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Killing Kindness
I know you will find this hard to believe but the #1 problem that I am finding in the Rose Gardens here in Green Country is that the roses are being over watered. Yes, you read it right. Many Rosarians are over watering their roses and the roots are drowning.
Water to your roses should be limited to 1" or about 5 gallon poured around the bush once a week. Soil type and slope may cause you to tweak this a bit but for normal soil conditions 1" per week is sufficient even in the ridiculously high dry days of late. Of course this is not suited for pot watering, pots under 18" must be watered daily. A water meter is a great tool to have for testing pots. Some things you can look for to ascertain if your roses are too wet follow.
1: Move the mulch from the soil at a location in your flower bed at least 18" from any rose. Dig a hole about a foot deep. If any water is present in the hole after 5 minutes the ground is too wet.
2: Take some of the soil from the hole you dug from about 6 inches down and squeeze it in you hand. If you can squeeze water from it, your soil is too wet. The soil should hold its shape after you release it. If the soil will not hold its shape it is too dry.
3: The moles in your yard are wearing scuba gear.
Once the soil it is too wet for a period of a couple of days the leaves on the rose will begin to turn bright yellow and start to fall off. At this point the bush is dyeing and action must be taken immediately. Stop all watering of the plant and remove the mulch from the ground to allow the wind and Sun to begin drying the earth. Do not water the bush again until you see new growth beginning to form again where the leaves had previously dropped. Remember at that time the rose needs a maximum of 1" of water a week. |
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Dealing with Summer heat for Roses
Every News outlet you turn to is telling us how to deal with Summer heat. So, I am not going to give you tips for staying safe in the heat but rather how to give your roses heat relief.
Roses love the sun. This is a fact. It is also a fact that too much of anything is bad. Of course this includes the Sun. If your Roses are planted in such a manner that they get shade from the afternoon Sun than you can pretty much ignore the rest of this except you must make sure they have at least 3 inches of mulch on them. Shredded pine is best. Bring the mulch right up to the plant. It will not rot the main stem. Where do people come up with these ideas? :) The mulch will keep the soil moist and the evaporative cooling will help the ground stay more of a constant temperature throughout the day. However, if you are like me your Rose beds are in direct Sun through-out the day. They can not be moved but you can help. If your beds are small and you are a little handy it is a easy chore to put up some post and use shade netting to protect your roses from the worst of the afternoon Sun. Another, be it more labor intensive, way to help your roses cope with the extreme heat of our summer afternoons is to spray your roses during the hottest part of the day with cool water. Yes, you read it right! Wet the top of each plant with water. Just a quick spray will do wonders. Remember when you are doing this that you are not watering the ground but just the foliage on the bushes. The evaporative cooling from this water will cool the temperatures in the rose bed 5 to 10 degrees depending on the retaliative humidity of the surrounding air. Don't worry about causing disease because it is much too hot for disease to spread in the afternoon and no, despite what you may have heard the water on the leaves will not cause them to sun burn. One word of caution, If your water hose has been laying in the Sun, the water temperature in it could be very hot so make sure you clear the hose of hot water prior to aiming it at any roses.
If your rose beds are to large for any of the above plans of action, here is what I do. Quit dead heading your roses. When you dead head you spur the plant to grow new foliage and blooms. In this heat it is that new foliage and blooms that are burnt by the sun. About the second week of August you may resume dead heading, harvest any hips that you may want for consumption discarding the rest in preparation for the fall blooms. Remember, if your new leaves and blooms are not scorching in the heat you may continue dead heading as usual. |
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Spider Mites
 All of this heat will bring out the spider mites. It is best to start looking for them before the plants are damaged. As you walk through your roses in the early morning or late afternoon take time to look at the back of some of the lower leaves on the bush. I know people who have eyes good enough to see the mites moving but I have to look for the dirty appearance on the back of the leaves to diagnose the problem if I do not carry my hand held microscope with me. I would not be without my microscope. It can magnify the images on the leaf up to 100 times and I can not only see the mites but I can see the mite eggs very clearly. It is lit so I can use it even when the outside light is limited. We carry 2 different models of hand held microscopes here at Roses inc. if you would like one to use. Upon finding Spider Mites on the foliage you must take immediate action. If you still have Spinosad left that you didn't use on Thrips it will work against Spider mites in early infestations. Apply it on 3 day intervals for 3 applications. If the infestation has progressed further you should use Tetra San and spray helper to rid your plants of the pest before severe damage is done. With either spray you must get good coverage of the bottom of the leaves.
We carry these products plus a full line of other pesticides both organic and compounded for use on any problem you may have with your roses.
Come by Roses inc. and let us help you pick out the correct product for your need.
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