You can put it down now. As the soil starts to warm up, the organics will start to break down.

Just so I'll know for future reference, it would be too early to use a non organic fertilizer like Osmocote, correct? At least on the bare roots? How long after I plant them can I spray and use synthetic fertizers?

On newly planted bareroots? I wait until they have fully leafed out before doing any spraying or applying any fertilizers. Some people don't do any fertilizing the first year.

I don't use Osmocote, so I'll let someone else answer. I know that some members use it when they plant bareroots, I don't.

With respect to established roses, some people fertilize immediately after spring pruning, some wait until the plant has started active growth. For newly planted bareroots, some wait until the plant has put out 2 inches of new growth, some wait until the first bloom cycle has completed and some don't fertilize at all in the first year. My experience, in a much colder zone, has been that it doesn't really matter, so long as you follow the directions on the fertilizer package and don't mix in a second or even a third fertilizer.

In any case, the concern would always be over how much plant-available NPK is actually in the soil at any given time. I would rate the common fertilizers with respect to this in the following order:

1)lowest percentage of NPK available on application: alfalfa and cottonseed meal, compost, aged manures and many other organic fertilizers

2) Osmocote and other time-release fertilizers

3) Rose Tone. This is actually a mix of fast-release synthetics and slow-release organics.

4)Highest percentage NPK available on application: fresh steer or horse manure (high percentage of the nitrogen is available) and most water-soluble synthetic rose fertilizers.

Another point to consider is that water-soluble fertilizers contain their nitrogen either as urea or as nitrate, and nitrate is less likely to burn tender new roots. Miracle Gro should be the fertilizer most likely to damage tender plants and yet I've never seen any sign of burn or wilting when I apply it according to the instructions. One more point: I never mix nitrogen-containing fertilizers into the planting hole, I always apply them on the surface and then mix them into the top inch or so of soil.

Mike & Diane - I am going to be planting a mix of bareroots and bands this spring and use Rose Tone and am in Zone 5. Will it be ok to apply Rose Tone immediately after planting?
Will applying the alfalfa tea at the two-gallon rate also be overkill also with the new roses or should I hold back the tea?
-t

I wouldn't add both Rose Tone and alfalfa tea at the same time to newly-planted roses. I also wouldn't add more than 1 gallon of alfalfa tea to the bareroots or more than 1/2 gallon to the bands. Beyond that, it would just depend on my mood on the particular day. I guess at the moment, I would be inclined to go with the alfalfa tea immediately after planting, and then after the first bloom cycle, feed both Rose Tone and alfalfa tea to the bareroots and on that same day give a second feeding of just the tea to the bands. I'm talking about plain alfalfa tea, unfortified with anything else. If Diane has a different suggestion, go with hers, she knows more about roses.

I had a high mortality rate when I used Rosetone on bare roots that had just been planted. I mixed it in the soil that I used to fill the planting hole with and they DIED very quickly

Might be a good idea to hold off fertilizing until I see leafing out then. Thanks, Susan.
-t

Wow, Mike! ;-)

Other than the initial handful of triple supre phosphate in the planting hole, I don't do any additional fertilizing of new bareroots until they have over 1" of new growth as Mike noted, and then with a dilute solution of a water soluble fertilizer. They MIGHT get something like Rose-tone or Mills Magic Mix after the first bloom. Nothing on own roots until after they bloom. I don't use alfalfa tea (I tried it once, no more benefit than applying dry meal, so not worth the trouble for me) so I can't help there.