Funny thing, Va Joh. I have many roses and have never seen iron deficiency before. I bought a potted Earth Angel at Home Depot about a month ago. I've been slow, so it has remained in its pot. Two weeks ago I noticed what looked like iron deficiency. I sprinkled a bit of Ironite in and some earthworm castings, and bam! Instant new growth and buds. I just went to look and found a few old leaves showing the deficiency. I plucked them off and here they are on my leg:)

I hope I diagnosed it correctly. The new growth looks like this.

Lisa

How much epson salt have you given it?

I haven't given it recently for two weeks but at the time it was 1 tbs per gallon of water.

Hey Lisa I do believe it could be that as well. It looks exactly the same. Thanks for the help!

I would also suggest that you stop applying products or salts to the rose for a while, and see how it does. Kordes roses are supposed to be bred for healthy foliage and disease resistance, so you shouldn't have to treat it with chemicals to keep it healthy. If the potting soil is good quality, then it should be happy for quite a while in its new half-barrel.

Yes KS I agree, it's been a month since I've done the bayer disease control, as it was treated once at the beginning of the season, and the Epsom salts haven't been given for two weeks. The 1 tbsp per gallon wasn't given to just the EA plant; the gallon was spread between 8 potted roses as a foliar feed. Is that too high for a foliar spray anyway? Should one only use a teaspoon for a foliar spray? Just curious if that may have been too high a formula for a foliar spray?

I haven't done much to my Heirloom roses since their instructions say to let it be. I was certainly suspecting the rain, or wondering if it actually needed something since it's pretty much been left alone besides the epsom salt. I will say we had 90 degree weather in May which is unusual and then went to cool 60's and constant rain. Very irregular weather. Thanks for your help as I agree with letting it be for now. The yellow leaves are spreading throughout the bush today and hopefully when it stops raining it will get better. I think I may block the rain from the bush in an effort to ease its maladies sooner.

I do have two EA's potted up and they have both been treated the same way. The other one does not have any issues though even with the rain, so it's definitely a mystery to me.

This might sound like a silly question, but did you drill holes in the bottom of the barrel? Maybe the barrel isn't draining well? If a hole in the bottom isn't enough, you could drill a few additional holes around the bottom of the barrel on the sides, to help it drain.

You know it came with one giant hole in the bottom but now that you mention it my other Earth Angel is in a terra cotta pot and that's the only difference between the two. I'm thinking you are right it needs better drainage. Or I may just transplant it into a terra cotta instead, as I have a spare in the back yard. Thank you!

Va Joh

I hope I can say this in a way that makes sense. Your rose while not a band size is a young gallon plant. It is apparently struggling with issues most likely caused by too much water. It is a little plant in a huge container that received way too much water. It does not mean that your rose will die but it is best not to attempt soil fixes. The plant is struggling because the roots are not able too feed it right now. Sometimes if not able to dry it up a bit. You may want to place it in a smaller container until it is healthy and growing well. I am assuming that there are many holes in that half barrel so that the rose does not drowned.

I agree with you Patty, it's too much water and it's drowning in the half barrel. I'm going to do just that, transplant it into a terra cotta which is smaller than the half barrel. Thank you for helping me, I appreciate it immensely!

I'm sorry I repeated the same thing that K S said she/he posted while I was typing.

No problem!

Too much water (waterlogged soil) can make it appear it has a nutrient deficiency....

This kind of has me second guessing myself. I know without a doubt that excess rain/water is not an issue with my Earth Angel. Do those leaves (shown in the earlier picture on my thigh), look like iron deficiency? The new growth still looks a little pale to me. Lisa

Lisa, I had several new EA do that last fall. They were planted in a long line and only the EA's did that after watering, which wasn't excessive. There were a couple other posters that commented on the same thing.

I didn't notice them doing it this year so I thought that perhaps they were extra sensitive to too much water when they are new.