Hello,

I'm completely new to gardening and roses, but I thought I would start
out right and install an automatic irrigation system. So now I have a
dip system set up and 16 roses in my garden. Each rose has one, 1
gallon emitter on its uphill side at the drip line.

My question is, how do I fertilize these roses? Since I'm using a drip
system the fertilizer will not get into the soil unless it rains. When
the drip system is active the water immediately soaks into the soil and
does not contact the fertilizer on the surface.

Thanks,
Jon

"Jon Boehm" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm completely new to gardening and roses, but I thought I would start
out right and install an automatic irrigation system. So now I have a
dip system set up and 16 roses in my garden. Each rose has one, 1
gallon emitter on its uphill side at the drip line.

My question is, how do I fertilize these roses? Since I'm using a drip
system the fertilizer will not get into the soil unless it rains. When
the drip system is active the water immediately soaks into the soil and
does not contact the fertilizer on the surface.

Thanks,
Jon

Is it feasible (and desirable!) to introduce a water soluble-fertilizer
between the water source & the irrigation system? Did you check the website
of your system's manufacturer?

Try googling for "drip irrigation" + fertilizer -- I just turned up 10
pages of results, so there must be some help for you there.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC

In Jon Boehm wrote:
My question is, how do I fertilize these roses? Since I'm using a drip
system the fertilizer will not get into the soil unless it rains.
When the drip system is active the water immediately soaks into the
soil and does not contact the fertilizer on the surface.

I've read Anne's post and agree. Some systems do permit addition of
fertiliser.

A few years ago there was a horrible act of vandalism against a 4000-
bush nursery at Swanes, in Sydney Australia. A disgruntled ex-employee
fed glyphosate (Roundup) into the irrigation system and caused enormous
damage.

You may have no option but to dig some fertiliser into the drip zone for
each bush. Osmocote will gradually release its nutrients with moisture.
Plenty of organic materials will do likewise.

In article , Jon Boehm
wrote:

Hello,

I'm completely new to gardening and roses, but I thought I would start
out right and install an automatic irrigation system. So now I have a
dip system set up and 16 roses in my garden. Each rose has one, 1
gallon emitter on its uphill side at the drip line.

My question is, how do I fertilize these roses? Since I'm using a drip
system the fertilizer will not get into the soil unless it rains. When
the drip system is active the water immediately soaks into the soil and
does not contact the fertilizer on the surface.

Jon, you didn't ask about the drip emitter, but depending on your
summer rainfall, a 1 gallon emitter might not be adequate. Where are
you located and what kind of summer rain do you get?

As for fertilizer, I used a long-term (11 month) Osmocote Plus which I
apply in a single hole using a dibble, right under the dripper (I use
shrublers). Works fine. In the early spring while the soils are still
cold, I apply granular ferts on the surface. I also apply water soluble
and organic stuff periodically during the growing season, as the spirit
moves me, which isn't very often except for potted roses.

HTH.

--
-=-
Cass
USDA Zone 9 Left Coast
www.rosefog.us

I'm near Portland OR. I believe thats zone 6 or 7. Rain is common up
untill the 5th of July -- a local joke. The last half of July and
August are ususally ~dry.

Currently I'm watering for 1hr in the morning every 3 days.

What do you think?

Jon

In article ,
Cass wrote:

In article , Jon Boehm
wrote:

Jon, you didn't ask about the drip emitter, but depending on your
summer rainfall, a 1 gallon emitter might not be adequate. Where are
you located and what kind of summer rain do you get?


HTH.

I think I like Cass's suggestion. I dug a small hole under the emitter
and put in a little less than 1 TBS of Ortho Rose pride. The water
should drip thru the Fertilizer on its way to the rose. I also scattered
another partial TBS around the plant. Ortho suggests 2 TBS per new or
young plant. That should do me for 12 weeks

I would love to get a fertilizer infuser but I have 12 zones of various
things such as turf, trees, plants, decks, and even a mister zone. I
would love to find 1 system that would work for all of them, except for
the mister zone -- I grow fast enough 'around' as it is. Plus I don't
even want to mess with PVC any time soon.


In article ,
Cass wrote:

As for fertilizer, I used a long-term (11 month) Osmocote Plus which I
apply in a single hole using a dibble, right under the dripper (I use
shrublers). Works fine.

I think that as long as your roses are small, it rains regularly and
isn't 100 degrees, you'll be fine. I use shrublers that look like
this:

http://www.pepcoirrigation.com/techn...leronstick.htm

so that I can increase the water as the rose grows and so that more of
the root ball gets water. Come July, 3 gallons of water a week won't
be enough. Have you been using one gallon emitters on your roses for
long? Watch for wilt in case you need to give them more water.

I also deep water once a month in June, July, August and September. My
newest whizz bang is a hose-end drip setup that is like a soaker hose
(but emits less water and works better on a slope): Backflower
preventer - pressure regulator - filter/step down connection for
so-called half inch tubing. Then I have a 4 foot piece of tubing. I've
connected about 12 feet of 1/4" dripperline with 6" spacing. I U-stake
this in a circle around the drip line of the rose. I turn it on for
about 30 minutes at a time about 3 times in a day.

I'm experimenting with dripperline instead of shrublers around a few
roses and like the results so far.


In article , Jon Boehm
wrote:

I'm near Portland OR. I believe thats zone 6 or 7. Rain is common up
untill the 5th of July -- a local joke. The last half of July and
August are ususally ~dry.

Currently I'm watering for 1hr in the morning every 3 days.

What do you think?





In article ,
Cass wrote:

In article , Jon Boehm
wrote:

Jon, you didn't ask about the drip emitter, but depending on your
summer rainfall, a 1 gallon emitter might not be adequate. Where are
you located and what kind of summer rain do you get?


HTH.

As long as your roses
are mulched the drip will keep the soil
nice & moist. So if you get the
fert. below the mulch you should be fine.

The tags usually say scratch soil & water
in but who ever wrote this up has obviously
never dealt with a lavender lassie. Mine
is a 6'wide by 4' high mass sprouting from
a single basal cane. I'd be glad to see
the base but that has been an impossibility
for some time now.

All this has forced me to move to a liquid
only diet for my roses. I use Fish emulsion
exclusively.

--
Theo in Zone 5
Kansas City

"Jon Boehm" wrote in message
...
I'm near Portland OR. I believe thats zone 6 or 7. Rain is common up
untill the 5th of July -- a local joke. The last half of July and
August are ususally ~dry.

Currently I'm watering for 1hr in the morning every 3 days.

What do you think?

Jon

In article ,
Cass wrote:

In article , Jon Boehm
wrote:

Jon, you didn't ask about the drip emitter, but depending on your
summer rainfall, a 1 gallon emitter might not be adequate. Where are
you located and what kind of summer rain do you get?


HTH.

I am completely new gardening and roses, but I think I will start right, and installation of automatic irrigation systems. So now I have a leaching system to establish and 16 in my rose garden. Every rose has a, 1 gallon launch its uphill side of the drip line.