Remove the infected leaves and destroy and make sure any fallen leaves have
been cleaned up. Then start spraying your roses with aerated compost tea -
there should be Soil Soup kitchens in the nurseries in your area or you can
get a brewer and start making your own. Spray every 2-3 weeks during the
growing season (ideally this should have been started as the roses developed
new growth in early spring).

There is a growing body of evidence that aerated compost tea is able to help
plants ward off fungal problems. A number of nurseries in my area (Seattle),
including both of the ones I have worked at, treat all their roses with
compost tea on a regular basis and the results have been pretty impressive -
virtually NO blackspot or powdery mildew on any of the roses. The University
of Washington groundskeeping staff, the Port of Seattle and the staff that
maintains the rose garden at the Seattle Zoological Society all have adopted
the use of compost tea on their roses and other plants and the effects have
been remarkable.

Compost tea can be used safely with any edible plants, although I would
reccomend washing as usual before consumption.

pam - gardengal



"Warren" wrote in message
news:j9Auc.28465$Ly.4102@attbi_s01...
I have some black spot breaking out on some of my roses. The roses have
strawberries growing around them.

What's my best course of action? Radical pruning? Some non-toxic spray?
Give up on using the strawberries for food, and use a toxic spray?

There are a variety of rose bushes. Some resistant. Some not. Most have
been there for a long time (before I owned the house). In past years
there was just a little black spot. Hardly anything at all, and I was
able to keep it under control with pruning. I'm not going to say I've
got a horrible outbreak this year, but it's more than in years before,
and I don't want it to get worse.

I'm outside of Portland, OR, and it's been a warm summer, but it's been
cooler and wetter for the last week or so. Summers are usually hot and
dry, but that may be a few more weeks off.

I'd like to be able to eat those strawberries that are around the roses,
and even if they weren't there, I don't really want to go with some
course of action that involves extensive chemical therapy. Nor am I some
organic-at-all-costs person either. I'm looking for a reasonable
solution, all things considered.

TIA

--
Warren H.

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