Hi msgirl: Chrysler Imperial is a great bloomer at the ALKALINE rose park nearby. Scent is blah even in hot weather. The bloom is blah compared to other reds like Firefighter, Veteran Honor, or Lasting Love. I don't think that's Chrysler Imperial, since it's MUCH DARKER leaves at the rose park.

Seaweed in southern CA with alkaline clay: Lasting Love is her favorite. I notice that Lasting Love has darker green leaves, which means it's safe to apply lime. I applied lime last year to roses WITH DARK GREEN leaves like Bolero, Crown Princess Magareta, and Gruss an Teplitz (parent of Dr. Huey) ... and it was a big success, with Bolero became vigorous & broke out in blooms. I would apply small amount of lime to Lasting Love.

This past rainy weeks ... I was tempted to give Golden Celebration some lime, but I notice its leaves are LIGHT GREEN like your "Chrysler Imperial", so I gave it gypsum instead. After lots of rain, Golden Celebration became DARK GREEN, and that's what I want. Zero black spots either. I would apply small amount of gypsum to your "Chrysler Imperial". A little bit of calcium can really help roses to bloom. Most fertilizer, unless it's for tomato, don't have calcium.

Lasting Love -PH was at 6.5 already, so making it more alkaline would be ok? It's interesting that the new growth for it looks very similar to the Roundup damage of last month. I don't think it got more damaged from last time and every other rose plant has recovered since then.

Maybe fake "Chrysler Imperial - PH at 6.2

So you would give them another chance then? I'm thinking of repotting in slightly smaller pots (depending on what the roots look like) -- maybe they have too much room and giving them another pot environment with the new and improved potting mixture will help me want to keep them instead of giving up.

I really have no opinion that could help you out with your rose bush msdorkgirl because I'm a person who dislikes fussing to much over sickly plants...

But here are pics of Chrysler Imperial on helpmefind.com...

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.1175&tab=36

I don't give up until it's completely black (bareroot from March that's completely brown with white pith is still in it's pot). Majority of the roses I have are pink, so was trying to diversify ... adding Lasting Love and Chrysler Imperial would have fulfilled the "red" section, but alas, I have failed.

No need to feel like you failed... Lots more options out there for ya...

Maybe Straw can help you get your present roses back in shape...

But that pot size looks ok for that size of rose....(See what Straw thinks)... I have only grew like two roses in pots before... Me I just stuck the heirloom baby bands in giant pots right from the start and both did good... Maybe I just got lucky?

I wonder if trimming the roots would help???

Hi Jim & Msgirl: I see younger leaves of Lasting Love being pale, typical iron-deficiency symptom .. and the shoots do bunch up (zinc & calcium deficiency can do that). I really think the soil beneath is more acidic than 6.5. Sometimes SURFACE pH does not reflect deeper root-level. I would still raise the pH with lime. I bought Pink-Peace (grafted on Dr. Huey) recently, and the shoots are elongated, plus it gave 3 blooms & 3 buds ... no problems at pH 7.7.

When there isn't enough calcium, the shoots can't extend in length ... it takes calcium to make solid stems. No nitrogen deficiency in Lasting Love, since the oldest leaves are dark-green.

Your "Chrysler Imperial" is very pale, leaves & shoots are bunch up, rather than extended out. There isn't enough calcium to elongate the stem. When the pH is too low, calcium, iron and potassium won't be available. When I planted bands from Burlington which were entombed in pine-bark (pH 4), the leaves came out were pale, almost yellow. When I dislodged those acidic pine-bark, then planted in normal potting soil (neutral pH), the leaves became dark-green immediately.

pH of 6.2 for "Chrysler Imperial" is too low. I would raise the pH with lime. Gypsum works to green-up plants in ALKALINE SOIL ... won't help in such acidic soil. Below is Pink Peace (grafted on Dr. Huey), planted in my pH 7.7 clay. Picture is taken looking down, but if I had taken the picture side-way, the shoot are elongated, good distance between leaves, rather than all bunched up.

I re-post the info. which I posted on July 22, 2014 on nutritional deficiencies in plants:

Here's an excellent link on nutritional deficiencies in tomato plants, which lists boron deficiency as "Small leaves; heart rot (corkiness); multiple buds." Other sites described boron deficiency as leaves curling upward.

Iron deficiency as "Yellow leaves; veins remain green." This occurs in young new leaves, versus nitrogen deficiency: yellowing older leaves.

Manganese deficiency as "Leaves mottled with yellow and white; growth stunted." I have plenty of manganese deficiency in my pH 7.7 clay. Other site described purplish spots, which I see in my rhododendrons.

Zinc deficiency as "Small, thin, and yellow leaves, low yield."

Other sites described Copper deficiency as soft, and weak branches. Zinc, copper, and calcium are the 3 antifungal trio which help to make leaves thick & strong.

Magnesium deficiency as "Yield down; old leaves white or yellow." Magnesium deficiency is rare, only in sandy soil. My heavy clay is tested exceedingly high in magnesium.

Calcium deficiency as "Growing points of plants damaged". Haifa site listed calcium deficiency as wilting of leaves' tip: "Plants under chronic calcium deficiency have a much greater tendency to wilt than non-stressed plants.

Sulfur deficiency as "Light green to yellow leaves; growth stunted." Haifa site stated "The veins and petioles exhibit a very distinct reddish color." Correction with rain water or gypsum.

Potassium deficiency is described by Haifa as "marginal chlorosis, progressing into a dry leathery tan scorch on recently matured leaves. ... increasing interveinal scorching progressing from the leaf edge to the midrib as the stress increases ... most of the interveinal area becomes necrotic, the veins remain green and the leaves tend to curl and crinkle."

Here is a link that might be useful: Vegatable garden & nutrients deficiencies

Hi green thumbs ... I am black thumb :)

But seriously, usual advice is to move band roses incrementally to bigger pots otherwise they will tend to drown when being watered - that's what I've been told. So it's probably because plants like you and you were lucky that moving them to big pots didn't hamper their growth, Jim.

Lasting Love and Chrysler Imperial are in 15 and 10 gallons now and they're smaller than the roses in my current 3gal pots so I plan on switching them out soon (Secret and Nicole Carole Miller deserve a bigger home). Until I do move them tho, I'll give them some Supersweet (pelletized lime derived from limestone I think) in hopes they'll do something different.

In my next garden buying spree: alfalfa meal, gypsum, either azomite or sea something, maybe brewers yeast ?

Experimenting is fun and I will do most of the experiments on the cheapo minis I keep buying.

You seen my Mister Lincoln in a pot... I placed it in that big pot as a baby band and it took off like gangbusters... That is a 4ft fence in the background...

First pic I just found was taken the day Mister Lincoln arrived here from Heirloom Roses... See how small it was...lol

Going through my old pics I realized I grew 3 roses in pots total... All were Heirloom baby bands placed in giant pots as soon as they arrived and each one did fine here...

Mr Lincoln, Loves Magic, mini rose

But your right potting up seems to be what most people do...lol

LOVES MAGIC 3.5 months after planting as a baby band into large pot..

I'll show you what happened to my El Catala if I can find the pics ... had for four months and it did nothing, stayed exact same size ... gave to a friend and he gets it to be bigger with blooms.

Yeah I have the black thumb.

The proper way to do it is to keep potting them up... But I just never found the need to do it...

My notes are showing I used MG potting soil in all 3 pots and 1 month after planting baby band roses in large pots I started feeding them Fish and Kelp liquid fertilizer one time per week...

I wonder if heat stress in your climate holds them back?

I have lost the battle with Lasting Love --- haven't done anything special to it versus the other plants, all leaves/stems have given up. Suspect issue with roots, possibly root death. Will check when I get home, but sometimes it just wasn't meant to be. Sigh. I'll clean out the pot, bleach it, rinse it, and then use sterile mix for the next plant that I put in it, probably Pink Peace since if that pot is cursed, I would be ok with losing that plant.

May of became rootbound?... Sorry to hear that msdorkgirl....

Msgirl: I got worse plants than your Lasting Love. My Mirandy came as 4 inch tall, with 2 yellow leaves. I did everything to force it to grow: alfalfa meal, high nitrogen SOLUBLE chemical ... I was about to give up, then I gave it blood meal (has iron). Then it took off, healthy & tall & bloomed well. Your Lasting Love shows clear sign of IRON DEFICIENCIY, with upper & youngest leaves pale. A little bit of iron can really help a sick rose. Dave & Deb in zone 4 grew hybrid-teas grafted on Dr. Huey, and they documented such and such need a high dose of iron like Oklahoma.

When I had Pink Peace as own-root, the color was subdued pinkish lavender. Now I have Pink Peace as grafted on Dr. Huey, and I HATE THE COLOR. I cut a few for the vase, and it HURTS MY EYES just to look at Pink Peace. The bloom is big, but fewer petals than when it was own-root. What happens is Dr. Huey secrets acid, so that release trace elements in my soil toward the gaudy-range. Someone else complained that Neptune as own-root is pale pink in their alkaline soil, rather than vivid-blue like grafted. So for gaudy colors, I need to get own-root to tone-down the hues, and for faded colors (light blue, pale pink) I need to get grafted on Dr. Huey to make it deeper.

Jim, don't think it is root bound, but I'll confirm that this afternoon. It was never healthy to begin with (thank goodness I didn't actually buy it). Rescue plants are my weakness.

I'll take a pic of the most recent damage and post when I get home ... I have some a teaspoon or so of Iron Sulfate that spilled in my little bin that I could use, or I have some of that Magnum Rose Food .11% chelated iron (label) ... or Marine Cuisine 1.0% with .87% as soluble (label).

At this point, I think I'll go ahead and just repot it with nutritious soil and whichever things are recommended for me to apply. I'll give it a month, then cut my losses.

Interesting about the color situations ... I'll try and compare the propagated versus the original plants that were on Dr. Huey and see how different they are. My Coretta Scott King propagated looks pretty similar (although 1/3 the size) of the original plant.

Sounds like a good plan to me msdorkgirl.....

Wonder if you still need to add the iron if you going to repot rose into more nutritious soil though?

Patio Plus is what I have ... it does have lots of stuff but none of it with iron.

Aged recycled forest products, aged rice hulls, composted poultry manure, perlite, peat moss, hydrolyzed feather meal, dehydrated poultry manure, dolomite & oyster shell limes (as pH adjusters), bat guano, kelp meal, worm castings)

Maybe Straw is more familiar with Patio Plus...

My favorite granular fertilizers for pots are Dr Earth All Purpose (Life) and Dr Earth Alfalfa Meal

Liquid organic favorite for pots is Drammactic K Fish and Kelp

But there is lots of cheaper organic stuff that probably works great also...

I've had success with Algoflash Rose and All Purpose in pots also but that's probably considered a chemical fertilizer...

What kind is your favorite msdorkgirl?

Since my soil is very alkaline at pH 7.7, and tap water over 8.6 ... grafted-on-Dr.Huey helps to produce more acid to release trace elements to deepen bloom color. I killed Heirloom rose (grafted on Dr. Huey) since I could not stand its gaudy purple color. Then I bought Heirloom as own-root, and the color was much better ... I can handle faded purple, but not gaudy purple. Below is Pink Peace (grafted on Dr. Huey) and Stephen Big Purple. The color is more subdued since I soaked them 24 hours in my alkaline tap (pH 8.6).

Patio plus is outdoor potting mix.

Hi Msgirl: The ratio of lime & dolomitic & gypsum used in potting soil need to be measured, too much of calcium can induce iron-deficiency (pale youngest leaves). Here's the ratios to be used, taken from Roses Unlimited guidelines for 18 inch wide by 18 deep hole:

1 cup of superphosphate (already tested it, it was useless for my alkaline clay)

1 cup of dolomitic lime (has magnesium & calcium Espoma Garden Lime, high pH over 10)

2 cups of alfalfa meal or pellets (or 1 cup of Rose-Tone, or Mill's magic rose mix)

1 cup of gypsum (calcium sulfate, neutral pH)

1/4 part compost

1/4 part peat moss (acidic pH at 4)

1/4 part soil

1/4 part red clay (use red-lava rock, at pH 8.2)

Patio Plus Potting Mix andMG Nature's Care Potting Mix plus some lava rock and some soil conditioner with lava rock kernels mixed in and on top ... we'll see what it will do with that as well as 1/4 strength of the Magnum Rose Food every other day. Since the potting mix has a bunch of nutrients I don't want to purchase things I don't have already ... the garden receipts for these past two months have eaten up their portion of the budget. Cross your fingers for me... but at the same time, if I lose it I will be ok.

Hi Msgirl: Forget to ask you, what's that wilted-rose in the pot (your previous pic.). Is that Lasting Love? Agree that Roses Unlimited's recipe is costly with too many ingredients. After a few failed experiments (either too much gypsum, or too much dolomitic lime, or too much alfalfa meal) ... I conclude that it's easier to use BALANCED nutrients, such as Red-lava-rocks (at pH 8.2, with all nutrients, including iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium). In over a year of using red-lava-rocks, either in planting hole, or as mulch, I haven't messed up .. so it's safe.

I also like cocoa mulch, since it's a BALANCED nutrients, which includes everything: magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen & also at pH 5.6 similar to rain water. One bag of cocoa mulch is enough to mulch 30 plants (very thick topping). For thin topping, a 2 cubic feet bag of cocoa mulch is enough to mulch 40 plants ... it's less messy than alfalfa hay. Also cocoa mulch and red-lava rock are very low salt, compared to chemical-fertilizer.

I used to have petunias in pots, and I used high-phosphorus MiracleGro SOLUBLE fertilizer every other day. Tons of blooms, but the salt accumulated, and the plant's leaves became brown early fall. When I dumped out the plant, the roots were VERY SOLID and stringy ... so the fertilizer helped. The next year, I didn't use any SOLUBLE fertilizer, just MG-potting soil (has slow-released granules). That had less flowering, plus the roots were wimpy when I trashed it in the compost before the winter hit. Only advantage of no-soluble-fertilizer: the petunia leaves were healthy & green until frost hit.

AS soon as I seen 1 cup of superphosphate I was turned off by RU's recipe:

Superphosphate should only be added if a soil test says your native soil is real low in that nutrient in my opinion...Roses actually do not need as much phosphate as they do Nitrogen and Potassium...

From my own experiences though our roses in pots did well using a Fish & Kelp fertilizer 2-5-1 (hybrid Tea Roses Mister Lincoln and Loves Magic...)

Pots are fair game for experimenting for me...lol

Happy to report that the other ugly/pretty, fake Chrysler Imperial, has darker leaves than it had. I put mulch on him and will see what the 8-10-8 soluble fertilizer can do for it.

Lasting Love, alas, has not been as rewarding.

The way it was (2/21/15)

6/18/15

repotted in smaller pot

Glad to hear other ugly/pretty, fake Chrysler Imperial is doing a bit better! Now if the other rose would just get on the ball!

I think it's too late for it Jim, but thanks. Going to orchid farm on other side of the island now to buy some for my mom ... I still prefer roses. :)

We went to an orchid show years ago in a shopping mall. They were so perfect, stiff-petals, like plastic ... alas, no scent !!! If only orchids have fragrance like roses. Today I sniffed Radio Times (an Austin rose), and it was the highlight of my day ... Sweet lovely Damask scent which no perfume can match.

Fake Chrysler imperial

It looks really good, leaves are darker !! I like the orchid-bark chips on top. I once read a book on container roses (with recipes for potting mix) by Field Roebuck, Texan rosarian. He also recommended: The herb rue is an insect repellent, and is especially effective against Japanese Beetles. His book stated that Geraniums also have the same quality.

For pots, Mr. Roebuck recommended fast-draining materials, since pot is a confined space, and the volume and force of water is magnified by that closed space. The advantage of putting orchid-bark on top is when the rain hits, it slows down the influx of water, giving time for roots to cope. It would take longer for a hose to drip through that top layer, but acidic bark layer will neutralize the alkalinity of tap water.

Al Tapla in container forum argued for years on coarse, composted pine-bark as better potting material than small-particle peat moss. He's right, the MiracleGro ORGANIC potting mix, composed of coarse chunks of bark-chips, has been tested as best-growth for peppers against other peat-moss based potting mix. More rain to come today, extreme humidity here. I inspected my roses this morning, June 24. I'm annoyed to see 2 leaves of black spots on Carding Mill. That's the most expensive hole in my entire garden !! Since it's next to a tree, I put lots of $$$ alfalfa pellets in the hole for moisture-retention. That's great for hot & dry days, but lousy for month-long rain. Two leaves of black spots is minor, I can take that, see pic. below of Carding Mill:

I've never seen orchid-bark chips around here...

Your FCI rose bush is looking good msdorkgirl(11)!

It has rained for the last 4-5 nights now and sprinkling during the day off and on ... every morning and when I get home I check the roses to see if there's blackspot, so far, so good.

It's not a deluge of rain really though, more like sprinklings and maybe two minutes or so of heavy before it peters out. I assume that we are not getting a full 7 hours of rain continuously, but maybe, it's when I am sleeping. I'm anxious about the Austins who are getting sun finally ... we'll see what happens 4-6 weeks from now, hope I have happy photos to post!

Hope I can get a bloom from fake Chrysler to confirm that it indeed is yet another pink rose in my garden ... should I thin out the greenery maybe?

I tried using the alfalfa hay in my pots, but there's not enough activity for it to breakdown quickly. I probably need to cut the alfalfa strands to smaller pieces. When I repotted dead Lasting Love this past weekend, the orchid bark I put in the bottom of the hole didn't look at all less than what it was before.

Potted plants probably won't breakdown organic matter at a normal rate so adding "soil building" compost every year is needed. One of these days I'll do a soil analysis for my Summer Love rose to see what it's composition looks like, it would be a good baseline measurement for the other 20+ pots I have. I know the roses do enjoy the granular stuff (i.e. Marine Cuisine, Rosetone, Bayer granules) and I have noticed an improvement when I put stuff in, so I will continue to do the foliar/soil drench of soluble goodies as well as a sprinkling of ground amendment goodies.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement! :)

Yes I hope you have great photos to post soon msdorkgirl(11)! What do you mean by "thin out the greenery"???

I was thinking of taking out some of the branches so that there's a little more circulation inside ... here it is today:

See small little bud and the leaves are much bigger on top than on bottom, I appreciate that, but ...

Leaf curl --- thrips? argh. I have regular flower thrips AND chili thrips now, I'll see how much of it I can tolerate.

Hi Msgirl: In my 1st year of growing roses in pots, I used SOLUBLE MG-fertilizer twice a week, and it was a thrip-fest. So the 2nd year I had alfalfa for nitrogen, only SOLUBLE sulfate of potash & calcium to make plants' tissue firm and tough ... no thrips. The 3rd year of NO soluble, no thrips.

I didn't have thrips either the 3 years that I mulched with horse manure (has nematodes to control thrips). There are many studies that link the use of chemical nitrogen to more insects. Chemicals promote fast, but soft growth, which make it easier to insects to munch on. My tomatoes are really short, 1/4 the height of my neighbor's .. but no worms. The two years that I used chemical fertilizer I had the worse big-fat-green-worms. Other info.

Silver-reflective mulch might help " silver reflective mulch has been documented to reduce species of thrips on tomatoes, pepper, gladiolus, and others. " http://mysare.sare.org/MySare/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=ONE06-062&y=2006&t=1

"Blue sticky traps have been proven effective to detect thrips in greenhouse crops, hung so that the top of the trap lies in a zone of 2 feet (61 cm) above the plants, with the bottom within an inch (25 mm) of the highest leaves. Shiny aluminum foil used as mulch around the base of plants disorients the egg-laying of thrips while any type of mulch that prevents weed growth does double duty in suppressing thrip pupae from soil.

http://pestcontrol.about.com/od/controllinggardenpests/p/ThripsProfile.htm

Right now the damage is quite minimal but noticeable, I'll see how bad it gets before doing anything different right now, but interesting about the foil.

I'll take a closer look later today at fake Chrysler to see if I can get rid of some non producing stems ... hopefully that will encourage it to grow more.

Straw, so you wouldn't use fish fertilizer stuff? I have a kelp derived one that's soluble (maxicorp) and then the 5-1-1 growers secret that I was going to give all roses, even the bare roots at half strength as their water feeding later this afternoon. Was too lazy this morning to do anything but enjoy them and take pictures. :) Now it's full beaming down sun so am choosing to go shopping instead.

Msgirl: I'm too cheap to use fish emulsion for in-ground roses. Also my nose is too sensitive to fishy stuff. I believe in Kelp since it's known to give people more energy & helps with hypothyroid in women. Kelp has so many good trace-elements. I checked on Maxicorp, NPK 1-0-4 ... it's very hard to find potassium that high, so it's good stuff. One time I googling rose gardens across the world, and the best one I saw was in Japan. So many blooms it was unreal. Japanese use kelp and fish together for their roses. NPK of fish emulsion is 5-2-2, and NPK of fish meal is 10-6-2, according to http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/234.html

The above are low in potassium, so using Maxicrop at NPK 1-0-4, would really UP the potassium, plus the trace elements for deep color. THANK YOU, Msgirl, for introducing me to Maxicrop. I tested kelp before on my tomato plant ... it went from yellowish to deep green within a week. I posted before and after picture, using Pennington Alaska fish pellets, NPK 4-6-6, made of alfalfa, fish meal, blood meal, feather meal, kelp, and sulfate of potash (potassium sulfate). Also has 7% calcium. I put those pellets on Bolero, and it went from boring white to pinkish-white. I also put those pellets on Mary Magdalene, and it went from blah beige to peachy-pink-pretty.

Oh the Alaska pellets sounds great.

I bought my maxicorp in powder form and only use a pinch in my gallon sprayer.

Thank you for the info .. glad to know that only a small dose is needed. In my 4 years of growing Austin roses, the hardest part is to keep them small. Some of Austin roses are huge, even as own-root, if chemical-fertilizer is used. My Scepter'd Isle was near 5 foot tall with NPK 10-5-4 granules. Evelyn threw 4 feet tall octopus cane, then I learned my lesson and used horse manure of chicken manure with nitrogen less than 5. Radio Times also threw 4 feet tall canes as own-root, same with Crown Princess Magareta, despite my zone 5a winter-kill to one foot. I was dumb to use chicken manure NPK 5-3-2 for 3 times on Queen of Sweden, and it was over 6 foot tall. Now I learn my lesson to use chicken manure only once for Austin roses in spring time.

With grafted-Austin on Dr. Huey, it's worse. Dr. Huey is a climber, and gets up to 10 feet tall. Grafted Evelyn is known to reach over 7 foot in warm climate. The grafted Austin roses are huge at the Cantigny rose park nearby, Jude the Obscure was 7 foot tall in late fall, same with Abraham Darby. Chicago Botanical uses soluble-fertilizer, so their Austin roses are smaller & more compact. The problem with solid-fertilizer in pots ... solid nitrogen lingers, and doesn't get leached out like soluble.

Oh, and that Lasting Love? Didn't make it.

What is wrong with this plant > This is Sterling Silver, own root from Heirloom Roses

And this one > Home Depot Rescue mini, the only two plants of the 4 that were in the small plant

And Ballerina - has only bloomed once when I initially bought it in August, I let it grow long arms all the way through March, then cut it to be bushy in April or May (others who have the same plant and bought it at same time have had at least two flushes)

I think I'll try the Magnum Rose Food that I have on the first two plants (it has all the elements) with a pinch of the Maxicorp seaweed fertilizer and do that at 1/4 strength, and then for Ballerina I'll use just the lava rock and rainwater combination. Thanks again Straw, I'll have follow up pictures each week to see what happens.

Hi msgirl: When you mention a pinch of Maxicorp, you mean Kelp-soluble-powder like the below??? that I want to buy ... has 119 positive reviews on Amazon for Maxicorp kelp powder:

http://www.amazon.com/Maxicrop-1025-Soluble-Powder-10-7-Ounce/dp/B00AU8LJ2K/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1435975193&sr=1-1&keywords=kelp+powder

I will be growing "Rose of Hope" ( Kordes) next year in a large container... Its going straight into the large container from the get go...lol

MG potting mix, well balanced liquid fertilizer applied once per week...

https://www.chambleeroses.com/order/Kordes%AE/Rose-of-Hope%C3%82%C2%AE-%28KORamflusa%29-PP-%2324%2C406/514

Straw, yes that is what I bought. Good so far but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Marine Cuisine is the cause of the large green leaves I currently have on my roses.

Jim, you really are avoiding scent aren't you? up :p Very pretty colors on that Hope rose.

WHICH LIQUID FERT Are you going with?

Baked in the sun today, pretended to know how to hit a tennis ball and then laughed through throwing footballs short distances. My Touch OF Class has a lot of new growth which made them very susceptible to wilt from uber hot sun. I moved my two struggling plants, own root Sterling Silver and pink mini HD rose to a place with less exposure to sun.

MsGirl: Marine Cuisine with NPK 10-7-7 has both organic materials and chemical nitrogen. Here's the ingredients: " Cottonseed meal, blood meal, earthworm castings, fish meal, shrimp meal, crab meal, bat guano, seabird guano kelp meal, urea, ammonium sulphate, calcium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, Treble phosphate, potassium sulphate, potassium chloride, ferrous sulphate, iron sucrate, manganese sucrate."

The ammonium (chemical nitrogen) in Marine Cuisine is what makes more leaves than flowers. Quick chemical nitrogen isn't best as solids, since that burns in hot weather. SOLUBLE chemical nitrogen doesn't hurt much in hot weather, if one use 1/2 teas. per gallon, that gets flush out with water (nitrogen mobility is a 10). But chemical nitrogen in GRANULAR, solid-form really burns in hot weather. Chemical nitrogen plus slow-released organics is a bad-combo, I burnt plenty of roses with NPK 10-5-4 (has chemical nitrogen plus chicken manure).

Kelp is much higher in salt in spirulina, that's why when I read the negative reviews for Maxicorp Kelp powder (soluble), one person gave it thumb-down, citing that he/she got better result with spirulina. I tried spirulina before in protein-shake: very low-salt, and gave me energy. My neighbor lost A LOT of weight with that protein-shake. Spirulina is better for plants, since it's higher in iron & more nutrients, plus MUCH LOWER IN SALT than kelp.

An excerpt from below link: "Spirulina avoids the sodium problems of algae that grow in the sea, yielding only 0.2 mg of sodium per tablet. All Natural Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica is a pure natural super greenfood, containing protein, betacarotene, and essential vitamins & minerals. Spirulina has 2300% more iron than spinach, 3900% more beta carotene than carrots, 300% more calcium than whole milk, and 375% more protein than tofu. "

http://www.amazon.com/Nutrex-Hawaiian-Spirulina-Pacifica-16-Ounce/dp/B0039ITKR4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

Some people are allergic to spirulina and develop a rash. I didn't have any problems with that. Amazon reviews stated that Spirulina powder is nasty in taste, so it would be great for plants.

http://www.naturalways.com/spirulina-analysis.htm

Below is a comparison of spirulina and kelp, I would pay the extra money for LESS SALT, esp. for pots, which accumulates salt in a confined region.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/kelp-vs-spirulina-7607.html

Kelp and spirulina each provide small, supplemental amounts of essential minerals. Two tablespoons of kelp contain 0.28 milligrams of iron, 12 milligrams of magnesium, 4 milligrams of phosphorus and 9 milligrams of potassium. Spirulina is richer in these minerals, with 2 milligrams of iron -- as well as 14 milligrams of magnesium, 8 milligrams of phosphorus and 95 milligrams of potassium.

B Vitamins

Spirulina also provides more vitamins than kelp. A serving of spirulina is a rich source of B vitamins, providing more than one-fifth of your daily requirement of riboflavin, plus 15 percent of the thiamin and 6 percent of the niacin you need each day. "

Minerals: We get 21% DV of copper, 7% manganese, 11% iron from every serving of spirulina. Spirulina has a photosynthesis conversion rate of 8-10%, which is much higher than land plants like soybeans. Apart from this, spirulina also has high concentrations of Vitamin B12, chelated minerals, natural plant rhamnose sugars, enzymes and trace elements.

Read more: http://www.thesuperfoods.net/kelp/kelp-vs-spirulina-which-is-better#ixzz3evrt2Cjl

There's the Spiru-tein powder to make shakes ... used to taste really good with soy-protein powder, now they change the formula to pea-powder, and it's nasty in taste. That gave me lots of energy when I was younger .. like going for 1-mile walk daily. My hayfever wasn't that bad back then, so the research that showed spirulina helping with hayfever makes sense.

Below link shows the difference between spirulina and chlorella (another algae with antioxidants:

http://www.detoxyourworld.com/The-Difference-Between-Chlorella-and-Spirulina

I just randomly picked "Rose of Hope" not knowing if it was scented or not... Actually I chose that rose last year to grow this year but changed my mind...

I buy real large plastic containers at our Dollar Store for $10... I drill large holes in the bottom of the containers for great drainage....(I have to be careful though cause sometimes they crack...)

Every so often I water the heck out of the containers to hopefully wash some of the salts out so excellent drainage is a must....

I have not really decided on what fertilizer/s yet? But I'll let you know when I do...

I tried spirulina once and it was good only because someone else made it for me.... When I brought it home it was not a good time.

If you do the sprrulina I'd be interested in the results. My 10.7 oz maxi or will probably last me a year or two though ...

We don't have a dollar store here. The nearest equivalent went bankrupt.