Re: [gardeners] roses
Annetta Green (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 2 Jul 2001 15:37:00 -0400
I have only been really growing roses a short time, as in planting more than
what came with the house. But I have come to love them now that I no longer
have to use caustic chemicals. I have found a few good suggestions that
have worked for me.
Our soil here is pure almost white sand. To that I added large amounts of
cow manure, peat and then a layer of top soil. When planting a rose I add a
rotten banana, or peel, to the hole. My roses are blooming more than ever
since I started adding the banana to existing bushes, by digging a hole in
the drip line, and pushing be banana a few inches below the surface.
Another suggestion that came my way is to use a milk mixture on the rose
leaves to kill black spot. While this may seem unusual, it really seems to
be working for me. I spray the roses with a 1/4 mixture of milk to water,
but have been slowly lowering the amount of milk. It seems to be working,
but if I forget the black spot takes over completely in no time flat. That
may have more to do with the fact that I have not been cleaning up the
dropped leaves as religiously as before.
This is not an approved method for roses, but my experiments seem to be
working. I really hated using the fungicides as they burned my skin and
left a white film on the leaves, the milk does neither. I know of a few
other that are using the banana idea, and a couple of others that use the
milk all reporting good results. Of course I still use a good rose food 4
times a year and use a water soluble fertilizer once a week at prescribed
dosages. My roses seem healthy and happier than I have ever seen them
before
----- Original Message -----
From: <Njdix@aol.com>
To: <gardeners@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 11:36 PM
Subject: [gardeners] roses
> I need all the tips that I can get on caring for roses. What do YOU think
is
> the best way to amend the soil, fertilize, stop insects including Japanese
> beetles, and stop black spot? I have many flowers, but I have a terrible
time
> keeping my roses looking like I want.
>