On Fri, 2 May 2003 12:44:41 -0400, "Paul Reynolds"
wrote:

First, we know next to nothing about roses other than they are beautiful and
brighten up our day.

They really are wonderful, aren't they?


We just got another small plot of adjacent land that has long uncared for
rose bushes, (maybe tea roses?).
The bushes were covered with small bugs and ants that were eating the buds.

Hate that. First thing I would do it spray them all down with a fine,
hard spray of water, then come back later and see what comes crawling
back. I guess you could try to identify the insects before spraying
them off with water. But my first instinct would be to get those
bushes clean.


I got some Carbaryl from the local feed/seed store but the directions say to
dust not only the tops of the leaves but the bottoms also.
Too many and too big to try sprinkling on the undersides so I was wondering
is there something like a sprayer that can be used with dry powders?
Thanks in advance for any help with this problem.

I think both Carbaryl and the idea of applying dry insecticide to
roses are very bad ideas. And I am NOT against using insecticides--I
use a systemic (is absorbed by the plants and just kills what eats
them) insecticide every ten days. It is mixed 2 tablespoons to the
gallon, and sprayed on the plants until the leaves begin to drip. I
try to get the undersides of the leaves, but it is hit or miss.

So why is dry insecticide/Carbaryl a bad idea, imo? Powder is just too
easy to breathe--and this is not stuff you want to breathe unless you
want permanent lung damage--and to get into your eyes--it can blind
you. And, Carbaryl kills EVERYTHING. Some insects (referred to as
beneficials) are good for your roses in that they eat the bad insects.


I think you ought to first wash off those nice old bushes with a hard
spray of water--then try to identify what kind of insects are eating
your roses. (Ants don't eat roses--but they love the sticky honeydew
made by aphids, which do eat roses.)

Where are you? That is an important piece of info.

And Welcome!




Paul n Bev