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Ants - rose buds

ChrisWMChrisWM Posts: 214
in Problem solving
Hi all. This isn’t creating a problem with my buds, but ants swarm on unopened buds only on the James Galway. My guess is something to do with aphids?

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

Posts

  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,872
    Hi @ChrisWM Your thread appears to have slipped through without a response. You have beautiful roses but buds look unsightly with the coverage of ants. Hopefully there is someone out there who can help you.  :)
  • ChrisWMChrisWM Posts: 214
    Fran IOM said:
    Hi @ChrisWM Your thread appears to have slipped through without a response. You have beautiful roses but buds look unsightly with the coverage of ants. Hopefully there is someone out there who can help you.  :)
    Bless you, Fran. It’s my first year of keeping roses, and the James Galway was my first one, so I’m keen to help it along. 
    If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    You can wash off the aphids and their honeydew - that is what the ants are into. Once the aphids have gone, the ants will go. After that, wiping off the aphids by hand usually works quite well, or spraying a little soft washing up detergent diluted in water.

    Sometimes rose buds or peony buds etc get so sticky they can't open. So wash off all the stick and make sure the petals can open.
  • ChrisWMChrisWM Posts: 214
    Thanks @Fire
    If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Your roses look really happy and healthy. Good luck with them.
  • ChrisWMChrisWM Posts: 214
    Cheers!
    If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero
  • janelevers1PB9CzrRYjanelevers1PB9CzrRY Posts: 1
    Hi Chris I have found your 2018 post whilst I was planning to ask the same question. I have 22 roses and 20 are David Austin. None have had the problem you describe until I was given a James Galway rose last month. The ants are all climbing into an opening in the bud before it opens.  Does it still happen to your rose?
  • ChrisWMChrisWM Posts: 214
    janelevers1PB9CzrRY said:
    Hi Chris I have found your 2018 post whilst I was planning to ask the same question. I have 22 roses and 20 are David Austin. None have had the problem you describe until I was given a James Galway rose last month. The ants are all climbing into an opening in the bud before it opens.  Does it still happen to your rose?
    Hi Jane - I have an ongoing battle with aphids, but the Galway rose is the only one that has that scale of problem with ants.  Chris
    If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero
  • susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
    I know very little about gardening and even less about roses, I am still very much a novice but learned that ants love the honeydew that the aphids leave and so protect them from ladybirds and other predators, even taking them into their nests at night to protect them, so as long as you have aphids and ants find them you have a problem
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