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Even if the owners are not very concerned about decorating their garden plot and use every piece of land to grow useful crops, there will still be a place for a rose on it. Of course, an edible honeysuckle bush or serviceberry it looks beautiful, and well-groomed actinidia and table grapes decorate any gazebo no worse than clematis. But it’s impossible to do without flowers completely. And the landscape designer will definitely give the rose a place of honor, and will organically fit it into any of the many existing styles.
But the flower will show itself in all its splendor only with strict adherence to the rules of care, one of which is feeding. If in the spring or summer we usually give the rose all the necessary fertilizers, then in the fall for some reason we often completely ignore them or apply them incorrectly. And then we are surprised that the bush overwintered poorly and blooms weakly. Today we will consider a very important stage of care - feeding roses in the fall.
Why feed roses
Fertilizers contain food for plants and enhance the extraction of nutrients contained in the soil by their roots. They regulate growth processes and development of rose bushes, increase their resistance to pests, diseases, and negative environmental influences.Some nutrients enter the soil from the atmosphere with precipitation and through the action of microorganisms, but this is not enough. Roses are very demanding when it comes to fertilizing. Flowering, especially repeated flowering, leads to a large consumption of nutrients that need to be replenished.
Spring fertilizing, containing a lot of nitrogen, helps the bush quickly grow green mass and stimulate the formation of buds. In summer and autumn, the need for nutrients changes, first they promote the development of shoots and support flowering, and then they help the wood to ripen and successfully overwinter. But that is not all.
The lack of one or another nutritional element immediately affects the appearance and health of the rose. The bush begins to hurt, which leads to its weakening and sometimes death.
Autumn feeding of roses
Before feeding roses in the fall, let's take a brief look at what chemical elements fertilizers are made of and learn the principle of their action.
Types of Nutrients
The substances that bushes need for successful development and flowering are divided into basic, additional and microelements. All of them are vital for the plant.
Roses need essential nutrients in large quantities. They are called macronutrients:
- Nitrogen is a building material for all parts of the plant. Promotes the growth of green mass - leaves and shoots.
- Phosphorus is needed for the normal development of rose bushes and root growth. It accelerates the ripening of shoots.
- Potassium is involved in the formation of buds, increases the resistance of roses to diseases and adverse external influences.
Additional items are required in limited quantities. This:
- Magnesium is a very important element in the life of roses. If there is a shortage of it between the veins, reddish necrotic spots form on the leaves, while an excess will lead to poor absorption of potassium fertilizers.
- Calcium is needed for the development of both above-ground and underground parts of the rose bush. If there is a lack of it, the development of roots stops, the buds fall off, and the tops of young shoots dry out.
- Sulfur is involved in redox processes and promotes the mobilization of nutrients from the soil.
Microelements must be present in rose fertilizers as traces (vanishingly small doses). These are iron, boron, manganese, sulfur, copper, zinc, molybdenum. Despite the tiny amount of microelements, roses are vital; in their absence, the bushes lose their decorative properties, get sick, and sometimes may die.
Organic fertilizers
Fans of organic farming can completely abandon mineral fertilizers by using organic matter - ash, bird droppings, manure or green fertilizers.
- Ash contains a lot of potassium and calcium, little phosphorus, but there is practically no nitrogen in it. Burnt plant residues serve as an invaluable source of microelements and protect rose bushes from many diseases.
- Manure is an excellent supplier of nitrogen; it also contains other essential nutrients and trace elements, but in much smaller quantities. It is strictly prohibited to use pig waste to fertilize rose bushes - it clogs the soil and can destroy any plant.
- Bird droppings contains much more nitrogen than manure, and less other nutrients.
- Green manure prepared by fermenting plant residues.Depending on the source material, it contains different amounts of nutrients, but there is always a lot of nitrogen. It is rarely used as a fertilizer for roses in its pure form. Usually ash or minerals are added to the solution.
What fertilizing do roses need in the fall?
The main purpose of autumn feeding of roses is to prepare for winter. We need the bush to get stronger and the maximum number of shoots to ripen. If nitrogen fertilizers that stimulate growth processes are used before the onset of the dormant period, the result will be the opposite. The green mass will receive an impetus for further development, instead of devoting all efforts to the ripening of existing shoots.
It follows from this that autumn feeding of roses should consist of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. At this stage, these two elements are vital for the bushes. Potassium will help roses survive the cold better and strengthen the immune system, and phosphorus will allow the wood to ripen and strengthen the shoots.
Starting from the end of July for the northern regions and the beginning of August in the south, no nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied to roses. At the end of summer, some gardeners feed the bushes using manure. This cannot be done, since with rain or during irrigation the nitrogen contained in them passes into the soil, and from there it is delivered to the roots.
Rules for applying autumn fertilizing
Most experienced gardeners fertilize roses twice in the fall. The first time - at the end of August - beginning of September, the second - either during Indian summer or just before frost. If you don't have the time or financial means, be sure to apply fertilizer at least once.
The first autumn feeding can be given either in liquid form or in granules. Nowadays, special nitrogen-free autumn fertilizers for all types of plants have appeared in retail chains.True, they cost much more than universal ones. If finances allow, you can simply buy a finishing fertilizer for roses, use it according to the instructions and calm down - the manufacturer himself has made sure that our favorite flower receives all the necessary substances.
How to fertilize roses in the fall if for one reason or another you cannot or do not want to buy special fertilizer? There is a lifesaver called potassium monophosphate. This supplement is suitable for autumn care for all the plants. The drug dissolves well in water; over large areas it can be used by scattering it on damp soil before rain or watering.
Granular fall fertilizer usually does not dissolve well in water. It needs to be embedded in moist soil under the bush. The fertilized area should cover a circle with a radius of about 25 cm, centered at the base of the rose.
The second autumn feeding, if carried out in warm weather, can also consist of any phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, liquid or granular. It is delivered to the roots with watering or by embedding in the ground.
If you want to feed the rose immediately before sheltering and the onset of frost, you can do one of the following:
- Embed poorly soluble phosphate fertilizer granules into the soil and scatter a glass of ash around the bush.
- Mulch the ground around the rose with well-rotted manure. Place a glass of wood ash and 1-2 spoons under the bush double superphosphate.
Residents of the southern regions, where winter shelter for roses consists of building a high earthen mound, do not have to worry too much about what fertilizer to choose for the second autumn feeding.The bushes can be sprinkled not with fertile soil, but with mature compost.
Watch a video on the use of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers:
Conclusion
Don't forget to feed your rose bushes in the fall. Not only their health, but also the quality of flowering in the next season depends on this.
