Rose Diseases

“Who Else Wants To Learn the Secrets of Dealing with Rose Diseases?”

One of the most common problems facing many rose gardeners is rose diseases. Roses can be beautiful, but if they are not taken care of properly they can develop diseases. There are a few signs that you should look out for it you are growing roses. There are no immediate cures for many rose diseases, but if you are paying close attention to your roses you can prevent them from getting rose diseases.

Rose diseases normally fall into three categories: black spots (the most common), rose rust, and downey or powdery mildew on roses. Most rose diseases are treated with fungicide when they are first detected. That old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, definitely applies when it comes to roses. To make sure you don’t get rose diseases, you need to implement prevention techniques that can stop rose diseases in their track.

If you grow your roses with other plants (which is a good idea), you need to watch your plants closely to see if you notice any insects or rose diseases forming on them. At the first sign of trouble, you need to fungicide them immediately. If you wait too long and allow the insects of diseases to spread, you could lose all of your roses before they even have a chance to grow.

If you notice that only a few leaves are affected, remove them right away to stop the spread of rose diseases cascading on to your other plants. The good thing about roses is that a new leaf can grow back, but a rose that is completely affected can kill any chance of you having beautiful roses. Lets’ look at some of the things you can do to prevent rose diseases.

Prevention of Rose Diseases

• Roses need to have at least 6 hours of sunlight each day

• Make sure your roses are getting enough water to survive, but not too much water

• Ensure that were you plant your roses has sufficient amount of drainage. You don’t want your roses sitting in standing water.

• Make sure you are cutting off spent blooms (deadheading). You should cut roses down to the first 5 leaf growth.
• Remove any and all dead branches. Also cut off “suckers,” which are red branches that sprout at the bottom of the plant and suck energy from your roses.

• Amend the soil. It should be neutral or slightly acidic. (Use a soil test kit—found at garden supply stores–to test your soil.) If your soil doesn’t meet these requirements, a quick fix is to dig a large hole (at least 3 feet by 3 feet) and put “rose soil” in it (purchased at a garden supply store).

• Make sure the rose is planted well.

• Roses also like to be fertilized. There are as many ways to do this as there are gardeners, but any decent rose fertilizer should do as long as you follow the directions.

In addition many rose growers swear by planting a banana peel under the rose, or mulching peels in to the soil near the rose.

Signs and Symptoms of Rose Diseases

Black Spots on Leaves – This rose disease is commonly known as black spot. Black spots appear as circular with fringed edges on leaves. They cause the leaves to yellow. Remove the infected foliage and pick up any fallen leaves around the rose. Artificial sprays may be used to prevent or treat this kind of rose disease.

Flowers that don’t open or are deformed when they do open up – Thrips could be the reason behind this problem. They are slender, brown-yellow bugs with fringed wings that also suck juices from flower buds. Cut and discard the infested flowers. Orthene and Malathion may also treat this problem.

Weak and mottled leaves with tiny white webs – This is caused by aphids. They are small soft-bodied insects that usually brown, green or red. Often clustered under leaves and flower buds, they suck plant juices from tender buds. Malathion or diazinon spray may help roses to survive these bugs.

Malformed or stunted leaves and flowers – This is caused by spider mites. They are tiny yellow, red or green spiders found on the underside of leaves where they suck juices. The application of Orthene or Isotox may help in treating this infestation.

Stunted or malformed young canes – Known as powdery mildew, this is a fungal disease that covers leaves, stems and buds with wind spread white powder. It makes the leaves curl and turn purple. Spray with Funginex or Benomyl to treat this fungal disease.

Remember that roses are hungry feeders that require much fertilizer to become healthy bushes. These were just a few tips on rose diseases, you can learn more about roses and how to grow your own rose by clicking on the link below.

Click on the book below to learn more about rose disease and how to grow roses:

Rose Diseases | How To Prevent Rose Diseases

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• Gardening week ahead: how to care for roses (telegraph.co.uk)
• Prepare roses for fall blooming (mysanantonio.com)
• Black spot on roses (telegraph.co.uk)

Rose Diseases | How To Prevent Rose Diseases