Feeding of Roses

I was talking to leading rose breeder and exhibitor Dr Bruce Chapman recently and we were by a strange coincidence talking about roses and was telling him about a particular bed of roses that was under performing. I asked him how I might fix the problem he told me there were two things I should do before I try to solve the problem with fertilisers etc. Check the pH and have your soil tested. This makes sense as you need to know what is causing the problem before you can take steps to remedy it. Too often I think we as rosarians try to second guess the problem by a process of elimination which is both expensive and time consuming.

Earthworms are a good indication of soil health to start with IMO

Thanks Neptune. I had no idea! There I was, rushing around the garden grabbing innocent earth worms! No wonder they were hiding!!   Ah well, might as well swell Bunnings profits again!

Maree, haven't you heard of "Milk Maid Worms"?! LOL

Silkyfizz ... my humble apologies!! It was you and not Maree who laughed at the "milking" worms!! Well.... have you heard of "Milk Maid" worms then?! LOL

I have thrown out all my Chemical Spray & now only using Certified Organic Products in the garden. I do have some questions & hope someone can help me.
I spray every 2 weeks with a Fungicide, Oil, Liquid Fertilizer & another recommended Seaweed Fertilizer that is recommended for me to use with all these products. They are all Certified Organic from the same company. Don't know if I can use brand names.
My Problem is - My white La Marque got stained brown as well as other white & light coloured Roses. I am not sure if it is staining or burning as I did notice some of my Lavenders, my Violets & Violas flowers & leaves were burned. I also noticed my Rugosa Roses, there leaves got very burned.
Does anyone know if some Roses DO NOT LIKE Seaweed Fertilizers. As most of my other Roses were not affected.
Any help in this matter would be appreciated.
Happy Gardening.

Sorry Dianne, can't help her but others will be able to!

Neptune, just a quick question from the "Dumb Novice" again!! Will the garden worms I've put in the worm farm already, live happily with the compost worms I'll be putting in over the next few days or will they fight?!!! LOL

Dianne, you can use names wether you like them or not as it gives newbies an idea what is good and what is not....

As for your seaweed fertilizer....never had a problem, even when spraying on days that were going to be 40 plus......I spray just as it gets light and this gives it a few hours before the strength of the sun hits the roses

Sue, you will probably find that they will head to the sump to get out of there and I have never heard of fighting worms......you can always take them out and spread them into your pots if you have any

Now I know I can use brand names - the products I am using are - Eco-Rose Fungicide, Eco-Oil, Eco-Seaweed & Eco-Aminogro.
Has anyone else used all products together. I was told I could.

Dianne

We have used seaweed solutions on and off over the past few years and have never had any problems. It is a brown colour so it may look like its burning.

What old roses do you grow that you need the fungicide for? Some of out Teas get powdery mildew (just starting to show up) but we don't really worry about it as it goes away in month or so. If we have a wet September (not very often that happens) we escape the mildew as the spores get washed off by the rain.

Hi Dimity, sorry I can't help, but it does sound suspiciously like some kind of chemical/fertiliser burn. Do you mix all the components together when you spray or do you spray each separately? Mixing them might be a problem.
Sue, Lol never heard of milk maid worms, sounds nasty!
Re your worms, introduce them nicely and they should be fine. Hahaha.

Yes I do mix all together, but I have been told by manufacturer that is OK.

Oh OK. Someone here is bound to have some ideas for you. Hope you get it sorted.

Thanks Balinbear, I use the fungicide as a preventative for Black Spot etc. I mix up my mix in a 16ltr sprayer & spray the whole garden but am gradually finding out what not to use it on. I have only been using these all together for around 2 months & don't want any nasty surprises once it gets hotter.

LOL! Neptune, I do have many pots around. So will "re-house" if necessary! I haven't heard of fighting worms either, but I didn't know if one lot would live happily with the other - we'll see!

Dianne, somewhere in the very back of my mind tells me Rugosas do not like sprays, will hit brickwall to see if it will come back to me.
Garden worms will not live in compost bins for long.

Thank you roseman. Will re-locate asap!  

Roseman you have jogged my memory I think.
Those of you out there that grow Rugosas may be able to help as I am pretty sure now that I have read or heard that there is no need to spray them as spraying others around them is usually enough. I won't be spraying them again. I find that the only problem I usually get on them is Aphids anyway and I have ordered some Beneficial insects to take care of them today anyway.

Guys how often do you give your roses the worm juice and how much do add to 1 litre of water.Cheers

Danny, I believe worm juice is used very similar to normal rose food. As for the rate I think it is 1Lt to a watering can

Thanks roseman for the feedback I have read over the internet some people recommend only 15 to 20 mls to 1 litre so to a 9 litre water can 180 mls.Have you used it Roseman and does it benefit the roses and garden much? Cheers.

No Danny in all honesty, but at a place that I prune their roses the owners have commercial size worm farm and are using on on their crops(oats) when I was there. They are trying on other crops and pasture now, the oat crop was in the the worst of the paddocks and as oats go it was the best I have ever seen. The owners had a second crop of it on one of the better paddocks and it was no where near as good. I am going out in a couple of weeks to obtain some juice and try it at home on different things.

I use my wormjuice on my potted Dwarf Citrus of which I have around 20 & they love it. They are all in full bud at the moment.
When I had a Dwarf Mayer Lemon that looked like it as going to turn up its toes (like that when I got it cheap at a popular big hardware store) it came back to life & is now flowering.
I use my wormjuice at a 50-50 rate. I do this when I feed my worms. - I feed my worms in the morning (but only on days they are getting low on food), then put a bucket of water on top of the wormfarm, collecting it through the tap & dilute it down with another bucket of water. Because it is going straight through the wormfarm it is not too concentrated.

I guess we have got off the track a bit about FEEDING ROSES, but I do feed roses with my wormjuice as well as using the castings around the base of the Roses they love it.
Something I did want to say is that I do give my worms a Fattening Feast once a week - the Recipe I use is - 5 Parts Chicken Pallets , 1 Part Garden Lime, 1 Part Bran or Wheat Germ/Grain, 1 Part Powered Milk, 1 Part Plain Flour.
They love it & my worms are Spoilt, Fat & Multiplying.