which advice?

I went for a country drive to a rose place which I won't name and the lady told me I should forget all different types of fertilizer and a not to use bit of this or that and should only use the one that they use.( I think it was called Organic Way or Life) something like that. I asked about Black spot resistant varieties, and she said more or less that if I feed roses fertilizer they should be all the same as far as resistance goes. Say's she; "Like feeding a person chocolate, you got to give them the right food not rubbish". And a few more comments like that. I'm not sure what to think, she seemed nice, but I have read and been given advice that it's okay to use different types like potash, etc for your rose needs, as well as resistant varieties and such.

Anyone else had advice like this or similiar?

I call this 'Tequilla Advice'. You take it with a grain of salt (and a sip of lemon)

If that were true then I'm going to stop trying to breed disease resistant roses right now and just focus on feeding them right instead.

It's true that a well nourished rose will be able to resist disease more than an undernourished rose... but not all roses are created equally.

Thanks, I thought as such. She was really trying to push me into getting this fertilizer, which I didn't. I got the impression none of her roses could do no wrong. It's a shame really, because I would go back there more often, but ah well.
At the other nursery which I do go to a fair bit, I get told which is better and which is not. Like the lady said: I like to keep my customers happy so they will come back.
Works for me.

Ditto what Simon says about tequilla

Me, I use mainly Organic Life for feeding my roses and do so about 4 times a year, but will soon try some Neutrog which is also an organic based fertiliser and is highly recommended by the HRIA.

I have sometimes added a chemical fertiliser for a quick boost if I think it would help to speed up a flush. Personally, I think that if the fertiliser is well balanced for roses, it matters not what its called. Potash, I believe is good for roses/plants when you are always using an organic based fertiliser as it may not contain enough of this mineral.

Use your judgement from your own experience for your local area. Check with those rose growers closest to you. Please always water well before applying any fertiliser and water in afterwards - this avoids root burn and allows for an efficient uptake of the fertiliser.

PS - I downright disagree with the lady @ the nursery. Feeding roses is nothing like feeding humans. Roses can live for hundreds of years with neglect and certainly without man feeding them and still survive. We wouldn't last more than 72 hours without a feed before we perished

Thanks, it's nice to get good advice. Did I mention she threw in "it's like feeding your dog..."
Oh dear.

Happy roses wrote: Did I mention she threw in "it's like feeding your dog..."
Oh dear.

yes, sure ... and some people believe that dogs survive with just throwing them the odd bone too ...

I think that the rate of growth and quality of bloom which your roses produce will tell you if what you are doing is right, if not, you can always correct it.

RitaG wrote:but will soon try some Neutrog which is also an organic based fertiliser and is highly recommended by the HRIA.

You will probably find that they recommend it because the RS around Australia can get there products for about half price. I for one, once not happy with the product ratio of NPK( 9:4:12). I asked there representitive here in WA as to why the "P" ratio was so small as compared to all the big rose growing countries of the world , where their NPK ratio is a minimum 10:10:10 and work up from there. So far, I have not heard anything from them, even though I was assured on two occassions that an email was coming.

Now I have gone looking elsewhere for my fertilizer and even found a place that will make up what I want

I use 'Seamungous' from Neutrog, because the phosphate level isn't high; I grow a lot of natives including among the roses.
Neutrog's 'Sudden Impact for Roses' was developed with advice from the Rose Socy (the show-bench people). The style of pruning developed in the UK isn't necessarily appropriate to Australian conditions; OS fertilisers might not be either.

Water is the best fertiliser of all. I have tried Neutrog but do not want to buy into a monopoly becase like the big supermarkets they will have you in their grip. Also in Qld we have an extra flush of blooms quite often and therefore the instructions are not necessarily correct.

Some years ago I got into a right royal mess by listening to too much advice and winning too many raffles where the prize was fertiliser. I had to stop and simplify my methods. I like to use Organic Life or Organic Extra a couple of times a year then I like very much to use liquid blood and bone mixed with Saprol and Sea Tea about once a month. I am happy with the results.

At the Vancouver 2009 World Rose Conference Thomas Proll from Kordes Roses showed pictures of trial beds which had not been sprayed so they could choose disease resistant plants to release in Europe where many of the pesticides are now banned in public parks and in some countries in home gardens. The trial beds had huge areas which were completely defoliated by disease and then there were patches of colour. He pointed with his laser beam at these and told us that they were the roses that would be released. Kordes are not the only breeders working to eliminate spraying. Older roses have survived because they are more disease resistant or have a desirabl quality like perfume and vigour. Then there are the roses which are prone to disease that were released prior to this new drive to release largely disease free roses.

My own opinion is that plants that are well fed and watered can be made more disease resistant.

I've heard that sudden inpact for roses was supposed to be good, but haven't tried it myself. I would have been happy to try organic life if it wasn't for the way the lady tried to sell it. My friend and I both asked her the name of it after she told us how wonderful it was and you won't get it anywhere else... except she wouldn't say anything, just that it's there on the shelf. In other words she wanted us to go over and see for ourselves. Looking at the roses made up for the episode, but it was weird.

I have tried a lot of Sudden Impact for Roses and I find IMO that it is not as good as they made it out to be. There are better fertilizers on the market. I also talked to other Roserians , but a lot of them have the attitude that where are we going to get a cheap fertilizer from.......as it is cheap thru the States RS

Aww, some traders have no customer skills, don't let that experience put you off.

IMO and from experience, if you initially plant your roses in good soil, water them well, give them a soaking with a sea weed solution for the first few months and then give them a well balanced feed when they start to shoot, then you have given them a very good foundation.

From then onwards, you can afford to experiment till you discover a feeding regime that brings out the best in your roses and suits your local conditions (soils etc). Just remember the bit about how hardy most rose plants are, and start enjoying them.

Re Sudden Impact, I'm open to trying anything new, at least once. If it doesn't work, then the lure of a cheaper price becomes redundant.

Below is a post that I made last year sometime

"I had a look at sudden impact and another organic product that the local fruit coop sells. The percentage ratios were similar for the NPK but the quanity per 100grams was about twice as much in the sudden impact than what was in the other product. The trace elements were also about half of that in the sudden impact.

The bucket of sudden impact sold for about $45 and the bag of the other product (about 3 times the size as the bucket) sold for $22. I figured that if I put twice as much of the other product on the garden I would still come out well and truely on top as it would be costing me less than half the price.

I think my theory is sound and it did not hurt my plants and they grew well. Mind you we do not fertilize them all that much so throwing a banana skin on the garden may have had the same affect."

I would go with that one Gary . It sounds good value to me