Honestly, you are better off with just the disease spray with no insecticide and no fertilizer and use the rose tone for fertilizer. That way you don't have to worry about earthworms or your dog being exposed (of course keep your dog inside when you spray). I used to use the drench,and while it did an ok job, I still had to spray to prevent black spot and I have found that organic fertilizers (like rose tone) are better for the soil and therefore better for the roses.

Aphids are a pain, but simply squirting them with a hose or shaking the stems or wiping them off with your fingers is probably just as effective as insecticide and then you don't have to worry about it. Also, you don't kill any good bugs (yes, there are plenty of those!) Not a lecture, just my personal experience.

Since you applied the drench and the soil is dry, I'd just water a bit around each rose in a circle. That will keep most of the Bayer around the root ball of the roses.

I agree with what Buford wrote. Really, now that you've applied the Bayer All-In-One soil drench product, I think the best you can do is water as usual and assume your plants will have sufficient fertilizer, fungicide and insecticide for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, if you aren't satisfied with the results, trash the All-In-One.

Thanks for the advice. Black spot was such a big problem for the last two years as well as rose slugs in one bed that I thought I'd try this. I hate poisons, but sometimes you need them, even animals and plants have developed their own poisons to protect themselves.

I'm hoping to minimize killing beneficial insects by limiting the poison to only the ones who actually eat the leaves. I hate spraying because you never know who you are going to hit. I truly like insects and don't want to harm any...I don't even really want to kill the harmful ones because they are just trying to make a living.

The roses in the bed beside my house seem to be getting a real pounding from pests the last couple of years. Maybe I can reduce the population using Bayer this year and won't have to use it next year. Do you think that's possible?

Thanks for the info!

What kind of pests are you seeing? I've had a lot of aphids this year, but I also see a lot of lady bugs so I just try to shake off the aphids if I see alot. The only bug that I will break out the spray for are Japanese Beetles. And then only when there is a lot. Last two years they've been minimal (knock on wood).

When I say spray, I mean with a fungicide. Bayer makes an excellent fungicide spray (Disease Control) that is also systematic. If you begin using it when the roses leaf out, and then regularly every 2-3 weeks you will control the blackspot.

I would always assume that any labeled dose of fertilizer includes a generous dose of nitrogen, which is the element that burns. Adding more fast nitrogen (read ingredients: blood meal, poultry manure, urea, any ammonium or nitrate compound) would entail a risk of burning. Allow 4 weeks in sandy soil or six weeks in heavier soil.

Water your roses whenever the soil feels only slightly moist under the mulch in the A. M. There is no need to fret about the soil being dry if you have a garden hose.

Jane, I tried the All-in-One drench before I used the Bayer Advanced Disease Control formula--they're the same active ingredient for the blackspot; that being tebuconozole. Look at Lowe's stores for it. I haven't found it anywhere else. Anyway, my roses are potted, which ends up leading to extra concentration of the chemicals in the root zone. I ended up chemical burning my plants. I cut back the concentration to 1/3 the stated directions, and that seemed to work, but it still killed good bugs, and kept me from being able to apply the specific fertilizers that I preferred, because it already fertilized the plants. The things that really convinced me to switch were the cost--since the all-in-one uses much more product per plant, and the fact that all that insecticide is just way too toxic for my yard and the environment in general.

I do use insecticides (Bayere Insect Killer), But only as spot treatment. Around here, I've found the only things I feel I need it for are thrips. I just spritz individul buds just before they lower their sepals, and that seems to minimize the thrips damage enough. I don't even spray for spider mites, which can kill plants around here. For that, I just thoroughly hose the plants' leaves with a strong blast of water every 2 to 3 days in hot weather. That seems to disrupt their reproductive cycle enough to keep the damage to a minimum. As for Aphids, they are the staple diet for a lot of good bugs, and it takes an awful lot of them to do any real damage. So I do like those above have said. Fingers or blasts with water. Caterpillers and June bugs can be bad here, but handpicking seems to do the best for me. Thankfully the June bugs are only around about a month. The caterpillers are easy to find by their trail of chewed up leaves. Also, by hunting for caterpillars, I can discriminate. I don't like killing butterfly caterpillars. I've done a little online entemology research to learn what is what, so when I find a butterfly caterpillar--as opposed to moths, I generally carry it away from the rose area and put it on some butterfly bush or four-0-clocks or some other plant it should like better than the roses. I accidentally discovered that parsley plants are like magnets for Monarch caterpillars. Boy do they love parsley!

I never knew that much bout bugs before growing roses, but it seems to be a lot more fun learning about them when I don't kill them all. I prefer to kill just the ones I don't like. : )

Mike

I do use insecticides (Bayere Insect Killer), But only as spot treatment.

*** Mike, I never knew that about parsley. You do learn the finest things here. :-)

As to that drench (and others of its ilk) -- I think the advice I got from an older C.R. more than 20 years ago remains the best I've ever gotten.
This was back when no one questioned spraying. And from a man growing HTs for exhibition -- but still.

Asked "How often do you spray?" He first asked:
"For what? Insects? Or disease?"
"Well," the questioner said, "Both, I guess."

The C.R. paused, and said:
"For disease, I spray every week. Every week."
Another pause, and:
"For bugs, I spray when I see them."

The problem with these drenches (ONE problem!) is that you are treating constantly for insects, whether they're there or not.
And at that, not doing it efficiently.

Jeri

I really want to treat for black spot, so I guess I went overboard. I have seen few to no beneficial insects here. This was practically a desert when we bought it and no one else in the neighborhood has any flowers, so aside from a butterfly now and then I don't see much except aphids, rose slugs and Japanese beetles. I'm an insect lover and am fascinated by them, so I wish more were around.

Are June bugs bad for roses? I adore June bugs and carefully escort them out when they get in the house. They were some of my first pets (my mom was so thrilled) so I guess if they eat my roses that's ok. I won't put another dose of the Advanced on if it will harm June bugs.

I also like caterpillars and have an identification book I carry around. I didn't realize moth 'pillars are bad. I was a moth mommy when a giant Polyphemus moth that I rescued laid a bunch of eggs in her aquarium. I called the American Museum of Natural History in DC to find out what to feed them. The guy I talked to was very amused but helped me out a lot. I released them into a state park when they were large enough to fend for themselves. I just one of those people who thinks that if it moves, it's a potential pet. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Polyphemus Moth

Janegael,

My garden has floodlights so I'm out there almost every night in late May and June. There are a lot of June bugs at night and you see them sitting all over the roses but they don't eat anything. They are not harmful. The garden is alive with nocturnal bugs but none that I have ever seen that eat roses. There are many interesting moths that are attracted to the floodlights and lightning bugs which are of course harmless.

Henry