I just recently planted three rose bushes and they've been growing pretty well, except I've noticed these spots on the leaves of two of them and i think there might be a problem. can anyone help me Id what i'm doing wrong. I'm hoping It's something I'm doing and not some rose virus I've been reading about.
Mineral deficiencies are the most common cause of leaves turning yellow and Roses are no exception especially if you have quite a sandy soil as this cant hold onto the minerals the plants require to make healthy new growth and maintain good strong leaves/stems etc even flowering can be non existent. do a soil check, these soil test kits are cheep and easy to use ans will give you a rough idea as to what type of soil you have, it will help eliminate quick to identify soil deficiencies for you and you can then move onto looking for other causes if your soil should turn out to be OK.
the deficiencies normally associated with yellowing foliage on Roses could be Magnesium, especially if you have added a lot of potash manures. Because you said you have just recently planted your roses, then I would be inclined to dig them up gently, soak them in a bucket for about an hour to give them a good drink, then to the soil add as much compost /animal manure as you can get your hands on, then replant the roses, give them plenty water while they try to establish themselves into the new growing situation, after a couple of weeks, give them a feed with rose fertiliser sprinkled around the root soil and fork it into the soil being careful not to re-disturb the roots, a good idea when you do lift the roses out to amend the soil is to check the roots to make sure you have not left and dead or dried roots on the plants before you planted them, if you have, cut these away as you want the plants to form a nice new root ball to help support the food/water supply all through the growing season.
I would expect in your zone and heat, your roses are also suffering from drought, you have chosen a really warm/hot time to plant roses and in your zone, at planting time, I would cut the bottom off a plastic juice bottle for each plant and sink them way into the soil beside each plant, (narrow end into the soil) then as you water, fill the bottles up with water, this way, you know the water is going to the roots and not running off the hard crusted top soil, after a few years, the roses should have made enough root system in the soil to be able to remove the bottles if you find them intrusive at all.
Remember, any newly planted plant of any kind can also suffer from shock just being transplanted, they take a couple of weeks to perk up, hope all this helps a bit. WeeNel.
thanks, i planted these roses about 6 weeks ago, do you think thats to late to pull them out and soak the roots? the weather here is actually very mild, i am right on the pacific ocean and dont get the same extremes they do a couple of miles inland where after a while it turns into desert. this close to the beach makes the soil very sandy so i've ordered a soil tester to see where i'm at there.
Thanks again
I agree, that's a nutrient problem but may even be the reverse of Weenel's and be too much minerals. Roses are very susceptible to salts & minerals, you don't think you over fertilized, or have salt spray from the Pacific reaching this site do you?
I would check your PH. Too high or too low will affect the roses ability to take in nutrients and they love nutrients! It may be sunlight too, as roses send out tender new leaves they can get scorched and burned in afternoon light.
This message was edited Apr 28, 2008 11:04 AM
