Viewing post #1270324 by RoseBlush1

You are viewing a single post made by RoseBlush1 in the thread called What is This? Disease or other?.
Image
Sep 12, 2016 10:45 AM CST
Name: Lyn
Weaverville, California (Zone 8a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Level 1
Kelli ...

Maybe if I explain my watering practices in my hot and dry summer climate it may help you decide how you might want to address how you might want to change how you care for your plants.

My summer temps are in the high 90s to low 100s daily for 3 to 4 months and I am gardening in rocky clay soil. I do not plant anything under the canopy of my roses and mulch heavily. That was how I was taught to care for my roses so that I don't disturb the feeder roots that take up moisture and nutrients and to avoid competition for water and food.. Other gardeners have different gardening styles.

The area under the canopy of the rose is mulched heavily to maintain a constant moisture and to reduce weeds.

I water my roses deeply once a week by placing a sprinkler under the rose that waters the area under the whole canopy of the. The amount of time depends on the the size of the rose. For the larger roses, it runs from 15 to 20 minutes per rose. For the minifloras 10 minutes, miniatures and microminis 5 minutes. Mid-week they get what I call a "feeder root" watering ... just enough to keep the top six inches of the soil moist. It runs about 10 minutes for the larger roses. The other roses just get sprayed as needed.

Sufficient watering is very important in our dry climates to keep the plants well foliated to help them through the high summer temps.

Hot and dry climates are the perfect environment for spider mite infestations which can defoliate a roses within a day, so I wash down my roses daily with a strong stream of water both on top of the leaves and on the under sides of the leaves. It only takes me about 20 minutes to go through the whole garden with the hose to wash down the roses. If I see a rose that needs a bit more water, I give it an extra shot at that time.

I am growing more than 100 roses, so I have a feel for what I am seeing and can tell when I need to give a rose a little extra water. Mountain sunlight can be pretty intense and water needs vary though out the garden.

The basic rule of thumb is that you never want the root zone to fully dry out. The rose may not be able to pull enough moisture to the top growth because the transpiration of moisture through the leaves is higher because of the heat than the plant can move moisture through the plant, but the moisture is available to the plant.

When I spoke of a rejuvenation prune, I was suggesting that younger wood is more efficient at moving moisture / sap through the plant than older wood. Just something to think about.

Good luck with your roses.

dang typos and lousy editor .. me
I'd rather weed than dust ... the weeds stay gone longer.
Last edited by RoseBlush1 Sep 12, 2016 11:22 AM Icon for preview

« Return to the thread "What is This? Disease or other?"
« Return to Roses forum
« Return to the Garden.org homepage

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )