The ground you grow your roses in has blood, bones and droppings of animals, along with rock minerals and rotting vegetation to form healthy soil, so you can’t avoid animal waste totally. Being 100% vegan in all aspects of modern life is certainly a challenge!
Chemical-based fertiliser products are not suitable for the ground as they destroy the essential, eco balance and natural mycorrhizal fungi present in the soil and add too many salts, long-term. Fine for a quick fix but not for long-teem usage. Whereas organic fertilisers need and work with the natural soil fungi to break down and feed your roses.
Inorganic, chemical fertilisers are suitable for roses in pots where the compost doesn’t have the active organic elements necessary to break down organic fertilisers. Then you need to consider your over-reliance on chemical feed, particularly if the compost is pure composted vegetable matter without added animal waste, which would be fairly poor, nutrient-wise. Roses are hungry plants!
So if growing roses in the ground, you need both organic and vegan. I don’t know of any such commercial product but would be interested to hear if anyone does. Alfalfa pellets or tea, or nettle tea, provide nitrogen (N), rock dust can provide phosphorus (P) and comfrey tea potassium (K) the three most important nutrients. Liquid Seaweed can provide essential trace elements. However, then you need to consider the environmental impact of rock mining, seaweed extraction etc. There is always a trade off.
Good feeding also depends on knowing your soil and ideally having a full analysis of it done, so you don’t overfeed one element already present in sufficient quantities, at the expense of another - too much of one can block the plant’s access to another.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Nollie, thank you for a really comprehensive explanation of what is needed. I’ll definitely be following what you’ve said. Yes, I accept that a lot of animal derived bits and pieces are in soil, and have to compromise on that! But I won’t actively add chicken manure which comes from intensive battery farming, or bones from
horrific slaughterhouses. Yes, it’s a real quest, at times, being vegan! Actually, you turned on a lightbulb in my head! I’ll also ask in the vegan groups I’m in on FB. Will let you know if I get any success.
Your stance is totally understable @LesleyH if you're not a consumer of animal products it's fine not to want animal by-products of intensive farming in your garden. A nice way to make your own (admittedly smelly) fertiliser is to get some comfrey planted. I ordered some bare roots from here the other day: https://www.7wells.co.uk/comfrey-for-organic-gardeners-105-p.asp as I'd like a variety of comfrey that has sterile seed, as otherwise it can become invasive given half a chance. I'm an omnivore so see no issue with the carcasses of the cows and chickens I eat in regular intervals be used for fertilised instead of being wasted. But can totally relate to your requirements.
I used something called ‘After Plant Rose Food’ from a company called empathy for the first time this year and have been really pleased with the results. It’s recommending you apply in the Spring at the sign of first growth and a second feed after the first flush of flowers. I might have been swayed by the RHS branding on the bag but the results have been very good !
Your stance is totally understable @LesleyH if you're not a consumer of animal products it's fine not to want animal by-products of intensive farming in your garden. A nice way to make your own (admittedly smelly) fertiliser is to get some comfrey planted. I ordered some bare roots from here the other day: https://www.7wells.co.uk/comfrey-for-organic-gardeners-105-p.asp as I'd like a variety of comfrey that has sterile seed, as otherwise it can become invasive given half a chance. I'm an omnivore so see no issue with the carcasses of the cows and chickens I eat in regular intervals be used for fertilised instead of being wasted. But can totally relate to your requirements.
That is so helpful, thank you, George. But don’t you need a lot of room to grow enough comfrey?
I used something called ‘After Plant Rose Food’ from a company called empathy for the first time this year and have been really pleased with the results. It’s recommending you apply in the Spring at the sign of first growth and a second feed after the first flush of flowers. I might have been swayed by the RHS branding on the bag but the results have been very good !
Thank you, Nemrac. I was just looking at the Empathy range as I did not know it was ok for vegans. And yes, I’ve read really good reviews. Thank you! 🙂
Thank you very much. Do you grow your own or buy a preparation?
I grow my own - it grows very easily once it's established (I bought 'Bocking 14' root slips from an organic seed company - it's sterile so doesn't seed all over the garden, which 'normal' comfrey likes to do). Making plant food from it is simple enough, or you can just chop it up and use it as a mulch, which is how I generally use it on my roses, after they finish first flowering, as a rule.
I do mulch the beds generally in winter if I can, rather than specifically the roses, sometimes with a manure/compost blend and sometimes with other organic stuff, depending what's available.
I do have heavy clay soil, which roses love, so they need less food than maybe they would on a lighter soil. And I did use rotted manure in the first couple of years, to improve the fertility of my soil generally, but haven't done on an ongoing basis. The comfrey is free now I have it, I don't have a horse so I have to buy manure and I'm a cheapskate
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Thank you very much. Do you grow your own or buy a preparation?
I grow my own - it grows very easily once it's established (I bought 'Bocking 14' root slips from an organic seed company - it's sterile so doesn't seed all over the garden, which 'normal' comfrey likes to do). Making plant food from it is simple enough, or you can just chop it up and use it as a mulch, which is how I generally use it on my roses, after they finish first flowering, as a rule.
I do mulch the beds generally in winter if I can, rather than specifically the roses, sometimes with a manure/compost blend and sometimes with other organic stuff, depending what's available.
I do have heavy clay soil, which roses love, so they need less food than maybe they would on a lighter soil. And I did use rotted manure in the first couple of years, to improve the fertility of my soil generally, but haven't done on an ongoing basis. The comfrey is free now I have it, I don't have a horse so I have to buy manure and I'm a cheapskate
That’s really interesting, especially when you use it as a mulch. My only problem is having a small garden! I’ll look at the ready bought comfrey feed. Thank you, Raisingirl x
@LesleyH, I am vegetarian and not strictly vegan and can understand your feelings though it didn't occur to mind to avoid animal product feeds due to that reason.
Anyway I avoid FBB and similar products because of fox problem in my garden. I use tomato feed regularly on pots and occasionally on ground. Sometimes liquid seaweed feed. I make compost with all kitchen scraps and being vegetarian helps as we collect plenty of vegetable peelings etc. This year I also used Wilko rose food and it seems good.
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Chemical-based fertiliser products are not suitable for the ground as they destroy the essential, eco balance and natural mycorrhizal fungi present in the soil and add too many salts, long-term. Fine for a quick fix but not for long-teem usage. Whereas organic fertilisers need and work with the natural soil fungi to break down and feed your roses.
Inorganic, chemical fertilisers are suitable for roses in pots where the compost doesn’t have the active organic elements necessary to break down organic fertilisers. Then you need to consider your over-reliance on chemical feed, particularly if the compost is pure composted vegetable matter without added animal waste, which would be fairly poor, nutrient-wise. Roses are hungry plants!
So if growing roses in the ground, you need both organic and vegan. I don’t know of any such commercial product but would be interested to hear if anyone does. Alfalfa pellets or tea, or nettle tea, provide nitrogen (N), rock dust can provide phosphorus (P) and comfrey tea potassium (K) the three most important nutrients. Liquid Seaweed can provide essential trace elements. However, then you need to consider the environmental impact of rock mining, seaweed extraction etc. There is always a trade off.
Good feeding also depends on knowing your soil and ideally having a full analysis of it done, so you don’t overfeed one element already present in sufficient quantities, at the expense of another - too much of one can block the plant’s access to another.
horrific slaughterhouses. Yes, it’s a real quest, at times, being vegan! Actually, you turned on a lightbulb in my head! I’ll also ask in the vegan groups I’m in on FB. Will let you know if I get any success.
I'm an omnivore so see no issue with the carcasses of the cows and chickens I eat in regular intervals be used for fertilised instead of being wasted. But can totally relate to your requirements.
I do mulch the beds generally in winter if I can, rather than specifically the roses, sometimes with a manure/compost blend and sometimes with other organic stuff, depending what's available.
I do have heavy clay soil, which roses love, so they need less food than maybe they would on a lighter soil. And I did use rotted manure in the first couple of years, to improve the fertility of my soil generally, but haven't done on an ongoing basis. The comfrey is free now I have it, I don't have a horse so I have to buy manure and I'm a cheapskate
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Anyway I avoid FBB and similar products because of fox problem in my garden. I use tomato feed regularly on pots and occasionally on ground. Sometimes liquid seaweed feed. I make compost with all kitchen scraps and being vegetarian helps as we collect plenty of vegetable peelings etc. This year I also used Wilko rose food and it seems good.