The Doctor Is In

As I sit in the family room and watch the welcomed rain come down today and the naked ladies and gentlemen in our garden sway to the wind song that is playing, I wonder how long it will take these beauties to put their clothes back on. How many more weeks will it take for the “hats” to bloom…so as we walk the rose garden they will bow their heads as we take in the lovely fragrance they each produce?

Now if it was up to us, we would know that in just 6 weeks the foliage will be from four to six inches of new growth, which is enough new growth to be able to start to feed the roses. However, it is most likely up to Mother Nature and how warm she will be, or as today, how cold she will be during the month of February and early March.

I like to tell you that once you have the four to six inches of new growth on the rose plants, that you should be able to start a regular feeding program without burning the young and tender foliage. The main thing you need to remember is to make sure that the roses get a deep soaking at least 4 to 6 hours before you feed them, thus the foliage is well saturated and can drink slowly of the food they have been given. Also, if you think you are getting any mildew, then you should also spray right after you have given them all the food that they need.

Since I have been growing roses I have found that have an appetite like a football player, that is, they are not picky at what they eat, they just want to be fed often. If you feed the roses once every two weeks they will love you dearly, but just once a month they will still give you the wonderful blooms that you are hoping for, just not as many as if you were to feed twice a month.

Being into organic gardening, I like to give the roses E.B Stone Rose Food. It’s very easy to use: use one cup per plant and then water in lightly so the wind won’t blow the food away. I also will switch and then give them Magnum Grow the next time. That is a liquid and into I will add fish emulsion, chelated iron and worm gold tea. Since we have 400 roses to feed, we mix in large batches. However, I can tell you for a 32 gallon container you will need 4 cups of Magnum Grow, 3 cups of Worm Gold Tea, 2 cups of chelated iron, and 1 cup of fish emulsion, then add enough water to fill the container. Give each plant 1 gallon of this mixture and stand back and watch it grow!

Making the Worm Gold Tea is easy. All you need is the leg of a panty hose, put it half full of the Worm Gold, then place it in a 5 gallon container of water and let it steep for about one week, stirring daily. When the tea is brewed, take the residue and place around any of your roses that seem to be doing poorly and they will just perk right up. This Worm Gold Tea can be added into the 32 gallon container, or you can even do a foliage feeding by spraying it onto the plants’ leaves. Use 1 cup of tea to 4 gallons of water, spray under and over just like any other type of spraying you do on the rose plants.

When it comes to spraying for insects we have found a new product that is called spanosad and is put out by Greenlight, We buy it at the Armstrong center. This product works well for thrips and mites as well as aphids and beetles, but use it sparingly because it is expensive. We also will add some BT to the spray mixture just to make sure the munchers stay away for a while during show season.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at:originalsbydiana@juno.com. Happy Rose Growing!

Webmaster's Note: Diana is also a certified ARS Horticulture and Arrangement Judge.