ROSES
October is rose month and your roses should now be putting on a spectacular display of colour.
Roses should be planted in a sunny area as they require at least six hours of full sun a day. Avoid planting them near trees as their roots may invade the rose bushes and use up the fertiliser provided for the roses.
Traditionally, the soil around roses is simply covered with a mulch to conserve water, but in today’s rose garden, annual flowers, such as alyssum, are planted around the rose trees.
For roses to flourish, water them deeply at least once a week or more frequently when it is hot and dry.
Remove spent blooms, not only will your garden look tidier, but this will also encourage the production of new quality stems. Do not pick more than 50 % of the blooms on any one plant at a time, rather pick again as more flowers are produced.
Nutrition:
For healthy, colourful flowers, feed every 4 weeks with Rose & Flower Fertilizer 8:1:5 or NutriGreen Flower Power. For quick results, apply Guanoflo as a foliar application every 2 weeks.
Protection:
The best defence your rose bush has against heat and disease are its leaves. The leaves regulate the heat and keep the plant’s system cool. When the leaves become damaged and disease-ridden your rose bush will not perform well. Roses are susceptible to attack from insects like aphids and red spider mite. Fungal infections like black spot, powdery mildew and rust directly affect the leaves.
Protection against insects:
There is a variety of insects and pests that can destroy your flower bearing plants. Be on the lookout for insects and other pests on your roses. Complete is a systemic insecticide that provides protection for 3 – 4 months against sucking insects such as aphids. Apply as a soil drench to the root area of your rose plants.
Protection against Fungi:
Tenazole is a systemic fungicide and will protect your roses against fungal diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew. Tenazole can be applied as preventative or corrective treatment. Copper-Flow-Plus and Mycoguard 720 SC are contact fungicides and will preventatively protect against fungi like black spot, powdery mildewe, etc.
3-in-1 protection:
Rose Guard offers effective 3-in-1 protection against these common pests and diseases. This contact insecticide and contact and systemic fungicide wipe out problems before they wipe out your rose bush.