I am not sure how you water your roses, but in our newly added drip system, they have filters/feeders that you can fill with their brand of fertilizer and you feed and water at the same time. I did not look at the prices/quality too much since I did not plan on using their product other than the filter.

Mom, 88 and I (yikes almost 50) just fed the entire veggie garden, I had her sitting in a chair with the hose and a pair of watering cans. I would add the fish emulsion and she would fill the cans. Made for a pretty easy job. Not a lot of bending for either of us. All I had to do was walk the rows (everything was well watered the day before)

Sherry, while I can't answer most of your technical questions, as I'm a seat-of-the-pants type gardener, I can tell you that for me, from now to fall, heat has the biggest effect on how my roses look, not fertilizer. In other words, they don't look so good. We're already up in the high nineties with unbelievable humidity.

As far as costs go, check fertilizer companies that sell to farmers. Here, we have Helena Chemical and People's Fertilizer. It's in 50-pound bags and much cheaper than in the big box stores or Walmart. They also usually have a house brand time release fertilizer (in 3, 6, and maybe 9 month formulations) which is much cheaper than Osmocote. Unlike Walmart, Lowes, etc. It's kept in a warehouse so the weather doesn't destroy the effectiveness of it. Recently, my husband "forgot" to stop at Helena for me and went to Lowes instead. He paid $12 for a 20 pound bag, and when I opened it, it was sopping wet and unusable. At Helena, I get a 50-pound bag for about $16. Time release is around $50, depending on the formulation. You can also get a 20-pound bag of concentrate to mix up liquid fertilizer for considerably less than Miracle Grow.

I'll be interested in the responses you get as they are things I have also wondered about.

What I've learned from growing roses over the past, golly, 20 years and more is this: Prune them in winter according to expert(s) directions - see any rose catalogue; feed them with a mixture of blood and bone (bone meal) mixed with a goodly dollop of chicken manure and dolamite lime in spring and a second, perhaps lighter, dose in late summer to ensure a nice autumn (fall) flush. And keep an eye on your watering, don't let them dry out too much, and dead-head away the spent blooms at least every couple of days during the flowering season. If they are modern roses, do what you can to eradicate pests such as aphids and black-spot.
This isn't too technical and I've found it produces much nicer and greater flushes of blooms than my, mostly neglectful, neighbours. And also, the bushes remain quite healthy. Oh, and I now garden in an area - U.S. zone 9 1/2 to 10, where roses are not suppose to flourish or grow at all!

Regards
Bill

P.S.
Seeing as your soil is sandy Sherry, you might also add some water-saving crystals, which should be obtainable from your local plant nursery. Just dig them into the soil around each rose out to the drip-line - the width of the plant.

I live in a very different climate with frosty winters and lots of rain, but I have noticed the repeat flowering roses do better with an extra feed at the start of first flush. By that time the plant is sort of looking for more nutrients, and I use some kind of organic liquid stuff with seaweed or what I can get my hands on. I give my roses some kind of solid organic fertilizer twice a year and each plant a bucket of composted cow manure as a basic rutine,and some years seaweed meal. My main point is that roses doesn't look as haggered after first flush when they get the extra liquid feed once or twice around the time when flower buds are about to open.

Maybe you can grow something like lupines, clover, flax or alfalfa in places to improve the soil?

The heat and lack of rain really do make the roses look sad here. I confess I really haven't figured out the perfect way to manage the roses. I use a slow release synthetic fertilizer of some sort and supplement with organic things when I can locate and afford them.

I went to a talk at Disney World and found out they also use a slow release fertilizer and supplement with bone and blood meal. They prune at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom on different schedules to time the flushes with various holidays.

I'm south of you by a couple hours and have been "improving" the soil slowly. My latest discovery is that adding leaves and stalks of collards around rose plants makes very happy roses, not only blooms but new leaves and branches too. In a very short time the soil underneath the mulch is darker and richer. Cabbage works well also.

Someone on Florida GW just mentioned Sunn Hemp as a green mulch which reminded me that you were planning on growing something similar last year. How did that work out?

Since my collards are done for the year I planted Sunn Hemp in their patch of ground 2 days ago and shoots are already showing. As a bonus SHemp also discourages nematodes wherever they grow. In 5 weeks I'll pull them up and apply them as I did the collards.

I no longer use water soluble fertilizers but do use alfalfa pellets once a year. We get very little rain here except for the "rainy season" which seems to be confined to August and early September.

I have noticed a big difference in how the rose bushes look (fuller and greener) since using collards as fertilizer. Hoping Sunn Hemp will continue the trend during the summer.

Denise

Kippy, I love the teamwork you and your mom have going. I may see if DH wants to participate in such a plan. Thanks! My watering system is the micro-spray type, basically I mist for 30 minutes every morning. That little bit keeps the soil moist all day. I checked by scratching a couple of inches deep at 5PM on a hot day. I was surprised.

Floridarosez, probably Seminole Feed would be the place to go here. Maybe there are others. I haven't seen a timed release version there. I didn't realize there was such a difference in price.

Funnelweb, I recently heard from a friend how wonderfully her roses responded to her chicken manure. It's great stuff! I've only used the crystals in pots but not anymore since I "floated" a plant out of the pot once. That's what happens if you use too much. :)) Too expensive for me to use in the whole garden.

Taoseeker, yes, your Norway climate is definitely very different. Extra feeding of an organic liquid at the start of a flush makes sense. I think fish emulsion (you didn't say what you use) acts pretty quickly, isn't that right? I will keep this in mind since it works so well for you.

Amberroses, I've never used blood meal. I'll have to think about it and do some research. I always thought the nitrogen was on the high side and maybe it would attract unwanted critters, but I'll check it out. Hopefully, this year we'll have more rain since La Nina is gone.

Denise, what great timing for you to mention the Sunn Hemp. I never planted the seeds I bought last year, but now is the right time, so I'm going to plant some today in the empty spaces. One thing about pulling them up: I think it's better to cut them, leaving the roots in the ground. The roots fixate the nitrogen in the soil and deter the nematodes. I wasn't quite sure of the timing, so thanks. Can you tell me exactly how deep, etc you put the seeds? Did you use the inoculant? I'm so glad you mentioned this. I wonder how tall they'll be in 5 weeks. Very cool!!!

Thanks, all!!

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry
I read about cutting them off but thought I'd do half and half, pull half/cut half.
I planted seeds 1 to 1/1/2" deep and covered lightly/firmly with soil leaving a bit of a depression. The reason they popped up so fast I think (besides being a fast grower) is soaking them all day in sun like sun-tea or seed sprouting. I covered planted seeds lightly with shredded mulch to retain water.

Yes I did use the inoculant.

It's too difficult to plant them next to my roses for the nematode effect. That's where I'm going to green manure the cut hemp.
I may not be able to grow long enough to collect seeds from this batch since we leave on a 2 month van trip in 5 weeks (hence the pulling/cutting). But in September I hope to grow it again for seeds.

Denise

Denise,
I'm really excited. I got the seeds planted. Since I have no veggie bed, only roses and companions (that's why I didn't do them last year - I didn't know what the heck to do), I have a good bit of empty space right now because the spring companions are gone or cut back. So I put them in all the spaces. I think/hope I'm going to have a nitrogen-filled garden in 5 weeks (or a little more)!! I have a lot more seeds left, so I might do it again , too. No doubt I will have a BUSHY garden for a while.

I also managed to put out the alfalfa tea in the front garden and composted chicken manure in the whole garden. If Beryl gives us some of her precious rain today and tomorrow, I'll be very happy. A band came through earlier but gave us nothing here. :((

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, where did you get your seeds? This is the first I've heard of Sunn Hemp.

I don't think Seminole carries bulk fertilizer, at least they didn't when we lived up there. Look under fertilizer in the yellow pages. That's where our farm suppliers are listed.

Floridarosez, here's the link to the seeds I got. Yesterday's planting didn't make a dent in the one pound bag. :)) I forget if I bought the inoculant. I think I did, but I didn't use it yesterday. I think I read that it wasn't really necessary here. Hopefully that's right. Plus mine are a year old now. Hopefully, that's not bad.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: GrowOrganic.com

Thanks for the link, Sherry. Put them in the freezer. That's where I keep all my seeds, and they'll keep for at least a couple of years.

Hi again Sherry; for the extra liquid feed fish emulsion might work well. It does depend upon soil and nutrients levels, I always go for something with equal amouts of nitrogen and kalium, and a bit less phosphorous. I think fish fertilizers contain mostly nitrogen, but they might differ.

Sherry, your garden is so gorgeous I don't know what you are kvetching abt.!! I wish mine were as nice.... maybe you are one of those 'perfectionist' people?? and you seem to put lots of horse-manure on your roses, which to me is 'solid gold'... I keep nagging my DS to take me out to a horse-farm and get some manure and he changes the subject! and he even has a pick-up truck!! sally

No kvetching here, Sally. Merely trying to understand the timing of roses, so feeding can be more effective with better timing.

Call some boarding stables and ask if they can load your pick-up with composted/rotted manure. Some have front-end loaders and will do it either for a nominal fee or for free. Then DS only has to unload and distribute it. You don't want fresh manure.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

hi, Sherry,
Maybe this is what you're wanting to know. It seems that from greenhouse research on roses, botanists have found that rose uptake of nitrogen is strongest when the roses are flushing.

"Evidently, right after flowering, roses make new growth mostly from nutrients already stored within the plant. External nutrients in the soil (fertilizers) are taken up mostly after new growth slows and flowers start to form." Mike Rivers

Here is a link that might be useful: old thread

Thank Harborrose! I copied that into my rose notes.

Wonderful, Gean. So, as Taoseeker said, around the time flower buds show up is a good time to feed. Of course, organics take about 3 weeks to become available, maybe that's why he uses the liquid. Thanks SO much.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I was just thinking about this some more. If the roses' MO is to take up nitrogen during the bloom flush, it must be that they need it then, and if the nitrogen isn't there to take up, it makes sense to me that they will suffer. So this shows that heavy blooming requires heavy nitrogen. Makes perfect sense. My thought process probably sounds obvious to everyone, but it helps me to work it around this way. It makes sense that all that blooming would require a lot of energy. Thanks again, Gean and mike_rivers, too.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry -- When we first used crystals, we also "floated" plants way out of the pots. That's how we learned to soak the polymers, first, or use a very small amount. VERY small!

Now, we haven't used them for years, mostly because they've gotten awfully pricey. But, IF you can afford them, I do recommend them, as long as they're soaked up before you add them to the soil in the pot.

Jeri

For anyone interested in the subject of water absorbing polymers -- here in hot dry San Antonio I dig them into the hole with everything I plant, roses, annuals, perennials; everything except succulents and cacti that is. I also mix the dry crystals to potting soil in the amount recommended and haven't had a problem, but I agree if you add too much they will let you know!

They are much cheaper if you buy online. I've been getting them from watersorb.com for years. Four pounds including Priority Mail shipping are $35. Customer service is great. They ship the same day they are ordered.

You can also add dry crystals to plants already growing by sticking a long narrow trowel into the soil and dribbling a few crystals down the blade and then covering. The roots will find them. If I happen to dig up a plant I find little roots clinging to the water filled crystals.