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Index : Flowers - Perennials
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- 20. Roses Need Attention Now - Top
- If large, dark, leafy-green rose bushes loaded with blooms are what your after, now is the time to act! The cooler weather of Fall provides ideal growing conditions for roses. But they also need help to grow and bloom to there maximum potential. This help is in the form of pruning and fertilizing.
Pruning is essential to promote new growth. Only on this new growth will flowers be produced. Light pruning will produce the desired results. Select stems pencil-sized or larger and cut them back to an outward facing leaf. Hidden at the base of the leaf is the dormant bud. Pruning just above this dormant bud will cause it to break (grow) and produce a bloom or spray. To keep the rose bush open to sun and air, prune just above outward-facing buds to encouraged outward-facing growth. Inward-facing growth results in clogging and crossing of branches. Cut about one-quarter inch above the outward facing buds. Make the cut a slanting one, with the bud on the high side.
Cut back lightly, to produce abundant roses for garden display. Every cut should result in the production of a bloom. Don't cut too far down the stem. You should remove no more than the outer one-third of the stem. Remove stem portions with Summer-scorched leaves. Also remove dead wood, weak and crossing stems. Heavy pruning will not be necessary until January.
If exhibition blooms are what you desire, look for a cane one-half inch thick or go down the length of the cane until it reaches this size. Again, cut on an angle one-quarter inch above an outward facing leaf. These large cuts should be sealed with Elmer's or another type of carpenter's glue to prevent cane boring insects. On exhibition roses it may be necessary to stake the new stem growth to keep it straight.
Lots of rain this summer has washed nutrients right out of the soil, especially nitrogen. As a result roses appear yellow and anemic. They also may be lacking in iron. To correct these deficiencies apply ammonium a rose fertilizer or any balanced fertilizer containing like amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium such as 15-15-15 or similar analysis. One pound of fertilizer per 100 square feet of rose bed area should be adequate. Scratch it in to the top layer of soil and water it in.
If young leaves are yellow with green veins, an iron deficiency is present. To correct this deficiency apply chelated iron according to label directions. Chelated iron should diluted in water and soaked into the soil. For quicker results chelated iron may also be sprayed on leaves for a rapid green-up. Use only chelated forms of iron as they are the only types that will preform in our alkaline desert soils.
Roses also benefit from the addition of magnesium. This can be supplied in the form of Epsom salts, applied at the rate of 1/3 cup per rose bush and watered in. Magnesium sulfate, the other name for Epsom salts, is also available in Garden Centers and Nurseries.
Insect pests such as aphids may reappear on roses in October. Keep a look out for these small, soft-bodied green bugs. They are attracted to new growth, and their sucking habit of feeding curls young leaves and causes a sticky substance, called honeydew, to develop. Aphids can be controlled by spraying the leaves with a strong jet of water from a hose-end attachment. Soap sprays are also effective at controlling aphids.
Finally, reduce the frequency of irrigation as we go later into Fall and the temperatures continue to cool. Typical Autumn temperatures between 65 and 90 degrees will call for twice weekly waterings. Over watering in late Fall and Winter can leach out nutrients and encourage root rot fungus diseases.
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on
October 3, 1999.
- Updated: August 30, 2001
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