Although roses have always been the most romantic flower in history and we’ve come to love to grow them in our garden, the unfortunate fact is that there is always that ever present threat of rose bush diseases that will attack them. The inability of the owner to combat and prevent these diseases leads to an unsuccessful hobby of maintaining roses in the garden. Hence, there is an actual and practical need to recognize these rose bush diseases so as to be able to apply early treatment procedure, which of course is intended towards controlling the risks involved.
But being able to control and fight diseases means being able to know them first and foremost. Thus, here’s a list of some of the most common villains that threaten your rose plant’s life:
Black Spot Fungus – this notorious rose bush disease can also be called as leaf spot, star sooty mold, or leaf blotch. You can validate its existence as soon as you see some canes rapidly building up with small black spots on the upper leaf surfaces and foliage. These black spots actually group and gather strength. And when this happens, they start to form yellow margins around bigger black spots. And when it does, the leaf will be consumed and turns yellowish and eventually die out.
Powdery Mildew – Infamously called as PM, it’s one of those rose bush diseases that are very prevalent and serious when it comes to threatening the entire existence of your roses in the garden. It’s practically a fungal disease that produces white powder. The same powder feeds on the top and bottom portions of the leaves and can even reach down to the stem area. If the same is ignored and untreated, there is really a great likelihood that the rose will get wrinkled appearance, die, and then fall off in the process. You can determine the early signs when very tiny raised blister looking sections of the leaf emerge.
Downy Mildew – The third kind of rose diseases on the list is called a downy mildew. What it does this time is provide a very fast fatal blow to the rose through a destructive fungal disease. It feeds on the leaves, blooms, stems, and virtually every part of the plant. It appears as a dark purples or a purple reddish blotch. When the disease effectively gains control over the entire plant, yellow areas and dead tissue spots begin to appear.
Rose Canker – This next type of rose bush disease can spread to healthy canes in a matter of days. It appears as a brown, gray, or black spot on the cane or stem of the bush. It can start from any small damage from the winter cold or cuts.
How to Prevent These Rose Bush Diseases
While home remedies are a good alternative if you want to keep it simple, natural, and safe, still the best means of preventing rose bush diseases is to utilize a preventive fungicide spraying program. In doing so, you’re not actually saving the rose plant that has already been infected. Instead to kill the disease so as not to let it spread to the others.
Nicole Taylor’s passion on rose gardening has led her to do research about roses and the right way to care for them. Now, she’s sharing her tips and secrets about dealing with rose bush diseases so you know the safe and effective way to eliminate them.
