"dina" wrote in message
...
'Spider[_2_ Wrote:
;842443'
"beccabunga" wrote in message
...-
842281 Wrote:-
Hi Beccabunga,
I did prune my roses and today I tried to cut of the infected leaves
(I
read it is a fungal infection and to distroy them) but one of the
rose
bushes is so bad that all the leaves are infected and the only way to
get rid of them is to prune the whole rose again. Is it OK to do do
it
now? I know that it is a bit late but what else can I do since I
wouldnt like to use fungicide? Thanks for your reply.
Dina-
Well, you can always give it a go. Prune back to an outward facing
bud
well below the affected foliage. Give the rose lots of food.
Frankly I wouldn't hesitate to use a multipurpose Roseclear which
both
deals with the pest and feeds the plant.
--
beccabunga-
You may like to test a (so far successful) theory of mine, and give it
an
acid feed. Pick off all the infected leaves first. I do this with
all my
infected roses, usually about once a year or just when the infection
starts
to creep back. It completely changed the life forecast for one of my
roses
(which defoliated 2-3 times a year due to blackspot); I was on the
verge of
binning it. Now everyone asks what it is. :~)
As necessary, I still feed with rose fertiliser or Tomorite to
encourage
flowering, and occasionally with a general feed if a rose looks hungry.
Watering and mulching helps reduce stress, too, and it also stops
fallen
fungal spores from reinfecting the rose, although the acid feed seems
to
help with this, too.
Spider
Please tell me what is acid feed? Can you buy it in shops or you have
to make it? I am not experianced gardener so forgive me please for this
kind of questions.
dina
Don't worry, Dina - it was new to me once :~)
Locate the plant food shelf at your local garden centre and look for a
pack/bottle which either says plant food for acid-loving plants, or says
ericaceous plant food. Follow the instructions for dilution but, if (like
me) you're inclined to be a bit heavy-handed, use less concentrate rather
than more. More food may sound good, but it's actually harmful, and in this
case you're using the solution as a remedy, not a feed as such.
Good luck. I'm going in the garden now, but will look in later on, just in
case there's a problem.
Spider