Oh, roses. Roses. Sigh. Help, anyone?

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Anyone know why some of the new growth on my brand new little baby rose plants would be wilting? Can this happen from the heat or only from disease? It just warmed/muggied up drastically here, but the plant that the wilting happened on first also had signs of possible blackspot and/or powdery mildew (I sprayed it right away with a fungicide approved for organic gardening). The other two ones that have wilting baby leaves (not all the baby leaves are wilting, just two or three clusters per plant) have no signs of any disease whatsoever. I put the plants in one month ago. They were certified disease free, own root, potted little roses. They defininely have enough water. I used my moisture probe thing to check. Thoughts?

[Lavandula Girl]

When are you watering, and is the water hitting the leaves, or are you watering really low? We used to live in the Seattle area, and black spot there is generally a direct result of moisture on the leaves when the sun hits them. Even some sprays can be the culprit in this case, because soap spray for aphids could do it too. If it's any consolation, most of us learned that the ugly leaves didn't affect the flowers, which were still lovely. Of course, we didn't have the one two punch if wet leaves and then 90 degrees and humid!

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Oh rats. I didn't know it came from sun hitting the moisture on the leaves. I thought it was from moisture sitting on the leaves in shade or dark, so I have been getting water on them in the sun, since it would evaporate quickly. I will have to modify my watering habits! I've been letting water hit the leaves/buds in a kind of strong jet to knock off aphids/thrips/mealybugs/spidermites. Yeah. It's buggy at the moment! Okay, thanks for the help!

[atokadawn]

I only water in the late evening, and always feed my babies coffee grounds and nana peels.

To get rid of any bugs, I use a wash of dish soap mixed 1 part soap to 3 parts water. It has kept my roses looking good.

[Cliff Timmons]

But sure and clip it.
If you want it tall don't let it bud for at least the first season.
I clipped mine for two seasons,... aggravated my wife, but now it's gone crazy.
Also keep up on pruning dead or dieing flowers. It helps with the new growth.
I just soak the ground around the plant. We're on well water so I let it soak all day and sometimes all night. Once a month and you can tell the difference.

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Okay, after just these first flowers...I will look at one per plant...I will clip them this year. I can't resist seeing what the flowers look and smell like, just once. Then I'll clip (working on talking myself into it, here).

Atokadawn, when do you put the dish soap mixture on the plants? I'm feeling like there is no good time...in the am the sun hits it and in the pm they'll sit wet all night. What do you do? Also how do you administer the nana peels and coffee grounds? Strewn haphazardly around, carefully buried under the mulch? How far from the plant's stalk, etc. I'm a little obsessive about the roses because they seem so difficult to me at the moment.

They seem to be reviving a little...I sprayed with a diluted solution of liquified seaweed yesterday, and fertilized with fish emulsion. It's overcast and a little cooler today, so hopefully they'll have a little break. I was holding off on fertilizing because I had just planted them and also the aphids were so bad, I didn't want the plants to pop out all this new tender growth to get attacked and sucked dry. I don't know if that was a good choice, but I'm getting it together now, so we'll be on a normal feeding schedule.

[Cliff Timmons]

Okay, after just these first flowers...I will look at one per plant...I will clip them this year. I can't resist seeing what the flowers look and smell like, just once. Then I'll clip (working on talking myself into it, here).


It's not a sin to let them bloom if you need to. <grin>

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Thanks Cliff. I feel completely absolved. Which is a good thing since one of the bushes seems to have not one, but two buds on it (gasp!). And what I can see of the first little flower so far is very beautiful :)

Well, as soon as the clouds dispersed and the sun came out today, the foliage difficulties began again. I peeked at my neighbor's roses and hers are doing it too.

I should mention that a similar foliage affliction has struck my: tomatoes, thyme, zinnias, a cornflower, and the dotted mint. Just like the roses, not all new growth, just a little sprig or two. I am becoming more and more convinced it is the heat or sunlight or something. Which seems weird, I thought these guys all wanted sun. Could it be the kind of sudden weather change (at least, it feels sudden to me), or fluctuation in temps between days and nights? The plants are situated in all different areas around the house, some southwest facing, some west, and some actually more southeast.

[Helen Wong-Joe]

Don't forget to give them rose food.