Anyone who's used Al's 5-1-1 or any of the other bark-heavy container mixes knows just how excellent pine bark fines are as both a container substrate and soil amendment. One of my garden beds is situated at the foot of a steep bank that I've been trying to stabilize for a number of years using annual additions of pine bark mulch. Every winter, a good deal of the mulch is blown and deposited in the garden - probably a good 1" of finely textured mulch each year. That bed is consistently my best performer - and, when I pull a soil sample for testing - it is as close to ideally balanced as any of my beds. Having said this, I wouldn't anticipate hardwood chips to perform nearly as well. As kimmr pointed out, there's no "secret" to the system. It's simply consistent addition of copious amount of organic matter. I would add two that, since the wood chips (and I'm assuming a preponderance of conifer wood chips in Gautschi's situation) are very slow to decompose, they provide a better source of OM than some other options. Also, I would guess that the lignins and other chemical components of conifer bark would result in a high level of pure humus once it's fully decomposed.

Could be a fungus like Vladimir said, could also be an insect egg or just dirt on a bit of fluff. However, I'm more concerned with how dusty the leaves are. I may just be dust or it could be the beginnings of a spider mite infestation. It's a good idea to wash off the leaves from time to time, like maybe every 4-6 weeks. Take them outside and hose them off, or if that's not possible, put them in the shower and shower them off with cool water. Then let them drain well and put them back where they were. It helps prevent spider mites as they're attracted to dusty plants. And your plants love the rinsing off!

Got curious about compost tea. This is the second time I checked. Early this summer time I spent 1 hour researching but was disappointed. Here's one link from United Kingdom on compost tea (unbiased, NOT sponsored by compost-tea industry): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/11121288/Compost-tea-does-it-really-work.html " What did they find? In a glasshouse study on lavender and choisya, none of the compost teas had any effect on growth or on susceptibility to botrytis (grey mould) or spider mites. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were taller, sometimes they were shorter, sometimes there was no difference. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were of higher quality, but often they weren’t, and treated choisya plants at one nursery were significantly worse. In short, the effects of compost teas were “extremely inconsistent”. Other links from U.S.A: http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/compost-tea-does-it-work/ From University of New Hampshire: https://extension.unh.edu/articles/Does-compost-tea-really-work From University of Vermont: http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html Excerpt from above link: " It’s not clear whether it’s necessary to aerate during compost tea production. Aeration can speed up the production time, but it may also add to equipment cost and complexity. There are claims that aeration helps kill off the organisms that can cause illness. Very few studies have compared aerated and non-aerated compost teas. Some recent research. A 2-year study by the Rodale Institute and Pennsylvania State University evaluated the use of aerated compost tea for disease suppression and crop stimulation in grapes, potatoes, and pumpkins. During year one, approximately 50% suppression of powdery mildew was observed in the compost tea treated grape plots. A slight reduction of gray mold, along with an INCREASE in the level of downy mildew, was observed in the compost tea treated plot during the first year at one of the vineyards. Compost tea failed to suppress powdery mildew on Howden pumpkins in year one, but reduced the number and size of pathogen colonies in year two. Compost tea did not reduce severity of late blight on Superior potatoes when disease was present in year two. " http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html *** From Straw: FOR ROSES, just spraying with alkaline tap water alone is enough to suppress mildew, as testified by Roseseek (Kim Rupert) in CA and rosarian Dave Boyd in HMF. For mildew, just plain tap-water spray (alkaline pH over 8) is enough to contain mildew, as rosarian Dave Boyd in a dry climate (only 13" of moisture per year) testified in HMF: http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=3.4748

totoro, I was told by someone who worked at the nursery to wait until next spring to repot and size-up. Think I should try repotting now while I have time this season before going crazy and applying this and that! Mad Gal, Today I picked up yellowing leaves fallen from my Jude the Obscure, which at the moment has basically none of those dark marks on its leaves. It is happening to 2 out of 3 roses while my other JtO is absolutely fine with no leaves yellowing or any black marks. Maybe because that one is a smaller plant it is not having issues with air circulation compared to others. I'll monitor the plants regarding the soil acidifier. Diane, Thank you for your recommendations! There are brand new leaves both on Olivia and Jude that are yellowing and falling off. Even some canes (both older and new) are yellowing. Tomorrow I will be home during the day and will take some pictures and upload them here. Patty, No worries! You are totally fine I did not take any of your words as unkind. In fact, I appreciate everyone's kindness to take their time to recommend any advice! I've listened to your advice today and cut off a lot of the bad leaves from Olivia Rose Austin. There were also so so so many spider mites making her leaves/canes their home... yikes. Good riddance! Cecily, We are located in basically the same area! Thank you for your advice. Perhaps I should start looking into Kordes roses. Barbara, I am planning on keeping them in pots. Wow, I cannot agree with you more. In the beginning the bare root roses were doing great, but then they started slowing down. I always notice that there are dead tips that dried out on my roses. It was happening since I first got them. It is taking them such a long time to send out new canes and leaves because they keep just dying. Do you think this has something to do with them being in pots? I'll definitely check everything you mentioned out. Thank you so much for mentioning this fact, I would have just begun to pull my hair out from frustration!