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Favorite fertilizer

13 years ago

What is your favorite fertilizer to use on roses? I have a Don Juan that is blooming but the flowers really are not opening up and really it doesn't have to many leaves so stupid me thought, hey, I bet it needs some food!

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Comments (12)

jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
13 years ago
Did you notice any leaves getting black spots on them, turning yellow and then falling off?
Or it hasn't developed many leaves yet this season?
karl_bapst_rosenut
13 years ago
Are these older canes (like from last year) that have produced just a few leaves? If so, chances are the dormant buds were damaged during the winter and what you see is what you got. Modern roses bloom best on new wood. Bit the bullet and prune back to promote new growth with more leaves. I like the ingredients in Mills Magic Rose Mix for a fertilizer.
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If we're taking about feeding annuals/vegetables, I use Osmocote, one application feeds for the whole season. I also dig organic matter into the vegetable bed. If we're talking roses, I use Rose-Tone and generic epsom salts. If we're talking perennial/shrub beds, I generally don't fertilize unless there is a particular reason to (which is rarely, outside of the roses), but I do add organic matter every season (usually in the form of fallen leaves but occasionally other forms of matter) to build the soil over time.
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I have excellent results with milk on African violets. I took a shot at some dumper AVs from Wal-Mart over a year ago. They were in the discard ($0.50) bin and were being watered daily. Well, you can't do that to AVs, so they were rotting away in the pots. I bought a dozen and put them on my windowsill at the hotel I was living in at the time. I used only milk on them. All but three of them recovered nicely. The change was relatively immediate inasmuch as I had to stop watering them until they dried out. But as soon as I hit them with the milk, the soil went from the standard Wal-Mart junk to become some very nice stuff. I've had them in the same pots without adding anything to them, nor repotting (a huge AV standard practice) for over a year and they still look great. It seems I neglect them much more when I'm living at home rather than on the road, so they have not bloomed in a long time. But I'd rather live at home with neglected plants than on the road away from the family and have lots of bloomers. My point is that milk is great for potted plants. I also keep a little bin of corn meal with me just in case I get a fungal disease the milk can't handle. So far I have not used any corn meal.
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I have been using the Bayer all-in-one. But since I have the spray for disease and no JBs to speak of (sorry guys!), I'm thinking of doing the alfalfa thing.Not the tea, but the pellets or meal. We are actually going to a tractor supply today to see if they have it. But if not, I'll do good ol MG. I have bloom buster which is great for roses and daylilies and most of my flowering perennials.
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Excellent discussion starter, Lilyfinch! While I don't have any great organized program, I do make a point to add alfalfa pellets and milorganite to the roses in the spring. I used to make a great brew of fish emulsion, superthrive, miracle grow, epsom salts, milorganite and alfalfa in a tub of water, but I haven't had the time to do that in the past few years, and the roses didn't seem to mind. I started by using that recipe on my daylilies, and since some beds have both roses and daylilies, the roses got the same treatment. Luckily, I have a wide open space and the tree companies come and dump shredded mulch here a couple of times a year. I use that for winter protection and also as a weed deterrent in some beds. The bottom of that pile is now black gold! My other weed deterrent is underplanting with sedums, mainly that plain green sedum that spreads so nicely. The Angelina sedum that came out a few years ago is much better, so I'm spreading cuttings through the beds. I also use nepeta, veronica, (such as 'Waterperry), dianthus, and creeping phlox. I try hard not to disturb the soil and bring up any weed seeds, but any time I plant something, I do end up with a few weeds that I need to pull. Bermuda grass is my worst enemy, and I've tried using chemicals to knock it down, but the fight is continual. I have some sort of nasty wild garlic that spreads bulbs everywhere and it is impossible to dig or kill, so that's another headache. Any suggestions on that? It is pretty, but it takes over the beds, and the bulbs work deeper and deeper and get into the root systems of the roses. I found that out when I had to move a rose last year. Spring has come early this year, too early, and my roses are already leafing out! We've had several days in the upper 70s and 80s and I'm terrified that we'll have a late bitter cold snap and everything will get frozen to the ground. Nothing I can do about it, but I know from past experience that some roses won't survive if that does happen. I'm in south central Kansas, zone 6, and we have not had a decent snow yet this winter. Our soil is so dry that I have been watering this past week. Like Huckdog said, it's too early to prune, but the plants think otherwise.
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predfern
13 years ago
12-12-12 works just fine. I have more blooms than ever this spring. Blain's Farm and Fleet had a good price on 13-13-13 a few weeks ago. Also check Walmart and Meijer. Home Depot's 10-10-10 is too expensive. Get a big 30-40 lb sack.
kathy_george_gw
13 years ago
First, check pH and add lime if needed.

For the main fertilizer, I like Mills Magic Mix; follow label directions on it. Also, add a tiny trace of gypsum, as roses need a small bit of sulfur.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
13 years ago
Rose Tone is good--you can get it at your local Home Depot. If they don't have Rose Tone, try their Plant Tone. Lots of good stuff in them, including some alfafa.

Kate
dmny
13 years ago
Rose-tone for the long journey ahead, followed by Miracle Grow for roses for that needed boost into orbit.
athenainwi
13 years ago
I use Rose Tone, but I don't think your problems are a lack of fertilizer. Karl is probably right that you're seeing some winter damage and need to prune back to good wood. Is the rose in full sun? Lack of sun would also cause poor blooming.
ramblinrosez7b
13 years ago
The reason your blooms might not be opening up is because either you have thrips (insect inside the buds) or you still have cold temperatures at night. I use Rosetone also but I would use Mills magic Mix if I could find it locally.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
13 years ago
Since I have over 90 roses and garden organically, I use alfalfa meal that comes in large bags from the feed store. I pour a cup or two over each rose, or less if they're babies, and then water it in thoroughly. I've had very good results, with healthy rose bushes and good bloom.

Ingrid
roseman
13 years ago
I never had a favorite fertilizer. My roses get soluble fertilizer exclusively now with the exception of Osmocote timed release in the spring after pruning. Osmocote will not kick in until the soil temp hits the high 60s, so it doesn't hurt to put it in early. I just go to Lowes and get five or so soluble fertilizers with varied analyses on them, and rotate them, with a different one every month. I apply a tablespoon to each big rose and a teasoon to each mini and let the irrigation carry it into the plant. The thing to keep in mind is that roses are heavy feeders and should be fed something (your choice) every month. Since roses can't read, they don't care what they get as long as they get.
taoseeker
13 years ago
I tend to go for organic fertilizers with about as much nitrogen as kalium, and just a bit of phosphorus. I also like compost and composted cowmanure. I really like seaweed both as meal and liquid form. The best seaweed has some nitrogen and lots of kalium, but not any phosphorus, so there has to be added a bit more nitrogen and phosphorus from something else.

I don't use only one type of fertilzier or any brand exclusively. I tend to go for the best offer, and with the idea that alternating different types might be good. I used to give my roses water soluble fertilizers of the Miracle Grow varity, but I ended up with more winter damage and fungus diseases than necessary. I even used a low-nitrogen firtilzer later in the season but it really didn't make much of a difference. So far I have had most luck with different organic fertilizers.
bitooli
13 years ago
I have over 200 roses, and so feeding them can get a bit expensive. Especially because I have over 50 palm trees to feed as well...

Any opinions on what the most cost effective solution for roses would be ?

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