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linoh_31

Dark green veins- what's the cause

linoh_31
9 years ago

This is my first post so please be kind. I have several roses including an Austin, Jude the Obscure. I've been experimenting with a spray to prevent bs, half water steeped with several garlic cloves, half milk, a few drops of dishwashing liquid, a bit of sesame oil and a few drops of tea tree oil (just what I happened to have around). The same day, I got around to feeding my roses with some fish fertilizer.
The roses seemed to like the foliar milk feeding and fish emulsion and several developed new growth within 36 hours. Only my Jude however had a strange thing happen. The bottom leaves developed dark green veins. The camera seems to exaggerate the contrast a bit more than one sees it with the naked eye. The top leaves are just fine but only the bottom leaves, which had been attacked by aphids earlier in spring, developed this. It's not that the leaves turned a lighter shade of green. They were lighter to begin with. My question is, could this be a sign of too much fertilizer? Or is the deepening color a good thing? Photos were taken three days after feeding. (Yes I did water in the fish fertilizer but perhaps not as much as I should have).

Comments (3)

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    Are you saying that, (1) when the plant grew out in spring, the new leaves then were very pale, but (2) leaves that came later at the top of the plant were solid deep green once they expanded? And (3) later the pale leaves (which are now at the bottom of the plant) developed greener veins?

    If so, the plant was experiencing iron deficiency chlorosis in the early season, not so much later on. Roses can have trouble getting enough iron in cold, wet soils if the pH is neutral or above.

  • linoh_31
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for responding. The bottom leaves were paler than the later (top) sets of leaves but... the dark green veins only showed up after I sprayed a few days ago. Makes sense the cold wet soil could have created a deficiency. I still can't explain the veining issue.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    Plants with iron deficiency normally have darker green veins against a paler background. I wonder if you just overlooked that when the early leaves grew in. Or maybe the lower leaves are just now starting to develop more chlorophyll.