Rose Tips by Al Karsten
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Rose Tips
August 2001
Your roses are now established, however, you need to inspect them weekly. Look for any diseases such as black spot or mildew on the leaves, and insect damage - aphids, spider mites or other "bad" insects. If you notice any of the problems, you need to spray weekly. A fungicide is needed for the disease on the leaves and an insecticide is needed for the bugs. Before spraying, the roots of the rose bushes need watering in order to prevent burning of the leaves from the chemicals being applied.
Be mindful of the August temperature when you spray your roses. If the temperature is expected to be 85-90 degrees during the day of your spraying, cut back your spray application by one half (i.e., if instructions indicate one tablespoon per gallon of water, use only one half of a tablespoon). If the temperature is expected to be 90 degrees or above on the day of the week you normally spray, do not spray at all. Wait until daytime temperatures fall below 85 degrees again to continue your weekly spraying.
August is the third and final time of this growing season to fertilize your roses. I will continue to use 8 ounces (coffee cup size) of 13-13-13 granular fertilizer. Dig a shallow trench around each rose bush to apply the fertilizer. Water fertilizer in thoroughly. When you have finished, cover the trench with your hand or a trowel. You will be rewarded with roses if you feed them well. It is not recommended you apply the 8 ounces of fertilizer on top of the soil in your rose bed. You want the fertilizer to get to the roots of the rose bush and rain would wash the granules away from the rose bush if simply left on top of the soil.
Apply the fertilizer no later than August 15th. Roses need to start going into dormancy. If you wait until Labor Day weekend to fertilize, and we have an early frost in October, most likely your rose bush will die. Many of us lost roses this passed winter for various reasons. The replacements are not only a drain on your financial resources but you have to start over with new, much smaller rose bushes.
It is OK to continue to use a foliar fertilizer, such as Rapid-Gro, in your weekly spray program. I continue to use the foliar fertilizer in my spraying until the first of October.
An important maintenance job for the roses is the pruning throughout the growing season. Old dead canes should be cut back to live green wood. Cutting off old faded blooms encourages new growth and new blooms.
As our weather becomes warmer, spider mites will be active on roses. The mites suck the juice out of the rose leaves and, in time, defoliate plants. Spider mites are difficult to control unless you head them off before the infestation gets well established. Symptoms appear on the lower foliage of the rose bush, which will be a lighter color. Rosarians often describe the damaged leaves as gray green.
You actually can keep the mite population under control simply with a forceful spray of water to the underside of the leaves. Apply the water with a water wand or nozzle from your garden hose. Repeat the process in three days in case there are new eggs or you did not drown the mites or eggs the first time. Also apply forceful water to the soil under the rose to drown insects that fall to the ground. The forceful spraying should be done two or three days after your weekly fungicide and insecticide spraying. You need to closely monitor your roses during hot weather. If you notice your leaves are of a lighter color, repeat the above procedure during August.
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