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I find spraying my least favorite thing to do with roses. When summer heats up Powdery Mildew is not a problem so I don't have to spray for that. When it comes to Blackspot in summer it's not the day time highs you need to look at, but the night time lows. It can get awful dewy over night if the temperatures fall enough. For me if nighttime temps are around 80 or upwards I skip spraying in the summer heat and drought (with one eye on the weather forecast). However one year we had a surprise thunderstorm and the BS hit with a vengence making some of my non BS resistant roses look like I was a rank amateur. That taught me a valuable lesson. Get rid of varieties that need to be sprayed religiously. I don't want to go to the church of "must always spray".

Jeri, I heard Dr. Stephen George speak 2 or 3 years ago. I was part of a small group here in Tulsa, and he was asking about disease resistance in our gardens. His objective at that time was to create an Earthkind list throughout the country. He was looking for roses that may do well everywhere, and also various lists for various parts of the country. However, as part of a University, I think his funds may have been limited, and he may not have traveled as far as he originally intended. He spent a day with us, and I think he was traveling through different areas looking for earth kind answers. Unfortunately, until the earth kind philosophy allows us to water and fertilize, I don't think it will get too far. I know that my friends were annoyed with me, but I could not get past not watering in this part of the country. Even if Texas is hotter and dryer, in Tulsa, if you do not water, nobody will want to look at your roses, and they will be sickly. Once you can water, damage will have been done, and the rose will only thrive a fraction of what it could if it were watered. Also, I don't know about failure to fertilize. I don't see how nutrients will go into the ground after a couple of years if you do not put them there. After awhile all food will have gone through, and without adding soil, I think you will end up with sterile soil (meaning it has not food to nourish the roots.) People who live in other parts of the country are likely to have periodic rains and not have this issue. Sammy

Some vital points made about how location can affect the need to spray fungicides. As can weather and it is our weather that led me to spraying this year. While we normally suffer from high temps and high humidity both, it is normally dry (as in minimal rainfall) and chronic diseases like septoria and early blight are normally found at tolerable levels here. But the past 2 years,and this one so far, have been markedly different here with almost constant daily rain - enough to rapidly bring the lakes up to maximum flood pool - and little sun. Plus it has been inordinately cool. Those conditions are ripe for the common diseases. So I am electing to spray this year - not out of any fear of late blight, but just in the hopes of controlling the fungal and bacterial diseases to a degree. You see it doesn't have to be and either/or issue - spray or don't spray. Just as many of us here are compromise organic gardeners, many more than get credit for it since we aren't organic purists, one can compromise on this issue too. If you feel that fungicides are dangerous, even the organic-approved ones, then you can always consider applying them only early in the season when the weather is its most risky and before fruit has set. Or only apply it during a period of severe weather change, or only after signs of disease to control if not prevent. There is gray, not just black and white on any issue. So, Big Daddy, after reading your message I would feel horrible spraying anything on my tomatoes. Joy I'm sorry you feel that way - "horrible" - since it reflects on those of us who choose to use fungicides. It is your choice of course. But I am curious as to how you can come to that conclusion about fungicides yet justify to yourself the use of Sevin in your garden? I am always amazed at the number of gardeners who accept highly toxic chemicals to kill bugs, any bugs, yet find disease controls unacceptable. Is it just because we find bugs ugly? Or because they are alive? Makes little sense to me since diseases pose a much greater threat to the garden than do the bugs. And it is especially difficult to understand when the disease controls, in general, are rated as much less toxic than the pest controls. But to each his own. ;) Dave