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Container climbing rose needs rejuvenating
ansypansy
Posts: 9
I have a large container grown climbing rose that has been in a very large pot for 3 or 4 years. I refresh the top of the pot each spring and add rose fertiliser to the soil. Watered daily. It grows and flowers well ( up to about 10 feet) but this year is riddled with black spot so looks awful. Most of the lower leaves have fallen off.
I think I need to cut it down hard and repot it in fresh soil, but unsure when is the best time to do this. It has finished its first flush of flowers and would normally flower again, but looks awful. There are new shoots forming.
Any advice gratefully received. Thanks
0
Posts
Firstly, it may be downy mildew, not black spot. Black spot has definite circles with a yellow 'eye'. Downy mildew, typically striking when the plants are dry at the roots but the air is humid (like the recent weeks), forms irregular brown-black spotting, and the leaf then yellows and drops off. I've cut mine down as late as July in previous years and been rewarded with a late flush of flower. However, the trick is to heavily water and then feed as new growth starts. Like us, plants will be susceptible to disease if they're under par, so food and water in copious amounts in the growing season are great barriers against fungal attack.
H-C
Thanks Hortum-creatae. Does look more like your description of downy mildew. I live in the driest part of the country, so things do get pretty dry, even though I try and water lots. That would explain why spraying against black spot had no effect as well. I will have a go at cutting right back and try watering more.