Hi Rhonda, to stop the powdery mildew from spreading you should remove
the infected leaves and cut back the stems, (not too severely - only
just past where the mildew grows down to - which shouldn't be too
far).....I know it's heartbreaking to do, but it does repeat flower,
so you will still get your flowers -just a little later than you'd have
prefered! and I'm sure you'd rather get rid of the spores now, to
prevent any more spread of the disease. Also throw the diseased
material in the garbage or burn it. The carb soda recipe should do the
trick, I'll give you the recipe i have used with success at the rose
garden i tend that has over 60 roses growing in it. 3 tspns bicarb, 1
and 1/2 tbspns vegetable oil and 1/2 tspn dishwashing liquid (the
dishwashing liquid helps disperse the oil into the water) mix this with
1 gallon of water. and spray every 7 - 10 days on all the leaves and
stems of the rose. Don't spray this during the hottest part of the day,
and make sure you give the plant a good watering the day before you
spray.(esp seeing it's in a pot) You may have to keep this up for 4-6
weeks or longer until the ideal environment for mildew to develop (ie
warm days/cool nights/humidity) passes and the new spring growth
"toughens up" and is not so susceptible. Also, next year, get in
earlier with this spray, maybe early spring, to prevent it from
re-occuring. Good luck with it, Elsie
This is for Joe, the amount of bicarb being sprayed every 7-10 days
isn't anywhere near enough to change the ph of the soil. Cheers