How to Keep Your Roses Healthy
Roses are lovely addition to your garden but they do tend to be subject to a wide variety of diseases. To keep your prize roses looking good and healthy we’ve gathered together these tips for you to spot problems early so that you can treat them quickly.
Black Spot
This disease appears as circular black spots on the leaves. The leaves then become yellow. Remove any leaves that are affected including leaves that have fallen to the ground. You need to spray your roses with a suitable pesticide designed for black spot to prevent a re-occurrence.
Powdery Mildew
This fungal disease covers the birds stems and leaves with a white powder and causes the leaves to curl up and turn purple. A spray of Benomyl or Funginex is needed to treat powdery mildew.
Rust
Rust causes orange to red blisters on the underside of leaves that turn black in the fall. It is not killed off in the cold weather and will reappear on new sprouts during the spring. Remove all infected leaves, even those on the ground and spray with Benomyl or Funginex about once a week.
Spider Mites
These tiny red, yellow or green spiders are found underneath the leaves where they cause damage by sucking out the juices you should use an application of Orthene or Isotox to treat spider mite infestation.
Aphids
You can spot aphid infestation on your roses by looking for mottled or weak leaves covered underneath in tiny white webs. Aphids a small insects that are usually red, green or brown and can often be seen clustered underneath the leaves and on the flower buds. Spray with Malathion or Diazinon to treat this infestation.
Thrips
Thrips are small slender, yellow brown bugs that have fringed wings and suck juices from rose buds. Remove any infected birds and flowers and treat with Orthene or Malathion.
Conclusion
Regularly inspect your roses and treat with the suggested pesticides at the first sign of problems. Fertilise your roses regularly and you will have lovely, healthy roses in your garden