Hello,
I have about 50 or so rose plants planted, and all the foliage is clean, no black spot. I recently bought the rose plant "Heirloom", because I liked the color, Lilac to lavender. My problem is that it has black spot. So I have put it into the greenhouse to ensure the other plants didn't get the disease I have clipped off all the foliage and spayed for black spot. The plant is still in the greenhouse and I need help in deciding wheater to plant it or discard it.

Thanks for your time,
Richard

Hey Richard -- I'm sure some folks will tell you to plant it and spray.

My theory (after a few decades of doing this) is -- if it's got real disease issues, get rid of it.

Richard, it's nice to meet someone from Winston-Salem, where I was born and raised! I left when I was 13, but went back to take Best in Show in the photography division when the ARS had its annual convention in W-S a number of years ago (I live in NY now).

Anyway, Jeri is a very experienced rosarian, and I respect her opinion that if a particular rose is especially susceptible to black spot, you might get rid of it. But here on the east coast where rain and humidity can be very different from the west coast, I would tell you that black spot is just a natural occurrence in maintaining a rose garden. Just spray, but do it as a preventative. All but two sprays on the market prevent blackspot but do not treat a leaf once it is infected. Only two of them actually kill the fungus on contact, and they are expensive (I keep one of them on hand as a dry powder in case I ever need it if things get bad). If you want to educate yourself on the various treatments (you should alternate your sprays) check out the Rosemania website.

It may have come home with black spot due to poor air circulation or other grower issues... I'd say if the new growth comes out "clean," give it a chance. If it just seems more prone to black spot than your other roses, get rid of it.

My guess is that the black spot occurred at the nursery. Plants are closely placed and they may not get the same care you give your plants at home because of time, money and numbers. However, whether you have symptoms on your roses or not there are black spot spores out there in your garden all the time. It's only a matter of having the right conditions for them to manifest themselves. Keeping the rose in the greenhouse may only make it worse with the higher heat and humidity. I would pot it up and put it outside in an isolated spot for a while until it leafs back out. Also, some roses may actually grow out of a tendency to spot as they mature and get a stronger immune system. If you really like the rose give it some time to mature and see what happens. If it continues to spot and it bothers you that much do as Jeri says and get rid of it. For myself, I've learned to live with some spotty leaves. I live in black spot heaven and if I got rid of every rose that spotted I wouldn't have any roses left. I grow my roses for the blooms not the leaves, lol!

Richardis70 said:Hello,
I have about 50 or so rose plants planted, and all the foliage is clean, no black spot. I recently bought the rose plant "Heirloom", because I liked the color, Lilac to lavender. My problem is that it has black spot. So I have put it into the greenhouse to ensure the other plants didn't get the disease I have clipped off all the foliage and spayed for black spot. The plant is still in the greenhouse and I need help in deciding wheater to plant it or discard it.

Thanks for your time,
Richard

I use Serenade/Sonata and a couple of others but if I wanted to keep it, I would fill a five gallon pail with a Serenade/Sonata solution and dunk it in there and let it drip dry.
That should take care of the BS problem that rose has.