22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
It looks very nice now, but I really would encourage you to snip off any new buds that come along. There isn't much mass to the rose yet and it really needs to build up a framework of branches. Blooms on a small, struggling rose are going to slow it down since it will spend a lot of its energy on blooming instead of growing.
Walters recipe is about what we've done -- NO epsom salts in our case ... not with OUR water/soil! We have occasionally added kelp. But really, it's the hormones in the alfalfa that do the job. THAT is the power house that drives the growth.
In your situation, maybe try dry alfalfa, well-watered-in?
I did use alfalfa pellets this winter for the first time....a lot actually! People seem to rave about the tea, so I gave it a try! I've had such improvements in all my plants....my peach/orange trees are putting out more blooms than I ever had before...like 3x. I've also been trying to improve the soil...so it's been a multipronged attack!
Thanks for the feedback! I'm trying again with the tea and using much less alfalfa...so far so good!
In the Dallas area, we (Rose Societies, Master Gardeners, Extension agents and horticulturalists from all over) have launched a major campaign to educate people about Rose Rosette. Our main goal at first is to get people (including landscapers and municipalities) to remove the plants that are infecting whole neighborhoods. Scientists are working hard on it, but there is no cure at this time. Removing an infecting cane is very risky. The chances are high that it will return. The disease is caused by a virus spread by the eriophyid mite. The mite can be killed by certain miticides, but only on contact. Unfortunately, they do not stay on the surface of the rose. On a more positive note, the virus is not in the soil. If you remove the roots, you can replant - some say in a week, some say a little longer. Of course, you can re-plant with a non-rose at any time. But, if there are many infected roses in your neighborhood, there is no point in replanting until they are removed. Talk to your neighbors who have infected plants. But, we hope you will not give up. Can you imagine gardens without roses? We can't.
Found it at an auto store. It was sort of like a black tar_ish substance. It dried nicely. I was afraid the nozzle would clog between the 2 coats but learned to spray with the can upsidedown to clear the nozzle between jobs. Sorry I don't remember the exact name.
so sorry afraid not. Hate to start on those little cactus plants you see in the grocery store with the glued on flower top;) But seriously I am going to experiment with nontoxic blue food dye on my so-called when I bought it 6 months ago (Baby Blue) blue spruce that was blue but is now green, to see if it gets back a blue tint and if dye was being used to color the spruces that are not the naturally blue strain. Ripped out my poor sea foam rose bush today because of RRV. I was so sad/mad because I found that pathetic little plant ( my first rose bush) in the dumpster at a walmart back in 1997 and now it's (was) a monster. The virus showed up 2 years ago and until I came across this website I didn't know about the box store knock out roses I bought 2 years back was most likely the carrier. No wonder The Knock out roses did bad last year, now they are next to be pulled out. I am afraid to plant my new Leda and Ash rose bushes this year when they come even though they will be on the other side of the house. I wanted to do a English rose garden this year but I think I will put in Peonies, hopefully the RRV mites will be dead by next year if they have no food.
One that bothers me is a special deal I have seen in some catalogs for 12 AARS varieties as a collection. The problem is that one of the varieties, namely Crimson Glory, was never awarded the AARS prize. It was introduced several years before the AARS program's first awards. That is quite misleading. They should switch the Crimson Glory out for another variety that did win the award.
Joe Moose - Beautiful roses. Your Hot Cocoa looks a lot different than mine which is a darker coral. I am rather disappointed in this rose. I like the color but the bush is small and anemic. It has very few blooms and kind of limps along. How is yours? Love Julia Child.
regular additions of organic material can lower the soil PH. Also sulphur or ferrous sulfate and aluminum sulfate can help.
I understand the various Medics thrive in soil that's low in Nitrogen, so your soil report goes a long way towards explaining this chronic infestation. If left to grow and turned into the soil when they come into flower, well before the seeds set, these helpful 'weeds' will add nitrogen to the soil from those nitrogen-fixing nodules Sam mentioned. For more Nitrogen, you could also add ordinary (green) garden compost and/or alfalfa in some form, as I think (?) others have previously suggested (unless I'm getting your threads mixed up with someone else's - that's quite possible!...)
Looking at the soil report, alfalfa may be a good choice since it's relatively low in Phosphorous, which you apparently have too much of, as well as adding those fantastic natural growth-promoting hormones Jeri has described on another thread. Around here you can buy bales of alfalfa hay which makes an excellent mulch, since it gradually adds the nitrogen and other beneficials as it rots down, while at the same time discouraging further airborne weed seeds from taking root. Getting the nitrogen levels up as per your soil report, by whatever method/s you choose, should naturally discourage the Medic. There are plenty of high Nitrogen organic alternatives, including blood meal (NOT blood and bone though), cottonseed meal and coffee grounds - Google for more ideas and find out which are available locally and affordable or free.
Other Medic-friendly conditions you may need to address are insufficient soil aeration and moisture retention, which could arise through a lower than optimal level of organic matter in the soil. Amending with any solid organic materials will improve the soil's physical STRUCTURE - as distinct from its chemical make-up - making it less hospitable to the Medic as well as being beneficial for your roses in all sorts of ways! (An organic mulch that rots down over time, like the alfalfa hay, would do the same thing, only more slowly.)
I hope this helps. Look, there's rarely if ever just one 'correct' or 'final' solution to gardening problems, so don't expect to be presented with some single, simple magic formula - I may be quite mistaken, but I sort of get the impression that's what you MAY just be hoping for. Please do forgive me if I've misunderstood!
What I'd suggest is, if it makes sense to you, to try the above, see how that goes, then decide on your next step. For example, if you find more Medic seeds that are already buried in the soil start coming up through the mulch next year; you could simply do the same thing again; i.e. turn them into the soil when they come into flower along with any remaining decomposed hay (or whatever) mulch, before applying fresh mulch. However, as always, I'm sure others will have other excellent alternative suggestions, corrections, and additions to my thoughts.
Good luck!
Comtesse :¬)