What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Hi guys,
The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
On Fri, 4 Apr 2003 10:28:13 -0800, "Emil"
wrote: Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) Emil, it is a losing proposition, growing roses in not enough sun. They can be fussy as it is. Can't you get them some more sun? If not cutting down trees, then by trimming lower branches? Or MOVE them, it is not hard. Sun is the big basic. So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Get Osmocote for flowering shrubs, and some Mill's Magic Mix. The latter does make basals sprout, honestly. Do a Google search on Beatty Fertilizer Co., you can order it there. Emil Zones 9-10 |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Turkey Manure ! Not as hot as Chicken SHI?.
"Emil" wrote in message ... Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Roses need lots of sun, lots and lots of it. Aside from that, stick a trowel
into the ground in 3 or 4 different spots around the bush, about 1 ft away from the center, and tilt the trowel back and forth a bit to create a little hole. Pour a handful of a mixture bone meal and blood meal into it, and dress the area with the composted steer manure sold at HD. If desired, go to a feed store, (the kind that sell supplies to farmers and ranchers) and buy a few pounds worth of alfpha cubes, toss two handfuls into a 5 gal bucket, fill with water, and let soak for 2-3 days. Then add a splash or two of fish emulsion, and a handful of epsom salts. Pour slowly around the rose bush. A lot of people in this newsgroup are fans of Osmocote, but i don't use it. The roses that seem to be the happiest are the ones that get a bulk of the muck that builds up at the bottom of my ponds filter. I just attach the garden hose to the drain, and open the valve. Water & fertilize in 1 easy lazy step. Sameer "Emil" wrote in message ... Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
In article m, Shiva
writes On Fri, 4 Apr 2003 10:28:13 -0800, "Emil" wrote: Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) Emil, it is a losing proposition, growing roses in not enough sun. They can be fussy as it is. Can't you get them some more sun? If not cutting down trees, then by trimming lower branches? Or MOVE them, it is not hard. Sun is the big basic. All true, but it IS possible to cosset them on four hours or so of sun per day, or in dappled sun - it doesn't have to be a blazing desert. I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. I've spoken before about Vitax Q4 - I get much better leaf and bloom results with this than with fish blood and bone, and I find Osmocote nearly worthless - and if a rose is looking sick it gets rose chicken soup - a foliar feed with liquid seaweed. Even so, of course they do better with more light. -- Jane Lumley |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Jane Lumley wrote:
.. I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. Agreed! [...] and I find Osmocote nearly worthless . You've tried it and you really feel it doesn't help your roses? I recommended it because Cass likes it and she grows gorgeous roses. But then she uses fish emulsion and I don't. Hmmm. I have not yet put mine down (though it is past time) and now wonder if I ought to just go with the Mill's Mix, some fish emulsion, and my regular granular 3-month. Would you be willing to elaborate on your experiences with Osmocote? My main reason for wanting to use it is that it is time release--I get busy and distracted and once overfertilized my roses and KILLED some in pots. Thanks. -- Jane Lumley |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Shiva wrote:
Jane Lumley wrote: . I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. Agreed! [...] and I find Osmocote nearly worthless . You've tried it and you really feel it doesn't help your roses? I recommended it because Cass likes it and she grows gorgeous roses. But then she uses fish emulsion and I don't. Hmmm. I have not yet put mine down (though it is past time) and now wonder if I ought to just go with the Mill's Mix, some fish emulsion, and my regular granular 3-month. Would you be willing to elaborate on your experiences with Osmocote? My main reason for wanting to use it is that it is time release--I get busy and distracted and once overfertilized my roses and KILLED some in pots. Thanks. Before we get too far down this road, let's be clear about Osmocote. There are a number of different kinds. The stuff you buy in the store around here is only 3 month stuff. That might be fine when you repot, but it's not much use in the garden except on the short run. Nursery grade Osmocote is a different kettle of fish. Take a look at the AM Leonard site. The stuff is forumulated for different climates so that the release rate is adjusted to the average temperatures and length of growing season. We have cool soils but moderate air temps, so a number of roses grow 12 months a year, tho most slow down top growth from December to February. I've heard others say that Osmocote releases fast in warm climates. What I don't know is whether they were using consumer grade stuff or real nursery grade Osmocote with Minors. In any event, it simply isn't true that it is worthless when the right product is applied. Take a look at the results at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden if you need proof. |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Cass wrote:
Before we get too far down this road, let's be clear about Osmocote. There are a number of different kinds. The stuff you buy in the store around here is only 3 month stuff. That might be fine when you repot, but it's not much use in the garden except on the short run. Good of you to clarify. This is the stuff I am using: http://www.schultz.com/mc_roseflower.htm The breakdown is Nitrogen 14, Phosphate 14, Potash 16. It also has sulphur, iron, and manganese. Like Osmocote, it bases its 3-month longevity on a 70 degree average temp--and I'd say our average is probably 80, so it might not last me that long. It pretty much duplicates this Osmocote product: https://www.amleo.com/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=14144 Here is the page for one of the Osmocote Pro products that are advertised as having "minors." (There was none with the 14-14-14 that Scotts says is just right for roses.They only offer the one with no "minors.") https://www.amleo.com/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=159123 When you read the breakdown, it says: Guaranteed analysis: Total Nitrogen 15%, Phosphate 9%, Potash 12%, Magnesium 1%,Sulfur 2.3%, Boron .02%, Copper .05%, Iron .45%, Chelated Iron .23%, Manganese .06%, Molybdenum .02%, Zinc .05% So, this product has a few more minerals than the Shultz Multicote product I am using, namely a minute amount of Magnesium, a really tiny amount of Boron, some Zinc and some Molybdenum , whatever the hell that is. It also has decidedly less Phosphate and Potash and just a tad more Nitrogen. Here are the ingredients for the 14-14-14 Osmocote product: https://www.amleo.com/help-desk/items/1/14144/msds.pdf My conclusion is that the Shultz product is pretty good, and has some of the minors the Osmocote Pro has. It seems to me that the "regular" Osmocote (not PRO) 14-14-14 product is fine if one adds organic materials, or even mulches marginally. All of the minors are present in materials like compost, Mill's Mix, and other solid, organic fertilizer. I think a good point may be not to ever expect to give your roses all they need with a single product--particularly when it contains straight chemical compounds and no "whole foods." Therefore this morning I put down the Multi-cote and Mill's Mix. Comments? |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
In article aHlwYXRpYQ==.725e66e73de4057b5f562dce401bb7d4@104 9548277.cot
se.net, Shiva writes Jane Lumley wrote: . I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. Agreed! [...] and I find Osmocote nearly worthless . You've tried it and you really feel it doesn't help your roses? I recommended it because Cass likes it and she grows gorgeous roses. I was interested that others had found it so effective - maybe the UK product is not nursery grade? The stuff I had just came from the garden centre.... The roses I used it on flowered only sporadically. The following year I replanted the same kinds and gave them heaps of mulch, dug in manure and Vitax. They did much better. Or it could be that climate matters - there's a big gap between San Jose and Oxford! We're wetter, which presumably would bleed the stuff faster, but also much chillier. I imagine all this illustrates the importance of location; we know what works in our own gardens by hands- on experience, but only some fo that is repeatable hundreds of miles away. On fertilising pots - I've heard that using solid fertilisers can only work in the short term because the waste products build up in the soil and eventually make it toxic, so I tend to use foliar and liquid feeds on my containers. -- Jane Lumley |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
In article k.net, "Snooze"
writes: The roses that seem to be the happiest are the ones that get a bulk of the muck that builds up at the bottom of my ponds filter. I just attach the garden hose to the drain, and open the valve. Water & fertilize in 1 easy lazy step. When I only had a few plants in pots I used water from the canal. I could see a big difference when I used this water instead of tap water. I still use in on newly potted plants, seems to give them an extra boost. There must be extra nutrients in this type of water, whether from the fish or fertilzer runoff from everyones lawn. |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"Emil" wrote in message ... Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 Hello Emil, How big are the holes where you planted your roses? Fertilizer is fine, providing that there is enough space for the roots to grow and you don't end burning the heck out of the plant with kindness. I don't use Osmocote. When I want to be inundated with blooms of any kind, Schultz Expert Gardener Bloom Plus. It is a soluble plant food you put in your sprayer, attached the hose to it and go have fun. 10-60-10 with chelated iron, manganese and zinc. Works both as a foliar feeder and a ground one as it washes off the plants. If you want to use it in your watering can you add 1 tsp. per gallon of water every time you water, otherwise you can do it twice a month by adding 1 tablespoon to a gallon. The advantage of using it with the hose is that all your plants roses and others, get the same treatment as the same time. Make sure you spray in a criss-cross pattern for even coverage. If you do it in the morning when there is no danger of the leaves staying wet during the night you will give your roses a chance to dry and at the same time to take a bath ;) But again, if you didn't make a big hole to begin with, no matter how much fertilizer and water you give to your babies they wouldn't have enough roots to absorb it and in the end you will burn the dickens out of the them with too much of a good thing. A bag of manure is a great treat to them, so mulch them with that too. Don't use chicken manure, steer or horse is better and better yet is your own compost if you have any. Good luck Emil, I am sure you love your roses and that is half the battle, Allegra |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Shiva wrote:
Cass wrote: Before we get too far down this road, let's be clear about Osmocote. There are a number of different kinds. The stuff you buy in the store around here is only 3 month stuff. That might be fine when you repot, but it's not much use in the garden except on the short run. Good of you to clarify. This is the stuff I am using: http://www.schultz.com/mc_roseflower.htm The breakdown is Nitrogen 14, Phosphate 14, Potash 16. It also has sulphur, iron, and manganese. Like Osmocote, it bases its 3-month longevity on a 70 degree average temp--and I'd say our average is probably 80, so it might not last me that long. Those little round balls don't vaporize. You can find them in the soil months later. If you squish them between your fingers, you can tell if all the fertilizer is dissolved. If the little ball bursts and water sprays out, your Osmocote is spent. If the little ball bursts and leaves a tiny granular pellet in your hand, your Osmocote is still feeding. It pretty much duplicates this Osmocote product: https://www.amleo.com/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=14144 Here is the page for one of the Osmocote Pro products that are advertised as having "minors." (There was none with the 14-14-14 that Scotts says is just right for roses.They only offer the one with no "minors.") https://www.amleo.com/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=159123 When you read the breakdown, it says: Guaranteed analysis: Total Nitrogen 15%, Phosphate 9%, Potash 12%, Magnesium 1%,Sulfur 2.3%, Boron .02%, Copper .05%, Iron .45%, Chelated Iron .23%, Manganese .06%, Molybdenum .02%, Zinc .05% So, this product has a few more minerals than the Shultz Multicote product I am using, namely a minute amount of Magnesium, a really tiny amount of Boron, some Zinc and some Molybdenum , whatever the hell that is. It also has decidedly less Phosphate and Potash and just a tad more Nitrogen. Here are the ingredients for the 14-14-14 Osmocote product: https://www.amleo.com/help-desk/items/1/14144/msds.pdf My conclusion is that the Shultz product is pretty good, and has some of the minors the Osmocote Pro has. It seems to me that the "regular" Osmocote (not PRO) 14-14-14 product is fine if one adds organic materials, or even mulches marginally. All of the minors are present in materials like compost, Mill's Mix, and other solid, organic fertilizer. I think a good point may be not to ever expect to give your roses all they need with a single product--particularly when it contains straight chemical compounds and no "whole foods." Exactly. Therefore this morning I put down the Multi-cote and Mill's Mix. Comments? Sounds fine. My practices are pretty simple. I never fertilize the same way twice. Organics are great, and I use a variety every year (fish emulsion, kelp, alfalfa). Using different products (both organic and chemical) gets different micronutrients in the soil. Cheap-but-good is the best plan. I moderate all doses (except Osmocote) to about half strength. Ironite is cheap and supplies a number of micronutrients too. Mills Mix is supposed to be a terrific but slightly expensive product, from what I've heard. I've never used it. It's only available mail order, right? You can understand how a nursery wouldn't want to go to all this trouble, with labor as expensive as it is. So Osmocote Pro or Osmocote Plus (which I think is a slightly better and more expensive product) keeps the potted nursery plant alive until it's ready for sale without any major nutritional deficiencies. For a large garden with 100's or 1000's of roses, just getting something down can be good enough. Timing can be important when it comes to buying fertilizer. As the spring progresses, it gets harder and harder to locate a supply of 9 month time-release fertilizer. |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"Allegra" wrote in message news:lZLja.83322$OV.192489@rwcrnsc54... A bag ofmanure is a great treat to them, so mulch them with that too. Don't use chicken manure, steer or horse is better and better yet is your own compost if you have any. Allegra Uh, I assume that means compost that you have *made yourself*, as opposed to, er, 'your own compost...' !!! :O JimS. Seattle |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Emil, one more thing
I should have told you the chemical composition as it was the reason I bought the product in the first place: 10-60-10 means 10 percent Nitrogen (N)which is a major element in vegetative growth, helps with the leaf formation and also maintains the green color in your plants. 60 percent Phosphorus (P) which is essential for a strong root system. It also helps with the color of the flowers believe it or not, and helps to hurry up a bit the growth pattern of the plant. 10 percent Potassium (K) Well this is the catch all the roses need: helps make the stems stronger, provides starches and oils, helps fighting disease, and believe it or not reduces water needs. It is truly essential for cell division and it is normally used to balance out any excess of nitrogen and/or calcium making more effective the use of nitrogen by your roses. The guaranteed analysis tells you a couple of things that in my book are truly important: You use less, is fast acting and it is safe."Will not burn even in the hottest weather when used as directed". Total Nitrogen 10% - Ammoniac Nitrogen Available Phosphate 60% - Soluble Potash - 10% Chelated Iron - 0.10% Chelated Manganese -0.05% Zinc - 0.05% I know this is wayyyyy more than what you wanted to read but I hope it gives you an idea how the components put together work to help the roses. I like this product because it works, but we also use Mills Magic, Monty's Joy Juice, Alfalfa Pellets, so I cannot give anyone's product the total thumbs up. But you are in California, it gets hot and there is nothing better than to feel safe using the right amount and knowing you will not burn the foliage of the roses even on a hot day. Allegra |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"JimS." in a good mood said Uh, I assume that means compost that you have *made yourself*, as opposed to, er, 'your own compost...' !!! :O JimS. Seattle Hello Jim, It means just that and the reason for mentioning that was because I am still truly angry at a co-op that shall remain nameless that offered "home-made compost" guaranteed to be organic, blah, blah, blah... so, the one here who believes just about anything anyone tells her when she hears "organic" wrote a check for a goodly amount and spent the next two years picking up from cigarette filters to you name it from the center of the " home-made organic" compost. If you make your own I suppose you don't put into it cigarette filters because you are smart enough not to smoke...we won't go into the "organic" part of it ;) Lets say that I don't have the space to donate to make compost, for who knows what reason our zoo no longer sells the zoo-doo that was nothing short of magnificent for the roses, and I don't care if Gaia in person tries to sell me any "home made compost" I ain't buying. You can quote me. Jim, do you work for the government by any chance? I am asking because it would seem that only the people who follow the D.C. double speak would think of calling feces "compost", specially if it is sold for 80 billion dollars? Allegra |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"Allegra" wrote in message news:4INja.341058$L1.97804@sccrnsc02... "JimS." in a good mood said Uh, I assume that means compost that you have *made yourself*, as opposed to, er, 'your own compost...' !!! :O JimS. Seattle Hello Jim, It means just that and the reason for mentioning that was because I am still truly angry at a co-op that shall remain nameless that offered "home-made compost" guaranteed to be organic, blah, blah, blah... so, the one here who believes just about anything anyone tells her when she hears "organic" wrote a check for a goodly amount and spent the next two years picking up from cigarette filters to you name it from the center of the " home-made organic" compost. If you make your own I suppose you don't put into it cigarette filters because you are smart enough not to smoke...we won't go into the "organic" part of it ;) Lets say that I don't have the space to donate to make compost, for who knows what reason our zoo no longer sells the zoo-doo that was nothing short of magnificent for the roses, and I don't care if Gaia in person tries to sell me any "home made compost" I ain't buying. You can quote me. Jim, do you work for the government by any chance? I am asking because it would seem that only the people who follow the D.C. double speak would think of calling feces "compost", specially if it is sold for 80 billion dollars? Allegra Oh my.. well that was a bit more than my smart-ass comment was poking at....can't think of anything much more annoying than finding cigarette butts in "compost". They'd certainly never come from compost that I made- no matter what exactly it is that we're referring to :-0 Nopers, I don't work for the government, but the (mis)Management of my company certainly takes back seat to nobody when it comes to double-speak. I've become fluent, I'm afraid. Hey, it's a living... You know the Seattle Woodland Park zoo does still sell ZooDoo. On your recommendation as to how great it is for roses, maybe I will just have to go buy some. I could swear I even saw it packaged and for sale last week at one of the better nurseries. Only thing I'm afraid of-- if I go by there again, I'll come back with another rose. And I still haven't figured out where to put the one I bought last week. oops. JimS. Seattle |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"JimS." told You know the Seattle Woodland Park zoo does still sell ZooDoo. On your recommendation as to how great it is for roses, maybe I will just have to go buy some. I could swear I even saw it packaged and for sale last week at one of the better nurseries. Only thing I'm afraid of-- if I go by there again, I'll come back with another rose. And I still haven't figured out where to put the one I bought last week. oops. JimS. Seattle Well, that does it. When we are going to Tacoma to visit Robin we are coming back with a couple of bags of the stuff. Trust me on this one, the roses think of it as chocolate made in Belgium, turned into French truffles. No joke. I don't know what happened at our zoo. When I called the last time they put me on hold and discard and no one seemed to have the answer. So I just gave up. But if the one in Seattle has it, I will make sure to get some. I cannot tell you how clean and efficient it is in the garden. And it works. At some point early on you could hire someone ( I did have a small Alfa Romeo with barely enough space for the kids and myself in those days, both kids in the front seat sharing a single seat belt) with a little pickup and they would fill the pickup for like $10.00 or whatever donation you wanted to give. Ah, those were the days....now a single bag of Whitney's is about $3.00 multiply that for 100 roses (the newer fifty and the others coming are not getting any this year) and we have to think twice about it...Thanks for the tip. And stay away from the nurseries! Allegra |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
"Emil" wrote in message ...
Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Perhaps the best thing you can add isn't commercially available. Sorry. Most roses and other plants that are also heavy feeders are also mycorrhizal. I have found a form of Elaphomyces with wild rose in Clackamas County, Oregon. But I can only presume this would also associate with commercial roses. Why add mycorrhizae instead of fertilizer? The answer is simply that mycorrhizal fungi act as their own little fertilizer plants, producing nitrogen and associating with nitroge-fixing bacteria. But adding too much nitrogen to the soil causes the plant to dis-associate with mycorrhizal fungi, and the mycorrhizae die-out quickly afterwards. With trees, this can be devastating. I have heard bad reports of fertilized tree stands which have missed a year...and had tremendous tree fatalities as a result. Once you start feeding plants, be prepared to do so long-term. Elaphomyces granulatus was described by Dr. Alexander H. Smith as the most common underground fungus in the world. It certainly is commonly found with a wide variety of plants: pines, firs, rhododendron, oaks, a host of other species. The problem with mycorrhizal (especially ectomycorrhizal) fungi is that most have never been reliably cultivated to date. And many are species specific, i.e. associated with just one species of tree or shrub instead of the widely associating E. granulatus. Daniel B. Wheeler www.oregonwhitetruffles.com |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Wow,
So many responses! Thanks for everybodys suggestions. Most likely I will replant the roses in the front portion of the yard. I planted a bunch of iceplant ground cover there last year, I'll put the roses in between. So many suggestions on what to do, maybe I'll try 1 method, then another, then another, then another! Thanks again, Emil "Emil" wrote in message ... Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
In Emil wrote:
So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Don't give up Emil. Use a seaweed emulsion. I get great results... thicker stems and longer lasting blooms are just the start. And the same applies to my bushes that are a little unlucky with sun. |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Jane Lumley wrote in message ...
In article m, Shiva writes On Fri, 4 Apr 2003 10:28:13 -0800, "Emil" wrote: Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) Emil, it is a losing proposition, growing roses in not enough sun. They can be fussy as it is. Can't you get them some more sun? If not cutting down trees, then by trimming lower branches? Or MOVE them, it is not hard. Sun is the big basic. All true, but it IS possible to cosset them on four hours or so of sun per day, or in dappled sun - it doesn't have to be a blazing desert. I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. I've spoken before about Vitax Q4 - I get much better leaf and bloom results with this than with fish blood and bone, and I find Osmocote nearly worthless - and if a rose is looking sick it gets rose chicken soup - a foliar feed with liquid seaweed. Even so, of course they do better with more light. I should like to endorse the use of Vitax Q4. FT writer, Robin Lane Fox recommended it some years ago. Good for roses though I wouldn't recommend it for apple trees as it produces leaf curl. Stephen Quigley |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
In article , Stephen
Quigley writes Jane Lumley wrote in message news:UPAKpBB7Zgj+Ew6W ... In article m, Shiva writes On Fri, 4 Apr 2003 10:28:13 -0800, "Emil" wrote: Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) Emil, it is a losing proposition, growing roses in not enough sun. They can be fussy as it is. Can't you get them some more sun? If not cutting down trees, then by trimming lower branches? Or MOVE them, it is not hard. Sun is the big basic. All true, but it IS possible to cosset them on four hours or so of sun per day, or in dappled sun - it doesn't have to be a blazing desert. I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water, more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more antifungal sprays in poor conditions. I've spoken before about Vitax Q4 - I get much better leaf and bloom results with this than with fish blood and bone, and I find Osmocote nearly worthless - and if a rose is looking sick it gets rose chicken soup - a foliar feed with liquid seaweed. Even so, of course they do better with more light. I should like to endorse the use of Vitax Q4. FT writer, Robin Lane Fox recommended it some years ago. Good for roses though I wouldn't recommend it for apple trees as it produces leaf curl. Stephen Quigley Thank you, Stephen! A mystery solved. I have a Zephirine Drouhin growing into an apple, and the leaves of the apple have been curling. Of course - it's Zephirine's Vitax. I didn't realise Robin Lane-Fox had recommended Vitax. A brilliant gardener, IMHO. -- Jane Lumley |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
Unique Too wrote:
When I only had a few plants in pots I used water from the canal. I could see a big difference when I used this water instead of tap water. I still use in on newly potted plants, seems to give them an extra boost. There must be extra nutrients in this type of water, whether from the fish or fertilzer runoff from everyones lawn. I wonder if this may be partly due to chlorinated water versus unchlorinated water in addition to the extra nutrients from pond water or canal water.... I recently received a Charley's Nursery catalog and have been contemplating their chlorine filter attachment for spigots. Susan s h simko at duke dot edu |
What can I add to the soil to produce "stronger" roses?
bannana peels
"Emil" wrote in message ... Wow, So many responses! Thanks for everybodys suggestions. Most likely I will replant the roses in the front portion of the yard. I planted a bunch of iceplant ground cover there last year, I'll put the roses in between. So many suggestions on what to do, maybe I'll try 1 method, then another, then another, then another! Thanks again, Emil "Emil" wrote in message ... Hi guys, The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than 4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not being in denial is a good thing. :-) So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I have. I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags). Emil Zones 9-10 |
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