"S.La Rocca" wrote in message
. ..
I live in Central Mi. zone 5. I have a third year Hunter Rugossa that has
a
good ammount of blackspot. I know you are not supposed to spray Rugossas,
but this variety seems to not look much like most Rugossas. This rose is
about 5 ft. tall, with huge 1 in. diameter canes. It is sending out more
new canes, 1 of which is about 7 ft. tall. The flush of blooms it put out
in June was amazing. I mean it was loaded. Has anyone ever tried to spray
this rose for blackspot ? I would hate to try it, and loose it. The only
reason for my inquiry is that I heard this rose is a complex hybrid with
many other rose types in it's make up. Thanks in advance

Tony

Hi Tony,

the general consensus is not to spray. There is a valid reason
for it since the rugate (wrinkled) character of their leaves
can bring a host of problems to the plant, inability to process
photosynthesis, "breathing" the necessary oxygen to produce
the means to carry the auxin all the way to the flowering ends,
and because any kind of spray that will have to stay on the surface
of the leaf will end accumulating in the rugae the plant will
show you how unhappy she really is by burning every leaf into
a crisp brown paper sample to drop it as soon as she is through
teaching you ;)

There is a school of thought which I do not follow however, that
suggests that you could only spray the lower part of the plant
and see what happens. I can tell you what I think it happens: all
the foliage will drop, the plant will be stressed and eventually the
new foliage will grow. Something you can accomplish without
going the spraying route. If you can take all the diseased foliage
from the plant by hand - grant you defoliating by hand 7 feet
canes is not a trivial matter - and clean all the area around the
base of your plant, mulch with some newspapers and then cover
the newspapers with some natural mulch, you may avoid at
least for the summer further contamination by the fungus.

I don't grow Hunter now, but I remember that ever since it came
out people have spoken about its habit of getting black spot.
It was a magnet here, and eventually in spite of the gorgeous red
and the sweet fragrance, found its way out of the garden all on its
own. I hope yours doesn't do that.

Allegra