If you look at a fertilizer like Miracid, it contains chelated iron. There are claims that it helps reduce yellowing caused by leaf chlorosis. It is recommended for plants which prefer acid soil like azaleas, holly, etc.

Therefore, I conclude that acid loving plants are better able to use the nutrients available when chelated iron is added.

Since we have already established that some roses, like Dr. Huey, are more suited for alkaline soil than other root stocks, it follows that some roses need more iron (or acid or something) than others.

Disclaimer: It has been years since I've read a Miracid container and this is just a theory to inspire conversation. Although there is a small chance this is correct, I wouldn't bet my garden on it until one of the Mike's chimes in.

Roses vary in their ability to obtain iron from the soil and it is necessary for synthesis of chlorophyl. Rugosas, in particular, are very sensitive to alkaline soils and are prone to chlorosis in such conditions.
Madame Hardy is one damask that seems to benefit from chelated iron.
It isn't enough to say that roses (all roses) prefer a Ph of 6.5 or whatever. Since wild roses grow in a wide variety of soils, it's reasonable that they should vary in their acidity preferences. And it's because iron becomes less available to plants as the soil becomes more alkaline, that adding chelated iron in such circumstances is necessary.

What is the best way to add chelated iron? Do you use it when preparing the planting hole, or after the fact? Can you use it on roses that are already planted, and if so, how do you apply it without disturbing roots?

Also, do you use it on HTs, OGRs and the like?

redsox, unless you have had a soil test indicating low iron or suspect chlorosis (yellowing or pale leaves where they should not be), you don't need to apply additional iron. Depending on the fertilizer that you use, it might already contain enough micronutrients, including iron, for your garden. in 15 years, I think I may have applied iron once, around a plant that was getting too much water from a downspout. And if you must, it is applied on top of the soil, not in the hole. Just keep it simple, you don't have to try everything all at once, you'll go nuts and your plants won't need it.

My jude the obscure, which has done great all year, has completely stopped putting out new growth and the entire plant seems to be fading just a little to a slight yellowish green color. Could this be an indicator that the bush needs iron?

This is definitely where growing conditions dictate whether something is needed or not. Chelated iron is applied on a regular basis here, both container and ground plantings, usually 2-3 times a year.

aggierose, lighter green foliage and failure to thrive could just as easily be symptoms of lack of sufficient nitrogen or even water-logging from inadequate drainage. I have plenty of roses with yellowing foliage, and it has nothing at all to do with lack of iron.

I was a guesser for years. I am no longer a believer in throwing fertilizers at my roses without a general understanding of the local soils. Once you have an idea of the general soils type, then you can go several years with a fertilizer plan that makes sense for your soils and climate.

A soils type will have its needs - - whatever they are, they will be fairly consistent. After several years, another test will determine how the garden soil has matured. A mature garden soil may need shockingly little in the way of fertilizer if you keep it mulched and composted.

Save up the $15 here and $20 there you would spend on various fertilizer concoctions and buy yourself a soils education with a soils test.

imho a fast growing rose needs more iron than a small well established rose. if you get a lot of rain sometimes temporarily upsets nutrient balances and notice chlorosis. if you put one of those metal landscape pins in ground near roots will also help supply iron as pin rusts. sort of a slow release iron source.my understanding is that iron not only acts as a catalyst in certain enzymatic reactions but provides rigidity and structure to canes.

Sorry but adding a piece of iron to the soil isn't going to work. Chelated iron is specially treated so that it can be taken up by plant roots and not turned into an inactive form immediately as happens with rust.
Chelated iron can be applied as a powder around the bush, mixed with water and poured around the rose or even sprayed on as a foliar feed.
But it is for a specific problem - chlorosis caused by iron deficiency. And that generally doesn't happen on acid soils.
Not too uncommon in potted plants where there is a restricted root run and limited access to soil elements. I've got an extremely chlorotic polyantha in a pot but will repot with fresh potting mix to solve the problem.

Berndoodle is right on. And by the way thanks for tipping me on the fact that my soil was low in iron. He's right in saying that soil chemistry is critical, all that advice about adding organics or pouring fertilzer on is, well a waste of money if you don't have the right chemistry in the first place.

In my case there was no indication of chlorosis just the fact that some roses where not growing then did after iron was added. I need to try it on some other roses that don't for example repeat when they are supposed to. No doubt their general health will also improve.

I thought for a while that a powder form of iron would be easier to apply rather than a chelate. After doing a little research it seems that something like ferrous sulfate might lead to other complications. Soil chemistry is not a simple thing!

oldroser, have you ever tried the landscape pin? try it with your chlorotic polyantha. the closer to the plant the better.

Yellow foliage can be a sign of various problems, as berndoodle nicely describes. OTOH I have two shrub roses/ rugosas which are yellowing rapidly all over the plant-- need iron? Noooo, that's just what many rugosas do in the fall. I have a new plant of Basye's Purple and think it has the genes to change color-- I'm watching it to see what happens! I'm retesting my soil in the spring, knowing all the amendments I added in making the beds will likely change my results. So far I've never experienced chlorosis in roses when growing on an acid soil (east of Mississippi River) but those 4 years in Texas with alkaline soil AND alkaline water, another story!

Iron assists the plants in nutrient uptake. Some plants are more sensitive to less than optimal soil pH than are others. Iron will help those that are more sensitive; ie, those that struggle in suboptimal soil.

I include chelated iron in my fung. and/or bug spray once or twice per year.

I was checking Google for info on iron especially where to get ferrous sulfate. Not much luck on that one (the FeSO4). But I found an old GW thread on iron in soil. And an informative response by username on that subject. That post described in brief the complexities of iron and its' interaction with other elements such as phosphorous. An excess of P prevents the assimilation of iron and zinc. It warns against regular addition of traditional fertilizers that always have P in them.

I searched GW for that thread and didn't find it. I couldn't even find this thread! So much for the search function.

My only book on soil that has any depth of coverage, Secrets of Great Soil published by Storey has a brief chapter on iron. It recommends checking the pH first and correcting that. Then if that isn't enough adding ferrous sulfate. Side bars also mention seawood and chelates and rock dusts.

My soil is a little low in pH, 6.2 so I'll try some lime. Iron is 7#/acre. A previous soil test found 19#/acre. Phosphorous and Potassium are both high. Nitrogen is also given in #'s of NO3-N per acre (133). I don't know how to interpret that whether it is high or low.

Jim, you need to get together with Cornell extension to understand that NO3-N figure.

I found one conversion formula to ppm, but I have absolutely no idea if that is anywhere close to the correct. Around here, we do test for both ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, maybe because we have much lower annual rainfalls and the tests can be more meaningful and results more predictive.

You don't need to be adding nitrogen now, in any event. That's springtime work. You have plenty the time to sort out what that nitrogen figure means and what kind of nitrogen to add in the spring.

Iron deficiency symptoms: yellowing BETWEEN GREEN VEINS on NEW GROWTH.

Most soils contain large amounts of iron, but it is mostly insoluble and unavailable to plants. Adding metal doesn't help because rust is insoluble. Iron deficiency can be promoted by
a) neutral/alkaline soil reducing availability
b) excess phosphate, common in rose gardens owing to overapplying
c) cool, very wet soils (not sure how this works but it does, every spring).

Chelates are molecules engineered to keep the iron in soluble form. However, the linked article says that the cheaper and commonly available chelates don't work for long even at moderate pH. They would work for foliar appication, but I've found that full-strength appication (according to my label) can burn rose foliage.

A pretty good solution is iron sulfate (ferrous sulfate, copperas) mixed with wet compost and applied under the mulch. This material is cheap and widely available at garden centers. As Harry said, Miracid contains a good dose of chelated iron.

Here is a link that might be useful: chelates & phosphate

Michael

Odd I don't have chlorosis but adding chelated iron seemed to help a couple of newly planted roses that weren't growing. Berndoodle originally mentioned that she thought my iron level was too low.

I've been looking for ferrous sulfate but not available here even from a source of fertilizers for local farmers. And only small amounts on line for like chem labs. Will keep looking.

Berndoodle

Will check out from Cornell that number for nitrogen. Also what they think of the iron result and where I can get FeSo4.

Agway carries ferrous sulphate. They are much better than they used to be, but still put away a lot of the gardening stuff after Thanksgiving. Except for potting soil, it's wise to stock up on anything you think you'll want during the winter by October.

It is very hard to debug exactly why a certain plant suddenly decides to grow. This is why you get all of the magic mouse milk recommendations. Given a lack of symptoms from a problem that usually shows quite noticable symptoms, it does seem a bit unlikely that the real, original problem was a lack of iron. Probably the biggest factor I've seen with modern roses in this climate is an unwillingness to grow due to a lack of heat. This may or may not be related to the breakdown of nitrogen in the soil. It may simply be the nature of the modern rose.

As mentioned more than once here, I have trouble growing many modern roses. Austins a total failure. HT's same. One reason I grow more Kordes is I've had more success with them. And lately I've tried some Tantau's. They so far also seem better.

The rose in question that immediately reponded to iron chelate is Bernstein Rose, a deep yellow small floribunda. Very bushy. Newly planted and growing nicely when it suddenly stopped growing. Reversed that soon after the Bonide. I also put it on another rose that has been malingering for years, Orange Triumph. And a couple of others.

My iron level is 7#'s per acre. Down from an earlier level of 19. Could it be that many of my roses start out well use the available iron then begin a slow decline? Anyway it's worth a try with ferrous sulfate. Thanks for the tip on Agway! Will also do more mulching with compost of which I have bed after bed back in the woods.

Even with Kordes I have several supposedly great that malinger or even from the start refuse to grow. Sparrieshoop and Lichtkonigin Lucia for example. Sympathie has had only one bloom after a couple of years. Old roses seem much better. Enfant de France planted this spring is a real winner. We'll see how it does next year. Baltimore Belle around since 1843 is a also great even though only a once bloomer. Some old Gallicas same. And of course Rugosas.

I use blood meal as part of my fertilizing attempts. There is iron available in the blood meal. The iron is good for more than just chlorosis problems. It helps with the flower colors also, particularly anything with anthocyanin reds as pigments. The colors are much more intense. It is like a light bulb getting turned on. Just watch the effect on a Chicago Peace or Chrysler Imperial as only two examples. All the colors just brighten up.

MG

Agway indeed has a product with iron in it. At first I asked for ferrous sulfate but got blank stares. Then upon checking the manager came up with a bag labeled Garden Iron. I bought it and am looking at the label now. It contains 55% sulfur and 22% iron made from elemental sulfur and iron oxide. Apparently both become soluble in soil. It is made by Espoma.

I'll check their site to see what if anything they have to say about it.

My soil analysis doesn't even test for sulfur?

Well, Jim, sulfur is one thing I'd never test my soil for since my water has sulfur in it - to the point where it isn't drinkable. I filter it for home use and the plants really love it - no mildew at all but doesn't seem to help blackspot. Too bad! The water also has iron in it but that doesn't seem to prevent chlorosis in some roses. Probably in a form not available to plants.

An after thought about the idea of an iron nail or whatever helping is maybe not so stupid if this Espomas product uses iron oxide as a source of iron. Rusted iron!

Still wondering why they combine iron oxide with elemental sulfur? Possibly the two work better together?