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Roses

clairebull92clairebull92 Posts: 12
in Problem solving
What's wrong with my rose? It was doing so well full of lovely growth and covered in buds but now the leaves are look really bad. 

Posts

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Hi Claire, the dark splodges and yellowing leaves are the fungal disease black spot and the bits rasped out of the underside of the leaves, turning them transparent, are usually caused by rose sawfly larvae. Both are a fact of life when growing roses I’m afraid. 

    Pick off the worst affected leaves plus clear out any fallen leaves in the pot. Also check for green wriggly caterpillar things on the undersides or edges of leaves and squish. Roses in pots need watering very well and frequently plus biannual feeding around March and again around now  - inorganic slow-release granules are best in pots (eg. Miracle gro rose and shrub food or similar). Plus an occasional liquid feed during the flowering season - tomato feed is good as it has a high potassium content to help flowering. Keeping a potted rose well fed and watered won’t stop either black spot or sawflies but a healthy rose has more ability to shrug off the effects and regrow new leaves and flowers. Nutrients and water in pots are quickly exhausted so they rely on you totally.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • clairebull92clairebull92 Posts: 12
    Hi thank you for your help. I will give it some tlc this weekend. 
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