'Luis Desamero' is a light yellow Miniature

IT’S TIME TO . . .

START FEEDING YOUR ROSES. When your roses start showing their leaves it’s time to feed. There are lots of rose fertilizers available. It’s up to you to decide it you want to use organic or inorganic. Organic fertilizers are much more earth friendly. Inorganic fertilizers can have ingredients that can be dangerous to people as well as your pets. When selecting a fertilizer the three numbers should be below 15 and relatively close to each other. Fertilizers with low numbers will less likely burn your roses. Common rose fertilizers would be 8-12-4, 10-2-10, 5-7-2 and 15-5-13. The numbers represent the percentage of nitrogen, phosphate and potash available in the fertilizer. These are essential nutrients plants need for growing and flower production. A good practice is to rotate different fertilizers each feeding. This will give the roses different trace minerals from each fertilizer.

WATCH FOR DISEASES AND INSECTS In early spring after when the new leaves have developed is the time when there will be the most disease problems. Rust, powdery mildew and blackspot are synonymous with spring rose growing. A non-chemical approach can be used if you have been careful and have selected rose varieties that are less susceptible to rose diseases. Some non-toxic sprays and chemical sprays are available for disease control. Aphids will be the number one insect problem in the spring. They love the tender new buds and will cover an entire bud. There are non-toxic and chemical sprays available. Remember, when using chemical sprays to wear protective clothing to cover your entire body. You should also wear goggles for face protection. Be sure and immediately take a shower when you have finished spraying your roses.

Now is the time to get your roses on a regular watering schedule. Roses love water but need to be planted in soil that has good drainage. If you have roses growing in containers you will need to check them almost daily to be sure that have enough water. In the summer that probably means watering container roses every day. If you don't have mulch in your rose beds consider some type of soil covering-bark, a thick layer of compost, pine needles-anything that can help keep the top soil cool for the small roots that are close to the surface. It also will help control weeds and contain moisture for the long, hot summer.

In the pictures below are some common problems which you may have see on your roses during the spring. Consult your local nursery or a Consulting Rosarian of the San Joaquin Valley Rose Society for specific ways to control these problems. Their phone numbers are listed on another page of this website-"ARS Consulting Rosarians of the San Joaquin Valley Rose Society."

The upper side of overwintering rose leaf. Leaf is infected with rust and probably with black spot.

The underside of leaf showing two types of rust spores. The black spores are the overwinterung spores and the orange spores are the regular ones.

Stem with purple blotches. These blotches can be caused by several fungi such as downy mildew and black spot. The stem needs to be diagnosed further for the specific fungi problem.

Rose Canker-all cankers and diseased stems should be pruned off. If the pruners cut into the infected stem, the pruners should be disinfected.

Marmara cambium stem miner damage. A small moth larva is actually involved in this type of damage, not a fly, like most references claim.

Cottony cusion scale

Flathead borer damage. Note hole on cut end of stem. The adult beetles are attached by weaken or damaged canes like this sunburned cane.

Old rose stem(upper left) shows Raseberry horntail wasp damage. The damage was made in the spring by the stem boring sawfly that normally attacks berry bushes. Prune this type of damage by following the hole in the cane until the sawfly larva is found. Cut below where the larva is found and make sure you leave healthy tissue on the stem.

If you have any questions or comments, my e-mail address: valleyrose@sti.net

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Last updated April 7, 2007
@1997 Linda Burg