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I have found what works for my roses.....so far.....
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Posted by miraclemama PNW/z8 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 25, 05 at 17:43
| It has taken me three seasons to figure out what my roses love and what will keep them happy. Whew! I have several different kinds of roses including heirloom , climbers , hybrid teas , floribundas , rugosas , and miniatures. In the fall I defoliate them before putting them to bed. I know that sounds tedious but it has helped alot. In the spring I use a feeding mulch consisting of composted horse manure , bonemeal , and alfalfa pellets. We have heavy clay soil so I use a thicker mulch because the soil gobbles it up quickly! During the summer I foliar feed/soil drench with maxicrop and fish emulsion as well as compost tea for disease resistance. This year we had a lot of rain and colder weather so my roses were getting disease-ridden. I tried a new product called "serenade" that I found at walmart. I had heard about it on the Mike Darcy gardening program. It literally stopped disease in its tracks. You need to use it every 7-14 days. It cn be used on perennials and annuals too! It was not harmful to beneficials in our yard or our cats. My roses bloom heavily from May thru October. One last thing.....The one thing I don't like about hybrid teas are their shape. As an experiment , I tied down the stems of my "Tiffany" through a wooden chair and horizontal to the ground. WOW! Not only was the form prettier , but I had 3 times the blooms too. miraclemama |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: I have found what works for my roses.....so far.....
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| Thanks miraclemama! I only have 2 rose plants, but they're both suffering from black spot. I've neglected them because I'm obsessed with the vegetable garden, but I'm going to try your methods... |
RE: I have found what works for my roses.....so far.....
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| What kind of compost tea do you use: compost soaked in a bucket, or aerated CT? |
RE: I have found what works for my roses.....so far.....
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| Hello , habitat gardener. I use aerated CT most of the time , especially for foliar feeding. If I can't use an aerated tea I use it as a soil drench. I hope this info helps. Happy gardening! |
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