22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Maggie, the rose slugs are probably gone now. But if some of them are still there, washing off the underside of the leaves will get rid of them, along with the mites.
It's amazing -- but really, the most effective solution isn't a chemical . . . it's something as simple as water at high pressure.
To be truthful, this is a great deal of fun, on a hot summer day.
Thanks to everyone for all your information regarding the aphids and ladybugs. I NEVER use chemicals in my garden so I know I'm not hindering lady bugs from going on all my roses. So far, I've just been either hosing them off or putting on my thin rubber gloves and spritzing them with my water, oil and soap mixture and removing them by hand. I was just wondering if they would crawl back on the roses after hosing them off. I love the photo (above) with the lady bugs on the leaf. Thanks for posting it Holly. That leaf sure looks healthy to me.
My experience is similar to Holly's. I released many of them this spring twice weekly over two weeks. The aphids had already infested so I will get on it earlier this year. However, I've seen ladybugs here all summer and lots of ladybug love going on. It's great to see the larvae.
I also bought praying mantis pods and they hatched! I scattered about 800 praying mantis around my yard. Have seen a fewâ¦
Susan
Right, don't fertilize until they have recovered and have put out plenty of leaves. Bloom Buster is the wrong kind of fertilizer--regular Miracle Gro or Miracle Gro for Roses is fine, or any reasonably balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 18-6-12.
Watering correctly is the most important thing. Keep a 2" mulch of leaves or bark around the roses. When the soil under the mulch feels dry-ish, water thoroughly with 2-3 gallons for small plants or 5 gallons for larger, plus or minus for extremely hot or very mild, cloudy weather. Usually once a week is fine. For new plants, I divide the ration in half and water twice a week.
There are probably a couple of reason that could explain it. The older ones have been growing in different conditions than the newer ones, such as soil and weather, that could explain the difference. It's also possible that the earlier ones were a different Morden rose. There are several different ones and a few of them are a brighter solid pink, Morden Belle, Morden Centennial and Morden Ruby.
I've grown Secret (first year bare root) and I grow Secret's Out, the white sport of Secret. Neither have ever demonstrated any symptoms of RMV, though I know that doesn't mean they aren't infected, they just haven't shown symptoms. Both have been great roses in high heat with not terribly hard winters. I understand from friends who tried growing it in Ohio that it is not terribly winter hardy for harsher climates. I can verify this rose LOVES water! It flourishes where it can be drowned regularly. When Secret's Out hesitates flowering, I bump up the water and it responds with many buds. It demands much more water than any of the surrounding roses. You'll have best form and color if you can protect it from the harshest afternoon sun. Keep it far away from hardscape, no side walks or walls/fences. Increased heat increases its thirst for even MORE water. Kim
Kim -- Back when 'Secret' was new, we had 3 of it.
One came from J&P, one from Weeks, and the third, I think, was Coiner-grown.
ALL of them at one time or another, demonstrated minor evidence of virus. The Coiner rose, in some years, broke out so it looked like a very lively paisley scarf.
And YET . . . The Coiner plant, despite that, was by far the more vigorous of the 3, and so remained here for years after removal of HTs began.
FWIW . . .
Soak them in buckets several hours or days before planting. Then soak them in with a lot of water, over 5 gallons, to settle the soil. Don't tamp clay soil or even step on it when it is wet. Then mound the plants or spray with an anti-transpirant to prevent dehydration. Remove any white shoots that are exposed above the mound, as they will not survive in the sun.
The initial watering with last for 2-3 weeks in winter. When new growth appears through the mound (about a month), reduce the mound with a flow of water from the hose, or very carefully remove it by hand--new shoots are very fragile.
Young plants will use 2-3 gallons of water per week in spring, or twice that when they are 3 feet wide in hot weather. You can fertilize very lightly once they are leafed out.
As to soil preparation, best practice is to prepare the bed uniformly rather than deep holes with special soil. I dig 12" deep with a few inches of manure or finished compost (compost in the US sense, not UK sense). Alkaline soil may need a pH adjustment. Maintain a mulch of organic material 2-3 inches deep at all times. This will improve the soil over the years. Take great care never to compact the soil when it is wet.
This post was edited by michaelg on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 9:55
Dublinbay - Thanks for the pruning advice. I did the progressive pruning method earlier in the spring. Some of the ones that are gray still showed a bit of life in them, so I left them. Now I think it's pretty clear they can get cut.
I've had these roses for about 6 years (but they've been in that spot for 70+ years!) and had never seen this before. They've always done beautifully with almost NO care from me (I just prune dead branches and occasionally deadhead - no fungicides or fertilizer and no problems). But we also had an unprecedented long, hard winter followed by a very hot spring. Hopefully it bounces back after I prune it - it will look rather silly with just one branch sticking out of the ground!
I knew that RRD is unrelated to the other rose diseases I mentioned, I was just wondering if those problems weakened a plant to make it more susceptible to RRD infection (or vice versa). From all I've read in my paranoia this week, RRD isn't very well understood. I just wanted to see if there was any anectodal evidence to suggest a correlation.
Diane - I'd read that RU overspray can produce similar symptoms (red, stunted growth and feathery ends) so I wanted to acknowledge that as a possibility.
Thanks again to everybody. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.
if your RU .. or any spray is drifting.. its because you are using too much pressure.. and too fine a spray ... do not treat it as french perfume...
fill your tank with water ... and learn how to create big drops .. which gravity will make fall to earth ...
its a function of how many pumps ... tip nozzle adjustment ... and trigger pressure ...
if you learn how to use the tool ... the tank ... then you can avoid all kinds of problems... not unlike any other tool ...
and i just dont know what to tell you.. if you are using the manufacturer type tank ...
less pressure is best ...
ken
Do what Michael says. He's good and knows his stuff.
Don't blame yourself for losing this rose. It probably never stood much of a chance in the first place. When you buy these cheapie roses they're almost always of very inferior quality and poor health to begin with. That's why they're cheap. In the future pay a little more and buy good quality plants from reputable vendors and you'll end up spending less in the long run trying to keep them alive.
Make sure roses are hardy enough for zone 5a. Some of mine died last winter. Look for hardy Buck and David Austin roses. Also consider knock out and Easy Elegance. The Crocus rose came back the best from the harsh winter. I just use 13-13-13 fertilizer from Blain's Farm and Fleet. Weed, water, fertilize and mulch. I don't use any chemicals at all.
I would say with pretty good certainty that it is RR. As a mature plant, it is very thorny as Ann Cecilia pointed out, but on an immature plant with non-hardened canes, you can't really judge it solely based on that. It is definitely not Dublin Bay, nor a Rugosa.
All this said, there are a number of reds that look very similiar, but I do believe it to be an immature RR.
Thanks! Here is a recent picture of it. There is very little wood from last year because I didnt mulch it in the slightest.