You mean Green Light "Rose Defense"
So, a horticultural oil?

How many times did you spray, and at what intervals? And what was the temperature when you were spraying?

Jeri

Spider mites are common in hot weather or with reflected heat from cement or a wall. You would see what looks something like salt and pepper on the undersides of lower leaves.

Over-use of some sprays can damage the foliage.

I often see leaves turn yellow and drop off where there is poor drainage and the roots of the rose bush are waterlogged. Could that be the problem?

Here is a link that might be useful: Grey Pearl

Yes, Green Light "Rose Defense." That is the product the nurseries recommended me to use. I sprayed the rose twice (in late afternoon: 6PM when is was not very hot) on the 7-day interval as recommended by the manufacturer.

Yes, there was something like looking like salt and pepper underside the leaves. I don't think that overwatering is a problem because I water only once a week and the pot as good drainage.

Is this growing inside or outside? Growing roses inside is difficult if you don't have enough humidity (deters the spider mites) and light (sunlight or grow lights). Assuming that this is inside, you can get more humidity by putting the pot on top of a pebble tray, with water in the pebble tray, but the water shouldn't touch the bottom of the pot. Also, make sure that the soil in the pot isn't too wet or too dry.

Or, it may just be the variety. Grey Pearl is known to be a very weak grower on its own roots. For many such roses in this color class, if they don't get PERFECT conditions, they just up and die of natural causes, or "grow backwards" as some folks like to call it. "Julia's Rose" was the last one of my collection to do this to me. It's a goner now.

Good luck.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Barden's article on Grey Pearl

Were there any orange spots on the back of the leaves, or orange powder? This would indicate Rust which can cause leaf drop.

Spider mite, isn't that usually in hot dry weather? What have your weather conditions been like? Did you have a heat wave recently that might have stressed the little plant?

Thanks for all your inputs and the link to Paul Barden's article (it is very interesting).

The rose is growing outdoors in a 25-gal nursery pot. It does not grow on its own roots. As far as I can tell, the problem is not Rust (at least it does not look like the Rust I have seen in the past). The weather has not been very hot: mainly in the 70s.

Uh -- on hearing that the rose is in a 25 gallon pot, that brings on another idea. The pot is just too big. This was probably an own root plant less than a year old, and I have also killed a few of them over the years by putting them in regular potting soil in a too big pot. After they die and you dig them out, you begin to realize that the soil on the bottom of the pot has gotten putrid. If you have that much potting soil, you need a plant that is capable of "drinking" that much water, because the bottom soil just has to get a little dry every now and then to keep the soil itself from rotting. Putting lots of drainage in the pot doesn't seem to matter, really, in my experience, but it can't hurt. At the very least, add some drainage, or shovel out a sample from as far down in the pot as you can get without disturbing the plant and see if the soil has become rotten. If so, it will smell bad.

I now put my new baby own root roses in a 1 gallon pot on arrival and then wait for them to outgrow that pot before graduating up to the next larger size. That can take up to a year, depending on the variety's vigor (and I would think it would take Gray Pearl at least that long, given the underlying lack of vigor of the variety).

I think your Gray Pearl may need to be carefully replanted in a smaller container, and I would add lots of perlite just to help the drainage along a little. I suspect your plant is drowning sizewise in that big pot, and probably suffering from whatever rotten soil does to otherwise healthy roots.

And yes, I know, this doesn't really make sense when you consider that roses would rather be in the ground, which can be equated with an infinitely large pot, I suppose. But . . . the potting soils that are available have lots of organics in them that just hold too much water if the plants in them aren't drinking it fast enough.

Hope this helps,

Kathy

Thanks for the answwer and the suggestion. I did not think of the pot size because I have two roses and only one has a problem. The other one is growing nicely. Nevertheless, I try to replant my Gray Pearl in a smaller container.

Would you suggest pruning it to remove the dying parts or letting nature takes its course?

I usually nip the blackened stuff off. Otherwise, at least in my climate, the dying back continues on down the cane. If I nip it off, the rose is usually O.K. after that.

It's also true that roses can die if planted in a pot that is way too large for what the rootball is. Been there, done that. The soil sours and then "bad" organisms make the rose sick. I progressively pot up as the rose grows. It's more work, but they stay healthy. I use clay pots, and after cleaning them out well, I run the ones that will fit in my dishwasher through a cycle with the sanitary rinse before using them again.

Your rose still looks healthy. As I said, I'd nip the black stuff off, and I would also highly consider planting the rose in a clean pot with fresh potting soil (NOT the moisture control kind).

Sandy

My found rose looks like that. It has been growing wild behind my great grandmother's barn for approximately 70 years and has been bush-hogged over several times the past few years, so I was assuming it was due to neglect, poor soil/light conditions, and/or injury. My mother-in-law also tells me that too much humidity can sometimes make canes and stuff die, if it gets inside them, getting them too moist. I am no gardener though, these are my first roses, I just wanted to say mine looks the same and to explain it's conditions, so that perhaps if something sounded familiar you might then have a clue to what the problem is.

I hope it gets well soon, that is a gorgeous rose!

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Last night when I got back home, I re-potted my rose in a 5-gal nursery pot. The soil around the root ball was moist but not wet. It smelt good and had many earth worms. When I was done re-potting my rose, I checked the rest of the potting soil. It was in the same condition.