Fertilizing

18 years ago

I am curious about the requirements for fertilizing bourbons, hybrid perpetuals and tea roses, especially when they are still relatively young. My garden of old roses is only about a year old, and the plants are still small because I started them from bands. I'm excited and yet worried that a few of them, such as Madame Ernest Calvat, Comtesse Cecile de Chabrillant, Robert Duncan, and Victor Verdier are putting out flower buds while still being small in stature. I will pinch those off, reluctantly.

Anyway, the books that I've consulted say that bourbons and hybrid perpetuals are greedy. What does this mean actually? What is the frequency of fertilizing during the growing season? What about for teas? Instead of more frequent fertilizing, do you actually increase the amount of fertilizer for these roses? I tried well-composted chicken manure on the plants; however, some of them didn't like it and the small branches turned black and started dying. I was quite horrified. Maybe I should have waited until they were older before applying the manure.

Thanks for your help.

Jeff

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Comments (4)

jerijen
18 years ago
Jeff, in my experience, it means that they need a feeding regime the equal of that used for a Hybrid Tea Rose.
That said, if yours are still young, I would not push them too hard.
They need to "grow up" a bit before you push them hard.

Of course, here at the coast, HPs and Bourbons as a group are poor performers. :-(

Jeri
carla17
18 years ago
Jeff, another person who has Comtesse Cecile de Chabrillant. Mine has buds so if you want to see it, check back or e-mail me. I feed mine mostly the same but I do not feed the young/small ones the same as big bushes. Several people give foliar feeding with Neptune's Harvest. Fish, seaweed.
Looks like you're going to have some beautiful blooms.

Carla
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cziga
18 years ago
I was actually wondering much the same thing. My plants are also fairly young and I was unsure how to fertilize and what to use. I've heard alot about alfalfa - is that a fertilizer that I should be applying around now? Is that enough or should I use something else in addition? Is manure a good idea?
jeff_zephyr
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the replies. Carla, I really would be interested in seeing pictures of your CÃ©cile de Chabrillant.

Cziga, like you, I am also uncertain about how to fertilize the smaller plants, especially the ones started from bands. I am happy to note that the eight plants of Bourbons that I have in the ground are doing great. This is not the same with the fifteen or so HP's that I have.

I feed them the same thing: Doctor Earth, chicken manure, and some Epsom salt. Unfortunately a few of the HP's did not like this treatment, and promptly died (i.e. SachsengrÃ¼ss, Mlle. Marie Dauvesse, Caecilie Scharsach). So, this made me wonder if there is a difference in fertilizing Bourbons and HP's, despite both being labeled as "greedy." I looked and looked online, but I cannot find any article on how to fertilize these roses.

I fertilize once in the spring and fall; I do not fertilize in the summer because of the summer heat and mistakes in the past when I burnt my HT's. Like Jeri advised, maybe I'm trying to push my OGR's too hard while they are still young.

BTW, is there any benefit in using Epsom salt on own-root roses? I use it on all of my HT's, which are grafted.

Thanks.

Jeff