3 strategic places underneath the plant.

    Hope that helps.

    Kate

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    I haven't had WS2000 canes snap either, but they are low-arching under the weight of blooms. I sometimes stake them up individually with small stakes.

    New basal canes of 'The Generous Gardener' are extremely brittle and fragile. I am trying not to touch them until they develop some fiber.

  • veryzer
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks everybody. Mine are grafted and the grafts are buried at least 6". They're breaking off at ground level once they get to 2'-3' tall.

    Kate, are the plant supports forked at the end? I'm trying to visualize the supports you describe.

    Ideally, I'd like to avoid the individual staking you describe, Michael. I've tried it before with some success but sometimes they'll fall and break in the direction of the stake....maybe I'm a bad staker, but I don't want to shove the stakes in the ground close to the center of the rose, do I?

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    9 years ago

    Veryzer, the plant supports might have different configurations, depending on what brand your store carries. The ones I buy at Home Depot have a little circle at the top--about 3 inches in diameter-- with a notched opening where it attaches to the stakes. You slip part of the cane into that notched opening.

    You don't need to insert the stakes close to the center of the rose. WS2000 has big sprawling canes--so where I insert the stakes is towards the end of the sprawling cane--which is often a couple feet away from the center of the rose. Or I insert the stake further out, at an angle towards the center, and rest the end of the cane as I did when I inserted the stake directly under the end of the cane.

    If your stakes fall over, you are not inserting them far enough into the ground. Get stakes that are 3-4 feet tall--that way you have plenty of length and can insert the stakes FIRMLY and DEEPLY into the ground. Insert them a foot deep if you need to.

    I much prefer doing the individual staking of selected canes, but if you don't like them, buy the green metal "fences" (I don't know exactly what they are called--they are inserted into the ground also) that are taller--like 2.5 to 3 ft tall and circle it around the outer perimeter of the rose. That way the canes can't sink any lower than the fence itself. However, it will be a much more obvious structure and won't look as "natural" as the single stakes do.

    If you have trees that periodically drop dead branches/twiglets, you will find that you can pick out a few that will make wonderful supports and are practically invisible in the garden.

    That's all the ideas I have. Hope one of those helps.

    Kate

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    9 years ago

    You giving them a lot of N? That is going to create soft tissue without a lot of initial strength.

  • lynnette
    9 years ago

    Sounds familiar to me. I have three Shakespeares and I had to put hoops around them to stop the canes from literally snapping off. This rose tends to bloom at the ends of the canes with a candelabra type head. Even when I took some of the buds off, they still did it.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    My suggestion is peony hoops at the base to help support the canes as they grow and harden off. You need something you can open and put around the plant and then close up. Tomato cages you have to put down over the top and that's always a struggle and I usually end up breaking something in the process.

  • veryzer
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the tips Kate, et al. That really does help. I'll look for the ringed stakes and peony hoops and see which will work best.

  • predfern
    9 years ago

    This year I noticed snapped canes on Louise Odier, Evelyn and Teasing Georgia. I gave them the same fertilizer as every year, 13-13-13. I did have to prune the roses back to near the ground due to the harsh winter.

  • kentucky_rose zone 6
    9 years ago

    About a month ago, we had a storm. Several of my roses had canes that snapped off at the base. Most of these were tied up and staked. They weren't blooming yet. I attribute some of this damage to the harsh spring pruning at the ground level. However, I am liking the way my garden is looking now. I did lose 2 bushes, on fort. rootstock from the winter.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    I have this happen on several roses. Mostly in the spring. It seems if they grow quickly, if we have a lot of rain, the canes don't get hardened off enough and the weight of the cane pulls it off. Usually right where the cane meets another cane or the graft. I've been guilty of causing this by brushing up against new canes, they can be very delicate.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    I have this happen on several roses. Mostly in the spring. It seems if they grow quickly, if we have a lot of rain, the canes don't get hardened off enough and the weight of the cane pulls it off. Usually right where the cane meets another cane or the graft. I've been guilty of causing this by brushing up against new canes, they can be very delicate.

  • veryzer
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yeah, Predfern, my fertilizing regimen has been consistent, too. I did have to prune WS2000, along with my other roses, nearly to the ground. I guess they're just more susceptible than my other varieties.

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