Feeding Roses

Feeding your roses is a relatively simple task, once you sort through all of the advice and make some decisions on what feed you will use. You must feed your roses. They need it just as they need water. To fail to do so will result in poor growth, poor bloom quality, and poor overall health and appearance.

If your roses are in the right soil condition, it becomes much easier to feed them. You may simply buy some readily available products for roses, such as Miracle-Gro for Roses or Ortho RosePride Total Flower and Rose Care. Both of these products will meet the plants general requirements and remove any guesswork. Miracle-Gro is a water soluble feed that can be mixed with water in a watering can or in a specially designed hose head that distributes the feed as the water passes through. RosePride is applied as granules spread around the base of the plant and then mixed into the top inch or two of the soil. You then water thoroughly. This flower feed is absorbed by your plant roots and it moves systemically to branches and leaves providing six weeks of food that will not wash off when it rains or when you water your roses. Deciding which to use is a matter of personal preference since they both have terrific results. RosePride feeds your flowers for six weeks so that it needs to be applied less often than Miracle-Gro, although each application of RosePride is a more time consuming if you have a large amount of roses.

Feeding your roses can become more complicated if you are not dealing with the best soil conditions to begin with. If you're not sure, a soil test can help you determine the balance of the three major nutrients for your roses; nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Make sure your soil is not lacking these important nutrients. Stated simply, nitrogen promotes green leafy growth, phosphorus increases flowering and root growth, and potassium promotes the general vigor of the plant. Also, check the pH of your soil to make sure that it is not excessively acidic or alkaline. Roses grow best at a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. If the pH falls much below 6.0, vital nutrients get bound up in the soil and it becomes harder to yank that iron ion away from that clay particle it has grown attached to and the roses begin to show various mineral deficiencies.

Soil testing kits can be purchased locally or through many online companies. They are relatively simple and have clear directions that you must follow to get an accurate reading. Then take your results to a local nursery and speak with a knowledgeable staff member who knows your local soil. Typically, you can apply organic composts like cow manure to correct nutritional deficiencies without worry of burning the roots. Aluminum sulfate or ammonium sulfate will lower a high pH level and lime will increase and stabilize it. However, do not make these applications without testing first and follow the directions carefully. Overdoing it in either direction can cause an extreme swing that can be dangerous for your roses.

How often you should feed your roses depends on what type of rose you have. Modern roses need regular feedings so they can grow and bloom. Apply feed early in the spring just as new foliage begins to appear. Then, feed again when the first flower opens. If you live in a hot area and your roses take a break in July and August, stop feeding them. You may be doing more harm than good. You can start again when the roses start blooming at the end of August or in September. Stop by October to give them a chance to get go dormant for the winter. Old-fashioned roses only need one application of feed in early spring. They actually can go years without being fed, so there is no reason to overdo it.