Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ernie85017

What are the spots on my rose leaves?

I have two Lady Banks grown from cuttings, and now in the ground over a year. This is their second summer.

What are these yellow spots on the leaves? They get deep waterings, lots of sun, Epsoma rose food, are mulched, and�. oh yes, they are in hot Phoenix. What did I do?

Sorry about the out of focus picture. Something went wrong when I tried to download (upload?) the pictures and the worst one went through. Sighâ¦. some of the spots have dead brown spots in the center. The leaf in the upper left shows how the yellow spots are sprinkled through the leaf.

Comments (8)

  • rosefolly
    9 years ago

    My vote is for anthracnose.

    There is also cercospora, but I think that usually has a dot in the center, if I am not mistaken.

    Rosefolly

  • anntn6b
    9 years ago

    I think a closer look might show that these are eaten from below. The edges aren't smooth (and smooth is what I've seen most often with anthracnose.)

    If you have a scanner, you can scan a problem leaf at high resolution and then zoom in/ magnify it.

    From the image, I wonder if the leaf was eaten and all we see left is the outer later of the leaf.

    From the rolled up leaf in the background....I wonder if you might have a worse kind of spider mite in your part of the world????

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    The spot with a ring looks like spot anthracnose fungus, or possibly cercospora. There may be more than one thing. In any case, I think it has been there for a while and has escaped notice--it's inactive. I wouldn't worry about it. Those diseases are not going to spread during the Arizona summer.

  • ernie85017, zn 9, phx
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Aak! I didn't even notice the rolled leaf. There aren't other rolled leaves that I know of. Will check again tomorrow, working now.

    The picture doesn't show the yellow spots that are coming before the brown dead areas. Most don't have the brown areas, just the yellow spots. They start small, irregular, and become larger and the leaves will be mostly yellow like this one. Most leaves are fine. This is mostly happening lower on the plant. The only ones with the brown areas are the ones that had yellow. I'll have to look at the back to see if it looks like something is eating at them.

    Some of the yellow is around the rims of the leaves as well.

    I don't believe I am underwatering, or overwatering. THey get a long deep soak with a trickle from the hose over several hours at least once a week.

    What would a nutrient deficiency look like? I was told zinc is deficient in our soil here.

    One thing: I have chickens and they kick up a lot of dust. The leaves will be coated with dust, and I will sprinkle the dust off with the hose. Is this a bad idea? It isn't done every day, but usually more than once a week.

    I did have some powdery mildew in the early spring, before the sun got around the other trees to really shine on the roses. I treated it with milk spray which worked.

    Sorry to be a pain, but I really want roses and have not been successful before.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    By midsummer, almost every rose in my garden will have a few cruddy old leaves near the bottom that are dying of old age or were injured earlier in the season by mites or fungus. I don't pay any attention to these.

  • ernie85017, zn 9, phx
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Trying to get a better picture.

    Well at least this one shows how the yellow shows up in diffuse spots on the leaves.

    There isn't any red ring on the dead spots. The articles I read on anthracnose say there will be a red ring.

  • DavidBeck
    9 years ago

    I'm looking at three possibilities which may be occurring at the same time:
    1: Anthracnose which does produce red rings (visible in your first picture)

    2: Sunburn from water being left on the leave, focusing sun rays to burn the leaves (the yellowing areas). Alternatively, thrip infestation also produces the same yellowing symptom.

    3: Too much fertilizer; which would case the browning leaf roll (also called "Leaf Burn") as if you took a blowtorch to the tips.

    Use a fungicide for the anthracnose and water during the early morning so the leaves can dry before the sun gets high. Check the directions for fertilizer and be careful you don't use too much.

  • ernie85017, zn 9, phx
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Will do.
    The Epsoma rose food bag does' say how much to use. Never saw that before.
    Thank you