Is this the Yates Spray you're using? http://www.yates.com.au/products/disease-control/concentrates/yates-rose-shield-insect-disease-spray/ If so, it says the fungicide is systemic, meaning it absorbs into the plant and incorporates into the sap to provide the protection for two weeks. Spraying more frequently than that can damage foliage and over expose you, your pets (if any) and anyone else coming in contact with the chemicals. If your roses continue mildewing after the systemics have reached their "sap levels", you have other issues at work. Water stressed plants can also experience diseases because of the stress. You can force them to mildew even when the conditions aren't proper for the disease by keeping them too dry. Not necessarily that you aren't watering enough, but the reflected, radiated heat from surrounding surfaces "cook" the water out of the plants. Perhaps the pots are over heating from the air temperature, direct sun shining on them or the radiated/reflected heat from walls or the patio floor? Growing other plants in the pots with them also increase the competition for water in those soil balls. The traditional conditions favoring mildew are cool and damp. If your roses are mildewing when it's either hot and humid or hot and dry (and nights aren't cool and damp), that sounds like water stress induced mildew to me. Are the roses mildewing worst closest to either direct sun exposure on their pots, or closest to the hottest walls where the sun shines most directly, for the longest period of the day? If they are, that also helps point the finger toward water stress induced mildew. Might these also have the ground cover growing vigorously in their pots? That ground cover is using water the rose seems to need to help prevent the mildew. Yes, some roses are much more susceptible to mildew than others. Your local rose garden center/nursery should be able to point you toward those varieties. You can also find out that kind of information about many roses on Help Me Find-Roses. You can make a list of what's available locally, then check Help Me Find to see if there are statements about their disease resistance on the site. But if you've used your systemic spray properly for several weeks or longer and these are still mildewing, the other possibilities I've offered could easily account for why the problem isn't clearing up. You may want to take a look at their placement on the balcony to see if by moving them around, you might alleviate some of the greater heat these might be experiencing. You may also want to consider removing the ground cover and any other companion plants from the pots of the roses which continue mildewing. You might also need to increase the size of the pots they grow in. If they're too small, the plant will consume all the water they can hold, or it might cook out too quickly, leaving the plant "thirsty", inducing it to mildew. Once thing is certain, I would not suggest using the Yates more frequently than the label instructs. You should have enough of it in the plant sap after several applications and a few weeks for it to begin working. It won't remove the mildew on older foliage which already show symptoms, but it should prevent the new foliage from mildewing as long as it is used properly. I hope it helps. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Help Me Find - Roses

Thank you Ladywingr! I agree....If you noticed my earlier posting I started my first veggie garden in May in 2000. It was pretty bad and put me off gardening for awhile.

I think you can send/take a soil sample to Cornell to get testing done. They can probably test for lead if that seems likely to be a problem as well as pH, major nutrients, and organic matter. You can do some basic tests as outlined here: http://organicgardening.about.com/od/soil/a/easysoiltests.htm http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/hows-your-soil-texture.aspx?id=81680 Adding organic matter to the soil is always good, particularly if it is clay (yours sounds like it has quite a bit of clay) or sand. Some options to get additional compost might include: Can you borrow a truck? Could you hire a landscaper to deliver city compost for a cost that seems reasonable? Can you rent a truck (I think some of the big box stores rent trucks by the day/hour)? Is there a soil/mulch/compost supplier that can deliver a quantity from their bulk stocks for a price that seems reasonable to you? In future years, you may be able to pick up other folks leaves curbside to create more of your own compost. How worried you should be about contaminents may depend on where you are planting. For instance I live on an old farm, so in general I don't worry, but I don't plant anything edible near the house or where other old buildings stood since lead was used in house paint for many years, so I just assume that the soil near the house has a relatively high lead content. Likewise, I wouldn't plant next to a busy road since lead was a gas additive, but if your land has no history of industry, I wouldn't worry beyond that. Covering the grass is a great start since it will add organic matter as well. If you used enough layers of newspaper and it has been on long enough, most of the grass will have been killed. Grass will grow sideways into the garden under the stone border, so I would add a V shaped trench a few inches deep that gets refreshed a couple times over the course of the growing season to help keep the grass from growing into the veggie bed. Keeping mulch on the surface will help prevent weed seeds from sprouting and keep moisture levels more even. There is a vegetable gardening forum and a soil forum and also I think a composting forum here on GW where you can also ask questions.

Welcome to gardening world! First thing - your list is far too much for a small 4x4' bed so plan to cut back substantially on your list or make another bed. Maybe 1 small tomato plant, 1 eggplant, and 1 pepper plant max and even that may end up over-crowded. Also come to understand the different water needs of your plants. Tomatoes require consistent soil moisture. Cukes require it even more to prevent bitterness. But peppers and eggplants prefer to dry out between watering. How much and how often will all depend on the soil mix you filled the bed with, the weather, and how you apply the water. Some soils will drain quickly, other hold water for days. So your fingers, stuck deep into the soil by the plant become your guide to when to water each plant and you learn to read the plant signs - it will tell you when it needs water. There is no such thing as specific formula on time and amounts. So what did you use to fill the bed? Fertilizer and compost are two very different things. Most all gardens will need fertilizer of some kind for the plants to do well. They require nutrients to grow and the grower must supply them. Compost is a soil amendment, not a fertilizer, and is used to improve soil texture and drainage. It provides little to no nutrients until the bed is several years old and full of active soil bacteria. You are right that what you need is Vegetable Gardening 101 and that isn't possible to provide on a forum without days and days and pages of typing. Even those who have gardened for years are still learning. So it requires a lot of reading and research on your part and you'll find many "newbie" discussions here to read through. But a good basic book for the library can be your best friend too. Good luck in doing all your homework and with your new garden. Dave