Austin's noted for being progressive...

Do any of y'all (that aren't on rec.gardens) use organic remedies for Black
Spot?

I tried a bottle of wetted Wettable Dusting Sulphur and, frankly, didn't
like the fact I'm STILL supposed to wear a mask and keep it off my skin, not
use my garden for 24 hours, keep kids and cats out for a day, my cat got
sick, and it makes really ugly spots on the new red rose leaves. Sounded
organic when I bought it...

:-/

--

John T. Jarrett
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If you live in an area where humidity is a problem, and anything over 50% usually is
with hybrid tea roses, I suggest you eliminate the fussy hybrids and move into
antique roses. They can be David Austin, or Antique and they smell 100 times better
than new varieties and are much easier to manage and have far less problems with
pests, such as black spot.

There really is no better treatment to give roses of any kind than to fully prepare
the soil with plenty of loose soil, compost and ample watering. Watering only the
soil, not keeping the foliage wet near dark and foliar feeding.

You can use a preventative measure using the baking soda method, but that is not such
a good idea as the baking soda can build up in the soil making it toxic for the rose.

Keeping good sanitation by pruning inward growth, clearing any fallen foliage before
winter arrives, mulch, hydration and fertilization all prevent diseases and pests on
roses.

To answer regarding sulfur, well, organic does not mean non-toxic. Some of the most
toxic poisons are in the organic growers arsenal. Several years ago one of the
pesticides went through trial to see if it would help with fungal diseases. It is
Neem Oil. For insects this material renders them unwell and unable to eat so they
die of starvation. For fungal diseases, neem has been used for many years in other
parts of the world. There is a product by Green Light (not an organic company, not
by any stretch) makes a neem product called, Rose Defense. It is also sold under the
name BioNeem and some others. I believe Shultz's now also has neem oil. I may have
seen it in Lowes.

There will be directions on the label which you should follow carefully. Next fall,
if your soil is not completely friable, full of compost and other organic matter, I
suggest you pull the roses up and amend the soil properly, then plant them. Keep
them watered and fertilized and healthy and they have better ability to stave off
diseases and pests. Stressed plants show their stress by attracting and falling prey
to insect and disease damage. Not too different than the human body.

Victoria


On Mon, 17 Mar 2003 17:55:55 -0600, "John T. Jarrett" wrote:

Austin's noted for being progressive...

Do any of y'all (that aren't on rec.gardens) use organic remedies for Black
Spot?

I tried a bottle of wetted Wettable Dusting Sulphur and, frankly, didn't
like the fact I'm STILL supposed to wear a mask and keep it off my skin, not
use my garden for 24 hours, keep kids and cats out for a day, my cat got
sick, and it makes really ugly spots on the new red rose leaves. Sounded
organic when I bought it...

:-/