22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Well drained soil is good but that also will mean they'll need to be kept watered more frequently and because of that they'll also need to be fertilized more frequently. Because the water drains down and out the pot it takes nutrients from the soil with it.
Cynthia gave you some very good ideas for winterizing. If yo can fit them in your garage that's usually the best because it's a little warmer inside there and it protects them from the wind and drying canes. And you do need to water them all winter. Even though they're dormant you do not want them to get too dry or they'll die. Dessication can kill a rose as quickly and easily as freeze damage can.
Welcome! Yes, some colors can be affected by pH and nutrient levels, but pure pink isn't Beauty Secret. It could either be misnamed or it could be Copy Cat, the pink sport (mutation) of Beauty Secret. Take a look at the link below and see if that could be your pink rose. I wonder if their "Cracker Rose Pink" could be the found rose called "Pink Cracker"? Louis Philippe isn't a mini any more than Cracker Rose is. You can look them up on Help Me Find- Roses, the link I posted below. Yes, you can use the tomato fertilizer you have for your roses. Roses can't read. Vermiculite slows drainage and actually breaks down into a clay material. Perlite increases drainage. Just use your regular all purpose potting soil without adding anything to it. You aren't growing cactus, which requires much more drainage than roses. You haven't indicated what size pots you intend to use, but make sure they are large enough to insulate the roots against the heat from sun shining directly on their sides. Too small and you can easily cook them on a hot day, even in Iowa. They also need a large enough size to hold enough water for you to not have to constantly water them. Kim
Here is a link that might be useful: Copy Cat
That's not RRD growth. It might be something weather related and left over from this bad winter and spring. I'd let them bloom and then cut those canes back and hope the plant grows out more evenly. Dead head those old blooms off the lower growth too. Dead heading and pruning will signal the plant to start growing again. Otherwise, they look pretty healthy. Good job!
No need to treat for mites and thrips--there's no sign of them. If you had mites, the treatment would just be to spray underneath the leaves repeatedly with water. It's unusual to find thrips being bad enough to require treatment. Agains, the image doesn't suggest thrips to me.
Also my roses do well without extra fancy soil. Obviously you need to get rid of any large rocks. If your soil is sandy, the best additive is clay in the form of plain kitty litter, between 10 and 15% of the volume. Then did in some manure and maintain an organic mulch that will rot into the soil over the years. If your soil is clay, just add manure and avoid compacting it when it is wet.
HSOB, as long as your native soil is good enough to grow healthy plants and has good drainage I would not worry about using fancy soils...
Unless you plan on creating raised beds for your roses...
No need to treat for anything until you identify your exact problem...
I doubt it too with commercial mulch and their composted temperatures. I am concerned that another vector for this disease might be aphids as they mimic the mites in terms of their sucking parts of the sap.
Currently from what I understand, there is not enough research money or someone setting up a scientific study to determine if aphids are another vector of this disease.
I bought a bunch of bags of mulch this weekend. I forgot to put out two of them. So last night I opened them and put them down. The mulch was so HOT!. I hope that killed all the weeds I put it over.
Those bags sit out in the sun at Home Depot or whatever. I'm not sure the mites could survive that. But still, don't put a RRD bush in the landfill or compost!
That is the first time I have ever seen a full-grown bush of George Burns. Had no idea it would be so lovely and floriferous!
As to the weak branches practically lying on the ground, just look around the yard for a twiglet of the right size that has fallen from a tree and carefully position it under the weak branch as you gently raise it to a more upright position. The twiglet will be hardly noticeable, and the weak branch will appreciate being able to lean on the twiglet.
I often do that for my new baby roses.
kate
Here in NY its a lot different the fertilizer schedule. Here we wait till the roses leaf out completely and then I use Espoma Rose Tone around each plant -- I either wait for rain to be in the forecast to wash it in or if you do not mulch, you can scratch it into the soil. I also apply my 1st application of Epsom salts around each rose too. Figure about a half cup of the fertilizer and salts around each rose.
In May, June, July and August I feed again with the Rose Tone and in July I do my 2nd application of Epsom salts.
They do pretty well with this routine.
Mad is right, they need cooler and damper conditions than most homes have. I can't give you exact figures because I really don't know. They also like good air circulation too so you'd need a fan to create some air movement. I guess if you can provide all of that it might work. But truthfully it will be a hard job to keep them happy. They're better off outside.
"The Effect of Photon Flux Density and Lighting Period on Growth, Flowering, Powdery Mildew and Water Relations of Miniature Roses"
See:
http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=46556#.U5c9PvldWcU
Here is a link that might be useful: link for above
First, forget the pebbles or any other "stuff" in the pot bottoms. It doesn't help. Second, if you can safely remove the soil balls without them breaking up and messing up the root balls, you can safely repot the plants. If the root balls aren't sufficiently knit together so they don't break up, don't mess with them. It would be better to wait until the soil balls are sufficiently knit together so they come out whole, in one piece. If that's later this summer, do it later this summer. If it doesn't happen by late winter, early spring, when you would be planting bare roots anyway, wait until that time and repot them. If they break up and put the roses at risk because of the disturbance, at least it is the appropriate time of year for them to experience that disturbance. Good luck! Kim
Botrytis normally affects the outer petals most. On flowers it produces brown rotten spots, not usually noticeable gray fuzz, I have never seen or heard of the problem you describe on a HT. Some cluster-flowering roses abort some buds for mysterious reasons. The neck tissue turns reddish and then yellow.
Oh, Carol,
Your Perfume Delight was one of my earlier learning experiences. I had two of them. I loved the bloom color, the bloom form and (most of all) the scent.
And that's where the love stopped.
My two Perfume Delights had BLACK SPOT. The BS they had was the worst of any roses I've ever grown. It became a challenge to find a spray to suppress their BS. This challenge became more serious as they shared their BS with roses in the same bed, and the immediately down wind roses suffered.
Nothing worked to keep leaves on Perfume Delights . Nothing.
When I shovel pruned them in their fourth infected year, I felt a giant relief and the rest of the roses in that bed did much better without a source of problem so near by.
Splotches on the canes ....were worst on my Graham Stuart Thomas hedge of roses and on IIRC Patricia Austin. Those roses kept leaves with spraying fungicides.
Perfume Delight was a learning experience.
Ann (of the ethylene comment)
Okay - good thoughts.
I think I might toss it if it gets bad black spot. I don't tolerate that in my roses - and there's no need to spray here - since very few roses get BS.
Hmmmm....I'll keep an eye on this one.
Bummer. - but thanks!
Carol
CossecaRose - glad to be of help and very timely for your alfalfa use in your own garden. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Learn from the mistakes of others - you can't live long enough to make them all yourself". Of course in my case, there's the quote, "Good decisions come from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad decisions."
You're right Susanne that this was a collection of unfortunate events, but I'm vowing not to do the same next year, or even for the remainder of this one. And thanks for the allowance of one major mistake at least per year Hoovb guilt-free, and for helping to redirect some of the guilt. I still think folks like CossecaRose in zone 3 have it way tougher than I do, since most if not all of the HTs simply won't survive that cold without hauling inside protection for the winter, and I can get away with even teas if I'm careful. Still we do have our challenges in Nebraska, but at least for the time being we have plenty of water. A major storm headed for our area missed us thankfully, so we may actually have a whole dry week to recover.
Thanks again everyone!
Cynthia
Cynthia, hope your roses are recuperating and hope they will survive. Once they tide over the crisis, hopefully they will take off due to the growth stimulatory effect of alfa alfa. Keep us posted as to how they are doing.
Good luck, Madri