Just get a rose fertilizer - they are good for any rose type! If you are close to Seattle, various nurseries in that area will carry organic fertilizers, which I prefer. There are various labels you can choose from - Dr. Earth, Gardner & Bloome, Espoma, Happy Frog (Fox Farms). All have formulations specifically for roses and are similar and work equally well. These come in granular forms which only need to be applied a couple times a season (ALL organics are slow release, never any salt build-up and encourage a healthy soil as well as healthy plants). Any will have alfalfa as part of their ingredients, as we all know alfalfa is well suited for rose production.

For containers, I prefer a liquid fertilizer and use Dyna Gro's GROW on all container plantings - roses, trees and shrubs, annuals and edibles and houseplants. It has a full range of trace elements, which many other fertilizers lack. Not organic but then organics are not efficient in addressing the fertilizer needs of any container plantings.

It's a bit of personal thing but I teach classes on fertilizers for beginning gardeners and one of my most frequently repeated lessons is you really do NOT need to have half a dozen different formulations for different plant types!! The differences in ingredients and concentrations is very slight and I swear applying a tomato or vegetable fertilizer to your roses will result in virtually identical growth as if you were to apply the rose formulation!!

I use Espoma Organic Garden Tone -- because I can get it in big bags at a relatively good price in my area. This goes both in the garden and in my pots -- except my potted blueberries get the Holly Tone blend. I also like to collect used coffee grounds from Starbucks, and add this to the garden and my pots. I find that earthworms always manage to find their way to my pots on the ground, and they seek the coffee grounds on top, so their movements keep things mixed.

That's basically it. The Garden Tone goes down after I've pruned and before I add a fresh layer of mulch. I add it again after the first flush. The coffee grounds are a steady thin layer bit by bit through the season -- though I did skip out on that part last Summer when I changed jobs and was working too much. If the pots need a perk, I'll get some fish/seaweed concentrate and dilute that with water to give them a feeding.

:-)

~Christopher

"The recent information in the last 10 or 15 years scientist are finding that different plants have relationship in the soil with certain fungi called mycorrhizae."

This has been known and recognized for much longer than that - I did a presentation on mycorrhizae when I was attending hort school almost 30 years ago now!! And unless you are working in very heavily farmed, almost barren soils, mycorrhizal fungi already exist in sufficient quantities in your soil. What IS new is that various suppliers and fertilizer manufacturers are banking on public ignorance and getting you to purchase additives - and pricey ones at that - that are just not needed.

I use Osmocote for Flowers (Pink Cap on bottle) that I buy at Lowe's for my rose cuttings after they have rooted, when they start to need fertilizer, and it works great. Be very careful to start with small amounts so you don't burn the roots. It's slow release. I use 1/2 tsp or less for a band size plant. Then that's it until they are transplanted. If they are old Austin Roses that are out of patent (Cressida), I switch to DAR food when they go into the ground. For Romantica rose Johann Strauss, I continue to use Osmocote. For full size potted Souvenir de la Malmaison and Gloire de Dijon, I use Osmocote. I have done this for years and it works for me.

Rebecca

Look for Magnum Rose Food by Grow More. Works the best for me.

I'm rather confused about the optimal N-P-K ratio for rose fertilizers because it varies across different brands. gardengal mentions some of the best organic brands but I don't understand why their N-P-K is so different. Espoma Rose-tone contains more nitrogen than phosphorus or potash (4-3-2) , then their percentages are somewhat even in Happy Frog Rose Food (4-4-5), whereas Dr. Earth and Gardner & Bloome use somewhat similar formula that reserves the highest percentage for phosphorus (5-7-2 & 4-6-2). They all contain beneficial microbes, but I'm not sure why there are so much variations in their N-P-K ratios even though all are formulated for roses.

I'm reading the new Jeff Lowenfels book that just came out this month Teaming with Fungi. Mycorrhizae was discussed by Albert Bernard Frank 150 years ago. In this book he talks about new information from soil scientist about how plants use the different types of mycorrhizae. It says that we have a lot to learn. There is a new science , transcriptonomics , enables scientist to identify mycorrhizal strains that carry specific traits that can benefit a specific plant. They map the genetics of a particular fungi. In the book it says that we have not discovered the estimated 5 million types yet and learn all their specific biological influence. In the book it shows how to encourage to produce your own Mycorrhizae. Also , he says that spore production is becoming economically practical.

In the book , Mycorrhizal scientist Mike Amaranthus says we have hurt the microbiota through overuse of chemicals fertilizer, fungicides, herbicides, pesticides. He says to reintroduce the right bacteria and fungi. The original post that Sarah made talked about the use of chemical fertilizer. She said any suggestions are appreciated. I merely shared my fertilizer use this year as a rose grower. We still have a tremendous amount to learn.

Vesfl,

A higher Nitrogen number is not necessarily a reason for alarm when you look at the N-P-K numbers on a fertilizer bag. It is not going to push too much green growth instead of flower production IF it is a slow release type Nitrogen. Verify if it is slow release to be sure. Contact the manufacturer or a person who has had experience with the fertilizer brand in question.

Generally, an all purpose fertilizer (5-10-5 or 10-10-10), whether organic or not will grow wonderful roses. It is when a fertilizer that is NOT all purpose, like a 24-6-8 (very high in Nitrogen), which is meant for lawn grasses, is used on roses that creates problems.

Phosphorus and Potassium are naturally slower to release into the soil than Nitrogen is, so lower numbers of these two elements in the fertilizer are customary amounts in a well balanced fertilizer.

A higher Phosphorus number will yield more flower production with stronger, more vibrant flower colors. I can guarantee this fact by my own experience using, 'bloom-booster,' type fertilzers (with higher Phosphorus numbers), through liquid feedings on my roses.

vesfl, you don't have to worry much about the "optimal NPK for roses" when you're growing them in the garden. Your soil will already have nutrients -- the fertilizer is just adding to them. "Optimal NPK for roses" would matter if you're growing them in a hydroponic system, whereby their potting medium is completely without nutrients, and you are supplying all nutrients via fertilizer.

Inorganic fertilizers are generally made to be more immediately plant-available -- though the slow-release formulations are made to dissolve slowly, that which dissolves is generally immediately available to plants. Organic fertilizers need to be "eaten" by organisms in the soil first, and then the waste products from those organisms can be taken up by the plants. Depending on the source of the nutrients in organic fertilizers, this rate of becoming available to plants will vary.

If you want to be precise, you can have soil tests done to determine which nutrients are already in your soil, and their relative amounts. You can choose fertilizers which are low in those nutrients your soil has in abundance, and high in those nutrients in which your soil has deficiencies. Since I garden by continuing to add layers of organic matter in raised beds, I prefer to go with organic fertilizers that won't burn plants, and which will break down to feed the plants at a "slow and steady" pace. That some fertilizers will vary a bit in their NPK doesn't concern me as much -- so long as the individual numbers aren't double-digits, and neither number is very far ahead of the others, I'll use it.

If I start seeing signs in the plants that a nutrient is deficient or overly abundant, I'll adjust. I haven't seen that yet, aside from some typical chlorosis during leaf-out in a wet Spring. And in that case, I just throw down something high in iron and other minerals for those roses which seem to need it -- typically, those with prominent R. multiflora ancestry, like Polyanthas, Hybrid Musks, and Multiflora Ramblers.

:-)

~Christopher

Sarah,

One of the easiest and most reliable fertilizers I can suggest to you is Miracle Grow, Shake & Feed Rose and Bloom Fertilizer. It comes in 4.5 lb. Jugs and 8 lb. Bags.

The N-P-K numbers are 9-18-9, an excellent ratio for maximum rose health and flower production.

It is a slow release, 3 month feed pellet, like Osmocote. The commercial nurseries use this type of fertilizer these days. They work exceptionally well and are labor savers. No burn, no overfeeding.

Sprinkle the recommended amount around each rose once in spring, and once in the summer, three months later, in a zone 5-6, average soil growing locale, and that's all the fertilizing you need to do for the year. Couldn't be easier or better.

Do what the professionals do, you can't go wrong. Their livelihood depends on it, so if they do it, you know it is good.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and sharing what you use! I did get soluble gypsum and soluble enzyme from kelp4less (but haven't used yet) and will make alfalfa tea instead of just working in the pellets.

I am trying to do things differently this year, especially since my roses are in pots and not in ground like have been in the past. I'm basically starting over.

Moses and Christopher, many thanks for explaining it so well and thank you, Sarah, for this thread. It finally helped me understand that the "mystery" of different NPK ratios is not really as significant as I thought it might be and that there is no single "magic" formula, after all. It all goes back to the specific soil conditions...