Spraying Your Roses

1. Prune roses first (see pruning).
2. Spray 1 application of Lime Sulphur a fews days after pruning the roses.
3. Two weeks later spray 1 application of Kiwicare Organic Super spraying oil.
4. At first sign of new spring growth spray one application of copper oxychloride or copper kocide.

Notes

• Lime Sulphur and oil must never be mixed or spayed together.
• Oil and Copper Oxychloride can be mixed together and is often done as the oil helps the copper to stick to the roses.
• Never mix Liquid Copper and Oil together.
• Copper washes off easily and may need to be reapplied after rain.
• Copper helps protect new growth from frosts that occur in late spring.
• Liquid Copper adheres to leaves better than powdered Copper & won’t shrink away from the leaf edge as it dries, thereby ensuring better protection.
• When there is considerable new spring growth, stop oil and copper and start summer sprays as oil and copper together may burn the new foliage.

There are two basic methods of spraying roses throughout the growing season.

1. Preventative Spraying – Spray regularly (every two weeks or so) to prevent disease from taking hold.This is highly effective resulting in very clean, glossy, healthy looking roses. Use a combination fungicide / pesticide to control a wide range of diseases and pests. It is advisable to alternate 2 or 3 different types of spray to prevent a build up of resistance to the one spray. This method is the most effective way to keep roses looking good all season long. Although it is more time consuming and costly, most keen gardeners prefer this method over the second.
2. Targeted Spraying – Spray your roses when they are attacked by a particular pest or disease. This way you can spray the most effective spray for the disease your rose has. When your roses are clean, don’t spray at all. You may be surprised by how long your roses go without showing up any disease or pests (or not). The old adage, prevention is better than cure applies here though, so be prepared to spray 2 or 3 times to eradicate stubborn diseases. This method is more for the casual gardener who doesn’t mind the odd bug on their plants. You also run the risk of disease taking hold. This means the disease is stronger than the spray you are putting on it, resulting in sick looking roses, even dead roses.