All your hard work put into cultivating your roses can be destroyed easily by fungus or rose diseases if you are not careful during the cold months. As roses become more frail in the cold, they will also be more susceptible to fungi when it becomes warm again. Even if they get through winter relatively unscathed, their weaker immune systems will be more open to the heat and humidity that the spring rains and summer heat bring.
In this way, the roses might contact a fungal infection that destroys them, despite all of your best efforts. There are a number of common diseases you might encounter with your roses: Powdery Mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus. As its name suggests, a white powder is produced along the stems as well as on both sides of the leaves.
If you neglect to see to the mildew, the rose will not mature fully as the leaves will drop off. Rust Rust on roses looks just like rust on metal will. It appears on the underside of the leaves and quickly spreads to other parts of the plant as well. Blackspot Hybrid teas are completely resistant to blackspot, but other roses have been known to get it. If there are circular black spots on the leaves of the plant that are 1/16 to ½ inch in diameter, you might have the disease.
Take action on the disease immediately before it has the chance to ruin the plant's foliage. Rose Mosaic Unlike most of the rose diseases that are fungi, the Rose Mosaic disease is a virus. The signs of this disease have mosaic patterns of green and yellow that are discolored. The only way to stop this from spreading throughout your garden is to remove the plant entirely. You will also need to remove all of the leaves and clippings from the affected plant to ensure that it does not get to your other species.
If you cannot stop the effects of this disease, you will need to bring in professional help and ask about commercial treatments that will solve the problem. How can you avoid giving your plants these diseases? There are a few things you can do. Always water the soil around the rose and not the rose itself. Do take care not to let dead leaves pile up underneath, so clear the beds of roses often. Cut the diseased blooms right away and throw them in your trash can. Prune regularly.
And seal all the cuts in the plant with Elmer's glue or another safe glue. Feeding your roses regularly will also give them plenty of strength to fight infections. Finally, you can choose disease-resistant roses whenever possible to avoid the problem in the first place.
Having plants that are naturally resistant to diseases and fungi will help your other plants as well since you will not be harboring any potential problems and threats in your garden.
Moses Wright loves to work in his garden. He started this site to provide more free resources on rose gardening care and rose type choosing and selection tips.
