Dave wrote:
The thing that alarms me is a purple "bruising" on the stems of Old
Blush,

Several of my roses are having a similar problem. The canes develop purplish
spots, then the cane turns yellow with spots and then dies. This condition
develops not on the small end branches, but on either a main cane or lateral.
When the cane starts to go, the tips of the branches above the cane with start
dying, looking like dieback. From spots to dead isn't long, a week or two at
the most.
If it is dieback or canker, fungicides should help. When I first noticed it, I
began spraying more regularly, but I have never used Banner Maxx more often
than 14 days.
I must wonder if the problem is not a lack of fungicide but the result of
fungicide, specifically Banner Maxx. I never had this problem until two years
ago, a few months after I started using Banner Maxx. The only roses affected
are those that are sprayed and all the sprayed roses, except Rose de Rescht,
show the same symptoms. I've read other posts, on other boards, where
dieback/canker/whatever is becoming more of problem than ever before. And I
believe more people are using Banner Maxx, it seems to be the current favorite.
I'm not accusing Banner Maxx, I'm not convinced it is the problem, but I do
wonder. It could be the roses least resistant to BS are also the least
resistant to whatever is causing this problem. I've stopped spraying the two
roses most affected, they are down to one cane already. Since I expect to
loose them anyway, they are my test roses. If the situation improves on these
two roses, I'll start spraying again, but not with Banner Maxx and see what
happens.
Anyone else having the same/similar problem?
Any comments?
Julie