Redsox,
Yes, it takes time--one of the reasons I'm a reluctant sprayer and do it as little as I can get away with.

Do you spray all your roses every time? I have divided my roses into categories: those that will always need to be sprayed (mostly HTs--fortunately I don't have many); those that only need to be sprayed every other time I spray (probably the largest group); those that never or almost never need to be sprayed (smallest group, unfortunately). You may have to experiment a bit to see which ones can go longer without spraying that particular time.

I also don't spray at all during the HOT, HOT, HOT weather we get usually in July and August. Too hot for BS, as well as for humans.

You might also test to see if any/some/all the roses can go an extra week without spraying.

Of course, none of that helps you with how long it takes to spray a bush. Are you being overly conscientious and overspraying as a result? Only other thing I can think of is maybe the spray pattern needs to be widened. Sorry, not much help here.

I'll be interested in seeing other poster's responses.

Kate

I don't go to all that trouble. Usually I don't wear much protection. Please don't yell at me everyone. It's Florida and it's hot and humid. I am careful not to get any spray drift on me. I don't spray in windy conditions. I don't spray each leaf, under any leaves, or any higher than my waist. The upper leaves don't get much blackspot anyway and spraying just the low leaves minimizes the chances of spray contact with my eyes and face. I have about 20 roses and this takes me 20 minutes or so.

When I am finished I take off the clothes I am wearing and wash any area of skin that was exposed just in case a particle of spray touched me that I didn't notice.

That is my spray "technique."

These are two methods that could save me some time. Kate, I DO spray each rose every time. Not all of them seem to need it: some more than others, of course. I think I might try going 3 weeks instead of two to see what happens.

Amberrose, you are also right about the top portion. I was thinking of that myself last night when I was spraying. The top half rarely gets any BS so maybe I should just skip it.

If you go with a more powerful pump, it will spread the spray farther and you'll use less because it makes a finer spray that spreads better (you are using a spreader sticker in your spray?)
When we spray our 500, it takes about an hour in spring and an hour and a half in fall (bigger roses, more leaves). But that's with the sprayer that Larry designed, built and upgraded.

Here is a link that might be useful: The spray cart we built is at this site of ours

Another thing I do, Redsox, is keep an already mixed spray bottle of Daconil around for any quickie jobs needed. Two of my roses--Love & Peace and Crimson Bouquet--sometimes exhibit BS symptoms long before the other roses do. At those times, I use the pre-mixed Daconil just on those two roses--takes about 5-6 minutes. The other roses, at those times, are often happy to wait another week or two to get their regular spraying. It helps to get to know your roses well so that you can determine the weakest and strongest disease-resistant ones, and adjust your spraying accordingly.

But no matter how I do it, it tends to take me several days to muster up the will power to actually go out there and do it! I really hate spraying.

Kate

P.S. The pre-mixed Daconil in a bottle is readily available at Wal-mart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. It is the only pre-mixed fungicide I know of--kinda expensive, but convenient for those limited quickie sprays.

Ann, that is some spray cart but beyond our capabilities at my house. LOL! Some day I will invest in one of those $200 sprayers but for now I can't afford or rationalize with only 30 roses.

Kate, I do have the Daconil for my orchids so that is a good solution for the really fussy ones like Heirloom.

I have 250 roses. I can spray mine in about 1 hour. I have a 2 gallon pumpup sprayer. My plants get covered real well. I have to reload to finish up.

You can go to Tractor Supply and buy a 15 gallon on demand battery powered sprayer for $90.
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You'd have to buy a battery, a small 12 volt lawn mower battery would work, then mount it on a wagon or figure a way to put wheels on it. It would be powerful enough to create a fine spray that would cover your roses quicker and evenly with little waste.
At the many ARS conventions I've gone to over the years, those speakers who've taked about and demonstrated spraying techniques said all that is required is enough spray on the leaves to make them glisten a little. On many roses with a strong enough sprayer to give you a fine mist that would mean a once over pass of the spray wand far enough away from the plant for the mist to settle on the maximum area. You'd do the same spraying under the leaves. Another type of sprayer, the Atomist can be purchased for $180 and works like a vacuum cleaner in reverse. It blows a powerful jet of air containing spray broken up into very tiny droplets that covers the bush very quickly. The blast of air causes the leaves to turn over as you spray meaning you get both sides done with just one pass. It also keeps dead leaves blown out of the beds and yellowed leaves blown off the plant. Only drawback is you need an extension cord to operate it. This one is $132 at
http://www.reliablepaper.com/Electric_Atomist_Sprayers___2_Gallon_p/RLF1952B.htm
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Although only 2 gallons it would cover twice as many bushes quicker than a regular power sprayer.

Here is a link that might be useful: TSC sprayer

I have 65 rose and it takes me about 45 min with a regular 2 gal sprayer. I am not I try to get all of the leaves but I am not particularly picky about it either. I do spray the bottoms and the tops seemed to be mostly covered by the time I am finished. Then a quick spray of the top and I am done.

Try to relax and have fun in the garden. This is a time for me to go visit every bush individually and give it some attention. :) and no one bugs me when I am out there doing it :P

Last year I bought a manual back pack spray. It's a Stihl. It is wonderful. The spray, as Ann said, is very fine so it covers more completely and you use less formula. Now that I'm up to almost 100 roses, I use about 4 gallons (less in spring when they are pruned low).

Since I use the Bayer systematic, I no longer worry about getting the underside of leaves. I try, but I don't go berserk. I still spray the ground under the bushes.

I wear gloves and my shaded safety glasses. Sometimes I get some spray on my face (when spraying the climbers) but it just washes off. It takes me about one hour and I do it every 3-4 weeks.

Buford, where did you get your Stihl?

Thanks,
Carla

We have a hardware store near us that is a Stihl dealer. I think it was an ACE hardware that does alot of mower and power tool repair. If you go on their website, you can put in their zip and get store locations.

This is the sprayer I have