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maude80

Bent rose buds

Maude80
9 years ago

Could anyone give me some advice on my hybrid teas. Quite a few of them are getting buds on them that bend completely to one side. I've never had this happen to them before and I don't see any insects on them that would indicate damage. Could not getting enough water be the cause?

Comments (16)

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    When my roses do that is it usually because something is chewing on them. You might not see the insects, but do you see any insect damage? It would be on the bottom of the bud on the side it is bending towards.

    Always good to give lots of water, but I suspect that is not your problem.

    Jackie

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Jackie,

    I suppose that insect damage is certainly a possibility although I don't really see anything... It's just that I hate the idea of spraying insecticide in my garden and have never done it before. Maybe that's the only solution to this??

  • karin_mt
    9 years ago

    I agree with your instincts to avoid insecticides! In this case, when you're not even sure what insect you're targeting, or even if that's the problem, I'd definitely keep investigating to find the source of the issue before you resort to chemical warfare.

    Good luck, I hope you are able to find a solution.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    If the bend is rigid, you will find a ribbonlike growth on the inside of the bend that prevents the neck from straightening. This is a developmental disorder that you can't do anything about. It is not very common.

    If the bend is not rigid, then it is wilted, possibly from borers further down--in which case the stem a few leaves down may feel hollow when squeezed. Also, flower necks may wilt on a sunny afternoon following a cloudy spell because they have outgrown the roots' capacity to supply water. If the soil is moist, they will recover by morning.

  • littlesmokie
    9 years ago

    Do your bent buds look like pics in attached link (scroll down to last two photos.) I hope not...

    Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of rose midge damage

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    My god yes... That is exactly what it looks like.. What do I do??

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Please, someone talk to me and tell me what to do.. I'm in a panic here..

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    It won't kill your plants, just keep them from blooming except in the spring flush. I recommend taking some of the affected stems to your county extension service for diagnosis before you start chemical treatment, just to be sure. If you search on "rose midge control" you will find recommended regimens. You can trust what you find at .edu sites. Unfortunately, once you have midges, you may be stuck with having to use pesticides every year, or else give up roses.

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi,

    Thank you for the advice. If I absolutely have to use an insecticide every year, then so be it; that's what I'll do. I have over 70 rosebushes and if I have to turn my yard into another chernobyl, I'm willing. I just can't understand where these possibly could have come from.

    Does anyone have a specific name of a product that I could order. When I look at the list of products on amazon.com, I get totally confused because there seem to be so many. The Bayer Advanced ones seem to be the ones that are reccomended, but which one exactly??

    Thanks

  • littlesmokie
    9 years ago

    Hi Maude 80, sorry to send you into a panic. Midge is pretty darn discouraging, but not the end of the world. Please excuse my lengthy response to follow :)

    I've had midge in my garden for a decade. I still have a riotous early flush that makes my heart sing & stops traffic and then scattered repeat bloom with increasing telltale wilting, burned matchstick tips, deformed bent buds as summer progresses.

    I say the following as a totally rose obsessed gardener for 15 years (I think I had ~70 roses at peak) Since rose midge hit, I've had to change my mindset about roses to deal with the discouragement that they aren't the same "continuous" bloomers. (I write this at the tail end of August--when midge damage is at it's worst--and I still probably have 200+ blooms on my ~25 roses.)

    I also have daffodils, iris, lilac, peonies, clematis, lilies, hydrangeas, & dahlias that I dearly love that don't continuously bloom--that I don't expect to--that I grow anyway ;) I've been culling poor rose performers and adding in these other plants which diversified my small urban garden in more of an integrated pest management approach.

    I read your joke about turning your yard into Chernobyl...in my research from a decade ago, I found the recommended insecticides for midge do kill birds (diazinon) & bees (imadacloprid). I just can't in good conscience use them.

    The best natural control--though painful to do--is to cut the buds that are just starting to wilt when you first see them, place in sealed bag & dispose to prevent the larvae from dropping to the soil to pupate & spread to your other bushes. (It would mean losing an entire cycle of blooms on those affected roses to reduce, but probably still not entirely eliminate, midge.)

    The least toxic control I read of at that time was spinosad & I used it as a soil drench once or twice that first year. Maybe it helped, hard to say?

    I believe Merit (active ingredient imadacloprid) is a systemic that is taken up through all parts of the plant (and persists in the soil for years as I remember) but used as a soil drench to get the pupae is possibly less bad than actually spraying the growing tips that bees visit??

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news with your midge diagnosis. May you continue to find much joy with your roses.

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Littlesmokie,

    Thank you so much for all of the information. I'm not sure that I would be able to have the serene attitude towards the situation that you seem to. I just detest the idea that I have so many roses, a great majority of which came from florist roses that I took cuttings of, that are now screwed..

    Does anyone have any idea where these rose midges might come from?? All of the roses that I added this year came from my own window while they matured as cuttings so I can't imagine what the source might have been..

    Maude

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ok, so I've been doing some research and I'm thinking that one or more of the following products could be effective for getting this under control.. If anyone who might know about this stuff could check out a few links for me, it would be great..

    http://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Advanced-Complete-Ready-To-Spray-32-Ounce/dp/B000BPD9M0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409458400&sr=8-2&keywords=bayer+advanced+complete+insect+killer

    http://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Advanced-Complete-Granules-10-Pound/dp/B000BPD60A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1409458400&sr=8-3&keywords=bayer+advanced+complete+insect+killer

    http://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Advanced-Complete-Insect-Killer/dp/B002CAB2JY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1409458400&sr=8-5&keywords=bayer+advanced+complete+insect+killer

    Does anyone have any experience with any of these products. The first one which attaches to the hose looks like it would be the easiest, but I'm not sure if that just works in the soil and not on the plant...

    Thanks, Maude

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    The adult midges are weak flyers, but they were probably carried by the wind from another rose garden in the neighborhood. They are a problem in many gardens in NJ-PA-NY, the Great Lakes states, and the PNW.

  • Maude80
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Any thought on the products I mentioned guys?? I'm hoping to order soon...

  • aegis1000
    9 years ago

    I think that the consensus is NOT to spray.

    I've had midge before and I was advised to use something like your option #2 in the planting area for my roses.

    The life cycle of the midge depends upon the pupa being able to survive and develop after dropping from the affected plants on to the ground below.

    If you nuke (your concept) the ground your roses grow in, then you break the cycle (i.e. no more midge).

    It worked well for me. I only had midge the third year of 10 years of growing roses.

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    9 years ago

    I guess the recommendation of aegis may be as good as you will get here. Most of the gardeners on this forum are opposed to "nuking" plants with insecticides, though sometimes some feel they have to. But since most of us don't use insecticides, we often don't know much about them in terms of what "cures" what condition. We do know that they kill bees and earth worms, etc.--and we try to avoid that.

    You do see Bayer mentioned as a spray on this forum by a number of gardeners, but they are talking about the fungicide (for blackspot), not the insecticide put out by Bayer.

    Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck.

    Kate