Important Rose Gardening Advice On Fertilizers

Important Rose Gardening Advice On Fertilizers

Feeding your roses, just like watering, is a very important aspect of rose gardening.  Seek out relevant and practical rose gardening advice on fertilizing your roses even before you start planting. Your roses need three essential natural elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, to grow to their full potential. Nitrogen encourages vigorous growth of foliage and canes. Phosphorus provides increased immunity to diseases. Potassium provides assistance in reproduction and development of sturdy roots.  A good fertilizer contains these three natural elements along with calcium, magnesium, in small quantities, and trace elements of manganese, iron, and boron.

While synthetic fertilizers are manmade from petroleum and its by-products, organic fertilizers are obtained from decomposed fish, bone, seaweed, dried banana peels, manure, canola pellets, etc. You will need to apply synthetic fertilizers frequently, as they do not last very long. Organic fertilizers slowly break down and release nutrients into the soil over a period making it a better choice. 

You have to guard against over-fertilizing your roses. Excessive nitrogen can lead to ‘leaf burn’ or ‘leaf scorch’ causing leaves to turn brown or yellow and wither away. In extreme cases, your plant could also die if you don’t follow instructions carefully. 

Sprinkle dry fertilizer on moist soil at the base of the plant after removing the top layer of mulch. Gently spread the fertilizer with a rake. Cover with mulch and water thoroughly. Mix liquid fertilizers carefully as per the instructions on the label. Spray at the base of the plant and directly on foliage. Do not spray fertilizers when the temperature is soaring to avoid leaf burn.  In spite of precautions, if your rose bush shows signs of leaf burn, rake out the fertilized layer of soil and water deeply. Water can flush out the excessive salts from the soil and restore balance. 

Fertilizing at the time of planting can help your rose bush sprout new growth quicker than otherwise. In spring, you will need to fertilize for at least two weeks. In summer, fertilizing once in two weeks with a liquid fertilizer is sufficient. Remember that young plants do not need fertilizing until after their first bloom. Stop fertilizing a month and a half ahead of frost.  Do not fertilize in fall.

You need to frequently fertilize large shrub roses, climbers, and old garden roses, while hybrid teas don’t require much feeding. Use half the quantity of fertilizer for miniature roses. 

Leaves with brown or purple edges show a definite lack of potassium while yellowed leaves are a sure sign of lack of iron or excessive calcium. You know it’s time to feed your roses if you notice any of these symptoms. 

You can use various devices ranging from your own hand to a submersible pump to fertilize your roses. The criterion for determining what would work best for your garden is simply the size of your garden. Few roses mean you can sprinkle or spray the fertilizer. If you have more than fifty roses, you will find that using a siphon device or submersible pump drastically cuts the time you spend on fertilizing your roses.